How do individuals and groups react to different environmental situations (home, office, hospital, street, shop, and so on)? What psychological processes are triggered by our environment, and how do they affect our perception, attitude and actions?
How can individuals and groups change their environment so that it provides a more stimulating, less stressful and more enabling setting in which to live? How are our identities tied up with place? How might sustainability in environmental policy be better informed by current research?
Our MSc Environmental Psychology programme will help you gain advanced knowledge and understanding of theory and practice in environmental psychology.
You will also acquire a range of research skills that will give you the confidence and ability to undertake environmental psychology research in a professional setting.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
Funding is now linked to continuation funding for a PhD – that is, successful applicants to the Economic and Social Research Council will be given a grant for the MSc year and then further support (subject to satisfactory progress) to enable them to undertake a PhD.
Occasionally students receive financial support from industry through sponsorship. This would involve students undertaking a piece of research for their dissertation which would be of interest and value to industry or commerce, in return for which they will be given a grant by the commissioning company.
In the past, this sponsorship has ranged from £500 to £6,000. This is mutually beneficial to both the student and sponsor, and allows the student to undertake a ‘real’ piece of research that has practical or policy implications, whilst receiving a sum of money to assist with fees and subsistence costs.
The School of Psychology at the University of Surrey was the first in the world to establish an MSc in Environmental Psychology, in 1973. Since then there have been well over 250 graduates of the programme from over 25 countries worldwide.
It remains one of a few such postgraduate programmes in the world and the only one in the UK.
The MSc Environmental Psychology programme is part of a larger modular programme, thereby providing a flexible teaching and learning structure. The School of Psychology has a reputation for developing professional and innovative programmes reflecting contemporary societal concerns and employment opportunities.
Environmental Psychology at Surrey has always sought to be a multidisciplinary research activity. We are driven by psychological theories and methodologies, but draw on other social sciences, as well as the environmental and design disciplines.
We investigate environment behaviour relationships at every spatial scale and environment, from personal space and office design, through neighbourhood renewal, to the public understanding of global climate change.
Environmental psychology researchers have always enjoyed collaboration with other disciplines.
Current and recent research collaborations include an EPSRC funded research project on energy technologies in homes (REDUCE) with colleagues of environmental sciences (CES) and communications technology (CCSR), a DEFRA/ESRC-funded research programme on lifestyles in transition (SLRG) and a major ESRC funded research program on sustainable lifestyles (RESOLVE: research on lifestyles, values and the environment) both with colleagues from sociology, economics and environmental sciences.
We have long-established links with national and international academic institutions including the Department of Architecture at the University of Strathclyde, the Centre for Transport Studies at the University of West England and the Department of Psychology at Bath University.
The environmental psychology community is strongly international and this is reflected in the long-term active teaching and research collaboration we enjoy with the universities of Groningen, Madrid, La Coruña, Umeå and Rome.
Students on the MSc programme are encouraged to take advantage of these links during their dissertations.
The Environmental Psychology Research Group (EPRG), of which students on the MSc in Environmental Psychology are automatically members, has been undertaking research for more than 30 years and has gained an international reputation.
Research undertaken by the EPRG is both ‘fundamental’ (that is, contributing to the development of the discipline and our understanding ofpsychological processes) and ‘applied and policy-oriented’.
Both government and business are concerned with effective policy development and delivery, and it is increasingly recognised that these can only be successfully achieved by informed evidence.
Students on the MSc Environmental Psychology programme are encouraged to make their research not only useful, but useable.
Recent graduates have progressed into careers in central and local government, undertaking policy-oriented research on a variety of environment behaviour (E-B) issues. Many of our graduates have become practice consultants, using their E-B research skills.
This could be a specialist E-B practice or an architecture, planning, design or engineering practice where graduates with a sensitivity to people-environment issues and a training in E-B research can provide an important and unique set of skills and expertise.
Those who have a background in architecture, landscape architecture, planning or design often return to their profession, but with an enhanced range of skills.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Our unique MSc Research Methods in Psychology programme allows you to study theory while benefitting from hands-on research experience.
It covers the breadth of contemporary psychological research methods and allows you to develop research approaches to studying psychology, from the level of social groups through to neuro-imaging of brain activity.
Our MSc Research Methods in Psychology programme is designed to provide you with expertise in psychological research methods appropriate for the behavioural sciences.
You will develop the skills necessary for critically evaluating research, formulating innovative research questions, conducting empirical research, and analysing, interpreting and reporting research results.
The programme covers the breadth of contemporary psychological research methods, allowing you to develop research approaches that combine multiple methods in unique ways. By the end of the programme, you will have developed an individual profile of research skills.
The programme also provides an ideal stepping stone for research at PhD level.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
Students who have completed the Psychology programmes have progressed to a range of careers in areas such as local government, management, research posts in universities and commercial organisations, healthcare and clinical psychology, and many have progressed on to study for a PhD.
We believe in involving all postgraduate students in the research life of the School through active participation in one of the research groups, attendance at research seminars and, where possible, an attachment to ongoing research projects.
As a student of the Department of Psychology, you will also have access to a number of conferences, seminars and workshops hosted throughout the year.
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
As an MSc Social Psychology student you will learn theories, methods, and empirical findings in the field of social psychology, which are relevant to current social issues.
These include: prejudice and discrimination; the relationship between moral judgement and emotions; the study of how individuals and groups interact to construct and maintain identities; and how these are related to social change and influence in contexts such as family systems and romantic dyads.
The programme aims to provide you with an awareness of the historical and philosophical background of social psychology, an in-depth knowledge of contemporary theoretical and methodological approaches and research findings, and the ability to conduct quantitative and qualitative research in the field.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
Occasionally, students receive financial support from industry through sponsorship, negotiated by individual students.
This would involve students undertaking research for their dissertation which would be of interest and value to industry or commerce, in return for which they will be given a grant by the commissioning company. In practice, though, most students are self-funded.
The social psychologists at the University of Surrey have an international reputation in research and teaching. Students on the MSc in Social Psychology are encouraged to participate in the School of Psychology’s ongoing activities, particularly research seminars.
The social psychologists at Surrey have undertaken research for the EU, UK research councils, government departments and agencies, industry and commerce, and the charitable sector. They have attracted a large number of research projects to the School, including:
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Gain both theoretical and applied knowledge of clinical cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive neuroscience combines techniques and skills including psychometric testing, electroencephalography (EEG), eye tracking and imaging techniques – for application to neuropathological and healthy groups in clinical, academic or biomedical settings. Various neurobiological mechanisms of cognitive and perceptual functions with demonstration of practical recordings, as well as psychology experimental software are taught on the course.
This course is ideal if you
The course gives you the knowledge and skills to evaluate cognitive and brain function and dysfunction in healthy and neuropathological groups. You learn to understand the important ethical issues involved in neuroscientific research targeted at various age groups and people with range of cognitive abilities, as well as developmental disorders.
You have an opportunity to learn psychophysiological recording techniques, including electrocardiogram (ECG), Skin Conductance (SC), performance speed and accuracy, as well as perceptual mechanisms using Eprime, Martlab and other specialist software.
We also build your research skills enabling you to work as an independent researcher in this area. You have the opportunity to attend workshops run by experts from relevant professions and fields of work. Examples include private clinical consultants, NHS neuropsychologist, teaching staff from the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology course at the University of Sheffield and alumni from our course working in academia and the private sector.
Our specialist learning resources include psychometric measures for assessing cognitive function and 3D model brains for understanding neuroanatomy. You learn to use specialist equipment including • EEG • transcranial magnetic stimulation • analysis of Biopack • structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data • visuo-psychophysics equipment.
Some lectures are taught by guest tutors including clinical psychologists and neuroimaging experts.
You are automatically affiliated with our Brain, Behaviour and Cognition Research Group, which
International students are most welcome on this course. At Sheffield Hallam University we provide international students with a wealth of support, from pre-arrival right up to, and including, study support while you are studying here. Please see the International Experience Team webpage for more information.
Full-time – one year
Part-time – typically one day per week for two years
Core modules
This course gives you the skills to work in both academic and clinical settings with healthy population and diverse neuropathological groups.
Graduates have the skills and knowledge to work in roles involved in assessing and evaluating cognitive function and dysfunction in healthy ageing across the lifespan and patient groups including people with Parkinson’s disease, head injury, dementia, and other neuropathological conditions.
During the course you benefit from employability sessions, where our alumni currently working in academia or industry, clinical psychologists and professionals from private research companies discuss possible career choices.
You may find roles in academic and clinical contexts using methods of neuroscience such as • functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) • structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) • electroencephalogram (EEG) • transcranial magnetic stimulation • eye tracking techniques • visual psychophysics.
You can also complete further cognitive neuroscience postgraduate academic work.
