Psychology
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences FAQs What is psychology at Queen Mary?
Why study psychology at Queen Mary?
Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. At Queen Mary, psychology is based in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. If you’re fascinated by questions such as: • Do humans and non-human animals think alike? • Can we predict the behaviour of individuals and groups? • How do we perceive colour and remember things? • Why do groups sometimes come into conflict with each other? • Why did language evolve? • Are there sex differences in cognition and personality?
Psychology is based in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, which is one of the biggest departments of its type in the UK, with more than 70 members of academic staff. In the most recent National Student Survey (NSS 2011), over 90 per cent of our students expressed overall satisfaction with their studies in the School.
…and you would like to: • Study psychology in the context of biology • Gain skills for career flexibility – to work in science or non-science areas ...then a degree in psychology is ideal!
Why study psychology? What can I do afterwards? Due to the multidisciplinary and scientific nature of this programme, you will develop an impressive range of transferable skills, including: • Quantitative analytical research skills and numeracy • Insight into the behaviour of individuals and groups • Communication and critical evaluation, including report writing and presentation skills • IT skills, including word processing, spreadsheets, statistical software usage, and web-based data searching • Data handling and interpretation skills. A psychology degree is a pathway to professional training in psychology (such as clinical or educational psychology) and postgraduate training (masters, MPhil or PhD) in the behavioural and biological sciences (such as psychology, neuroscience, social sciences, public health and epidemiology). The BSc Psychology is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as conferring eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC). Many psychology graduates go into high-profile nonscience careers such as marketing, scientific and legal consultancy, banking and finance, human resources and organisational management, the media, social work, teaching, and much more.
Psychology at Queen Mary is seen as a natural and experimental science. This arises from the simple observation that the brain, the seat of human and animal mind and behaviour, has evolved, and therefore must reflect facets of biological processes. This approach differs from many other psychology degrees, and uniquely prepares our students for further study and careers in both the biological/medical sciences and the social sciences and humanities. The programme features a large range of compulsory and option modules, with a selection of some additional modules from the biological sciences relevant to psychology (such as evolutionary biology and neuroscience). Students have flexibility in choosing modules, subject only to timetable constraints and the requirement to register for compulsory modules. For many Queen Mary students, the highlight of their undergraduate career is the final year project – an opportunity to carry out original research alongside established researchers. This can involve lab-based experiments with human or non-human subjects, or time spent at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry or other research institutions, including the Institute of Zoology, the Natural History Museum, The Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, and others. Projects typically involve testing human participants in our psychology laboratory facilities. Recent projects have addressed topics such as visual attention, decision-making, processing of facial emotion, and cross-cultural differences among immigrant communities. Students can also choose to specialise in research with non-human species, with recent projects addressing nicotine addiction in zebra fish, cognitive abilities of parrots, visual attention in insects, and social evolution in naked mole rats. The School recognises the time, effort and passion that students invest into their A-level (and equivalent) studies and a number of scholarships are available for outstanding students. For more information about these scholarships, please see www.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk
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