Psychology

We are looking forward to welcoming you (or welcoming you back!) to the School of Psychology. During Welcome Week the School of Psychology will have academic inductions for our new undergraduate students, alongside Welcome Back events for our returning students.

• Thursday 19 September – 10.00am - 12noon
  Level 1 Induction and Meet and Greet with Staff
  Arts Lecture Theatre, William Guild

• Thursday 19 September – 2.00pm - 4.00pm
  Level 2 Induction and Meet and Greet with Staff
  Arts Lecture Theatre, William Guild
   
• Friday 20 September – 10.00am - 12noon
  Level 3 Induction and Meet and Greet with Staff
  Arts Lecture Theatre, William Guild
   
• Friday 20 September – 2.00pm - 4.00pm
  Level 4 Induction and Meet and Greet with Staff
  Art’s Lecture Theatre, William Guild

For students newly entering our course, we recommend the Noba online text https://nobaproject.com/textbooks/introduction-to-psychology-the-full-noba-collection which is free to use for anyone!

For those students wishing to purchase their own hard copy of a textbook, we recommend: Psychological Science (seventh edition) by Phelps, Berkman and Gazzaniga (2022). As students’ progress on our degree, the transition is made for a focus on academic articles, rather than textbooks.

Information for these will be provided within lectures.

Assessment

All psychology courses in the first term will be assessed through coursework and/or an online open-book exams – there are no in-person invigilated exams. Coursework may include essays, reports, MCQs, presentations, discussion forums, and group projects among others. This will vary from course to course, and there will be specific details in every course guide at the start of term alongside further advice from individual course tutors/coordinators during the course.

Thesis Supervision

Students will have been allocated a thesis supervisor in Level 3. If you do not know your supervisor, please contact psych-level4@abdn.ac.uk . You should email your supervisor during Welcome Week to arrange your first meeting with your supervisor. The thesis project will be developed via regular meetings with your supervisor. The thesis runs across both terms and students are expected to manage their time effectively and spread the work across both terms. Supervisors will be submitting interim reports on the progress of their thesis students at the end of the first term, and then a further full supervisor report towards the end of the second term.

Completing a research-based thesis is a compulsory component of a BPS accredited degree. BPS regulations require students to demonstrate their methodological skills and knowledge by conducting and writing up an independent piece of research. To ensure you can do this you will get regular and supportive supervision meetings which will provide students with continuous feedback throughout the project. The format and frequency of these will be decided jointly by you and your supervisor, for example you may decide that you will meet in-person, or online using Microsoft Teams, or a mix of the two. Whatever format is used, your supervisor will be there for you and will guide and support you in your research.  Stay in regular contact with your supervisor and please refer to the thesis handbook for further guidelines and advice.

A lot of the teaching we value most is carried out in small groups where staff have the opportunity to work closely with students to develop their psychological skills and knowledge. This teaching may involve labs, tutorials and workshops. All teaching will be in person and small groups will be listed in your timetable with attendance monitored.

Director of Education
Dr Helen Knight
helen.knight@abdn.ac.uk

Dr Jacqui Hutchison
Undergraduate Programme Co-ordinator
jacqui.hutchison@abdn.ac.uk

Level 1

Level 1 Theory Coordinator
Dr Clare Kirtley
clare.kirtley1@abdn.ac.uk

Level 1 Methods Coordinator
Dr Mirjam Brady-Van den Bos
mirjam.brady@abdn.ac.uk

Level 1 School Office Contact
Psychology Admin 
psy-level1@abdn.ac.uk

Level 2          

Level 2 Theory Coordinator
Dr Heather Branigan
heather.branigan@abdn.ac.uk

Level 2 Methods Coordinator
Dr Oliver Hamlet
oliverhamlet@abdn.ac.uk

Level 2 School Office Contact
Psychology Admin     
psy-level2@abdn.ac.uk

Level 3    

Level 3 Theory Coordinator
Dr Eva Rubinova
eva.rubinova@abdn.ac.uk

Level 3 Methods Coordinator
Dr Bert Timmermans    
bert.timmermans@abdn.ac.uk

Level 3 School Office Contact
Psychology Admin 
psy-level3@abdn.ac.uk

Level 4

Level 4 Convener
Dr Brian Mathias
brian.mathias@abdn.ac.uk

Level 4 Thesis Coordinator
Dr Anastasia Klimovich-Gray
anastasia.klimovich-gray@abdn.ac.uk

Friday 20th September – 2.00pm - 4.00pm 
MSc Induction
Room T1, William Guild

For students newly entering our course, we recommend the Noba online text https://nobaproject.com/textbooks/introduction-to-psychology-the-full-noba-collection which is free to use for anyone!

For those students wishing to purchase their own hard copy of a textbook, we recommend: Psychological Science (seventh edition) by Phelps, Berkman and Gazzaniga (2022). As students’ progress on our degree, the transition is made for a focus on academic articles, rather than textbooks.

Information for these will be provided within lectures.

Level 5 Convener

Dr Zeshu Shao
Email: zeshu.shao@abdn.ac.uk
 

Administration Contact

Email: psy-pg@abdn.ac.uk

All psychology courses in the first term will be assessed through coursework and/or an online open-book exams – there are no in-person invigilated exams. Coursework may include essays, reports, MCQs, presentations, discussion forums, and group projects among others. This will vary from course to course, and there will be specific details in every course guide at the start of term alongside further advice from individual course tutors/coordinators during the course.

Students will select, or be allocated to, a thesis supervisor in spring term (February/March). Detailed information about the process will be provided in the thesis allocation lecture in week 2 of teaching by the MSc thesis coordinator.

Completing a research-based thesis is a compulsory component of a BPS accredited degree. BPS regulations require students to demonstrate their methodological skills and knowledge by conducting and writing up an independent piece of research. To ensure you can do this, you will get regular and supportive supervision meetings which will provide students with continuous feedback throughout the project.

The format and frequency of these will be decided jointly by you and your supervisor, for example you may decide that you will meet in-person, or online using Microsoft Teams, or a mix of the two. Whatever format is used, your supervisor will be there for you and will guide and support you in your research. Stay in regular contact with your supervisor and please refer to the thesis handbook for further guidelines and advice.

A lot of the teaching we value most is carried out in small groups where staff have the opportunity to work closely with students to develop their psychological skills and knowledge. This teaching may involve labs, tutorials and workshops. All teaching will be in person and small groups will be listed in your timetable with attendance monitored.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to campus to start your research journey with us. As a Postgraduate Research student you will have the opportunity to attend a University wide induction in addition to your school induction.

The University of Aberdeen Orientation programme has been designed to take you through all of the essential information you will need for your student life. You can get started now by working through the interactive modules.

There are a series of modules that you can work through before you arrive. Once you have registered you can access the remaining modules and complete your mandatory training programme through your bespoke PGR training platform on our virtual learning environment.

There will be a school welcome event for Postgraduate Research students. This will provide an opportunity to meet Postgraduate coordinators and PhD supervisors. There will also be time to answer any questions you may have. Further details regarding the welcome event will follow in due course.

As a PGR student you may have the opportunity to audit Master‘s courses to augment your research training. Please discuss this with your supervisor and check out the postgraduate taught pages above.

The PGR School also offers a comprehensive training programme to support your research journey.

The PGR School training and development programme offers academic, professional, and personal development through a number of training workshops, resources and opportunities, all intended to support the PGR community at the University of Aberdeen.

Find out more here.