The School is rated as being in the top 7 U.K. psychology departments for research power; with more than double the national average of "World Leading" research output and 65% of the total departmental research output being rated in the top two categories of the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. It is a truly international department with staff and students drawn from over 20 countries from across the world. The School also ranks in the top 5 for student satisfaction in the most recent National Student Survey.
Bangor Psychology's ranking as an elite department is underlined by its listing in the CHE European Excellence Ranking. Of these Bangor's Psychology department was placed in joint third overall (second in UK) in terms of the number of stars it achieved based on the institutional survey and was also placed in the top ten based on the CHE preselection criteria index.
The School forms a large part of the College of Health & Behavioural Sciences, a College which boasts a very strong research and teaching ethos which translates into excellent course provision.
Postgraduate study
The School of Psychology at Bangor is one of the country's leading Psychology departments and has a thriving postgraduate community of over 200 masters and more than 80 PhD students. As a postgraduate in Psychology, you will be working with internationally renowned researchers and making use of superb research facilities. Our academics produce research of the highest quality, with influences in the public sector (especially Health and Clinical activities) as well as in industry and the academic world.
The department offers postgraduate courses with specialisations in many subject areas including general Psychology, Foundations of Clinical Psychology, Neuroimaging, Applied Behaviour Analysis, and Consumer Psychology with Business. Students can also pursue postgraduate diploma and certificate courses at the School. For the research oriented, the School offers an MSc in Psychological Research and MRes Psychology as well as a number PhD opportunities.
Overall the School is one of the largest in the UK in terms of student numbers and offers students a combination of quantity and quality simply not available elsewhere. As well as high academic standards the school delivers high standards of student support and guidance and prides itself on the fact that its friendly environment is often identified as a major strength. There are a number of academic and social student societies within the department which add a great deal to the overall student experience and ensures that each year the department scores very highly in the National Student Survey.
Research
The School's postgraduate programmes cover a number of specialist areas that reflect the mix of research expertise within the department. The department has over 50 Academic Faculty many of whom are world leading or internationally renowned experts in their fields.
The research areas of staff can be drawn together in the following broad categories:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Language, Aging and Dementia
- Clinical and Health
- Behaviour Change
- Experimental Consumer Psychology
The School boasts a number of prestigious research centres, including:
- The Wolfson Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience
- The Bangor Imaging Unit
- The Centre for Experimental Consumer Psychology
- Centre for Mental Health
- Centre for Research on Bilingualism
- Miles Dyslexia Centre
- Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice
These centres, as well as being in the vanguard of academic research in these fields, offer students unique opportunities for project work covering important theoretical and practical elements.
Facilities
Staff and students have access to a large number of specialist research labs including a research dedicated 3T MRI scanner, TMS Labs, ERP, faraday cages, a brain anatomy laboratory, eye tracking facilities and an onsite nursery with observation facilities as well as dozens of computer based testing laboratories.
Students receive a large part of their teaching in the Wheldon building which is home to all Psychology UG & PGT students and houses two lecture theatres, several flexible teaching spaces, a student lounge with catering outlet and a maclab with over 100 of the latest Macs.
Department gallery
