School of Psychology Research

The School of Psychology has historically had a core of research active staff producing publications in major peer reviewed journals over a number of years. Over the last five years, the department has experienced an increase in personnel, together with an expansion in space, research facilities and activities. There is now a desire to build on and expand this existing base and to produce quality research in a range of areas in psychology and applied psychology, such as human factors, cognition, developmental psychology, health psychology, consciousness and transpersonal psychology, and substance abuse.

In the recent 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, staff from the School of Psychology were entered with three other Units of Assessment - Subjects Allied to Medicine (4 rating), Nursing (3a) and Business and Management (3b). The School is actively fostering research and putting into action plans which will lead to a strong submission to the Psychology RAE Panel in 2006, and to utilise to full effect the research income arising from RAE funds and external grants and contracts.

The flourishing research environment is reflected in improvements in all external, objective indices in the last development period:

• increase in research grant income    
• increase in number of research staff
• increase in publications
• increase in number of postgraduate research students

The principal research activities of the School are organised within four existing groupings. These reflect the research interests of staff members and also to an extent map onto the teaching programmes at Masters level.