Psychology PhD

We currently offer the opportunity to gain a postgraduate degree by research at the level of MSc or PhD. Study can be on either a full-time or a part-time basis.<br/><br/>The School of Psychology fosters a culture of collaborative, multidisciplinary research and you will join a vibrant community that includes regular work-in-progress seminars to foster an active research environment. You will join one of our four research hubs described below, all of which are engaged in inter-institutional collaborations, including some with non-academic partners such as health-care providers.<br/><br/>**Our Research Hubs**<br/>**Centre for Research into Expertise Acquisition, Training and Excellence (CREATE)**<br/>The main focus of the centre is the exploration of the drivers of excellence in performance (whether cognitive, creative or practice-based). We welcome applications from potential MSc and PhD candidates across a wide range of related topic areas, including:<br/>- Insight and creativity<br/><br/><br/>- The drivers of performance excellence and expertise development (e.g. in music, theatre, puzzle-solving, board-games and medicine)<br/><br/><br/>- Hobbies, motivations and characteristics of niche populations<br/><br/><br/>- Psychology of music, choreography and dance<br/><br/><br/>- Time perception and those with ‘natural’ time-keeping abilities<br/><br/><br/>CREATE staff are at the forefront of creativity research in the UK, and are founder members of the UK Creativity Researchers group, which meets annually; we also collaborate with a number of external contacts in the performance fields (such as music conservatoires), as well as internal colleagues in Applied Computing and the University of Buckingham Medical School. <br/><br/>**Centre for Health and Relationship Research (CHR)**<br/>The main aim of the hub is to study the impact of the interpersonal world and support structures on health and well-being in clinical and non-clinical settings. This overarching focus has led to the study of topic areas such as:<br/>- Prevalence, impact of and psychosocial challenges facing people following spinal cord injury<br/><br/><br/>- Biopsychosocial understanding of pain and developing interventions for successful pain management<br/><br/><br/>- Social norms as a predictor of health behaviours in young people<br/><br/><br/>- Social factors affecting uptake of health behaviours<br/><br/><br/>- The role of social support in living well with chronic conditions<br/><br/><br/>Together, these projects represent a body of work which seeks to fight patient isolation and to understand health experiences in the context of a social world. The hub aims to identify methods for supporting patients as they live with long-term conditions, including through developing interventions, assessment techniques and knowledge dissemination. We aim to share our findings through the design of downloadable materials, such as patient information leaflets and newsletters, which will allow for research outcomes to be demonstrated to patients and their support networks. With connections and active research work taking part at four local NHS hospitals, we can offer excellent opportunities for research studies with tangible impact.<br/><br/>In addition to postgraduate research in health psychology, we also offer a taught MSc in Health Psychology.<br/><br/>**Cyber and Interpersonal Behaviour Research (CIBR)**<br/>CIBR offers diverse research opportunities in the following areas:<br/>- Cyberpsychology, including cyberbullying and other online risks<br/><br/><br/>- Motivations and social effects of gaming<br/><br/><br/>- Cyber versus real world behaviour<br/><br/><br/>- Bystander behaviour, prosocial behaviour and social identities<br/><br/><br/>- Group dynamics and cohesion<br/><br/><br/>- Social inference and emotion regulation<br/><br/><br/>- Mental resilience and its relationship to social support<br/><br/><br/>The aim of the research in this area is to explore human behaviour, social experiences and group dynamics in both online and offline contexts.<br/><br/>We are happy to consider research proposals on a wide range of topics relevant to our hubs, but may also be looking to fill specific research roles in some areas.