We're committed to developing our postgraduates into skilled researchers who can conduct rigorous research using a variety of methodologies and methods-
http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/mphil-phd-psychology/ Supervision can be offered in any of the areas of departmental activity.
During your first year you may take a range of taught modules including research design and analysis, methodology, theoretical issues, and statistics; requirements will vary depending on any postgraduate research training you have already undertaken.
The MPhil programme offers the opportunity for you to continue your research to a PhD.
You will attend and contribute to research seminars, and through departmental and Goldsmiths-wide modules you are also encouraged to develop practical skills such as public speaking, poster preparation, scientific writing, and how to deal with the media.
You meet regularly with your supervisor at every stage, and develop a structured approach to designing, executing, analysing and writing up your research.
You will have access to the Department of Psychology's range of laboratories, testing rooms and research equipment. You have an annual allowance to contribute towards your research expenses and participation in at least one national or international conference.
What kind of research could I do?
We are able to support research in most areas of psychology. Some students have already formulated specific research ideas before they apply here, and find a supervisor in the department who is able to help them develop these into a doctoral research programme; if this applies to you, see information on the expertise of all our staff and contact any who you think may be able to help you to pursue these.
Other students are attracted by the research interests of our staff, and may decide to undertake a project which has been suggested by them and which relates to their ongoing research. To explore these or other research ideas, start by emailing the member of staff whose research interests you. Each staff member will discuss research ideas with you via email, skype or phone; and you are very welcome to visit staff at Goldsmiths to discuss your options further.
Contact the department
If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Denise Barry.
Structure
Our postgraduate students are offered a stimulating study environment in which to research their higher degree.
We have a thriving postgraduate school with some 40 current students on full-time and part-time programmes, including mature students and students from the EU and overseas.
We provide training modules in research methods in your first year, a regular report/presentation schedule, and excellent computing/research facilities.
If you are thinking of doing an MPhil at Goldsmiths, the first step is to get in touch with any members of our staff whose research is in line with your interests.
The MPhil programme offers the opportunity for you to continue your research to a PhD.
Training and support
All our MPhil students are assigned a specific research supervisor (or sometimes joint supervisors).
As well as receiving ongoing support and guidance from their allocated supervisor(s), our students undergo comprehensive training in psychological research methods (unless they already hold an MSc approved by the ESRC) in line with current ESRC training guidelines, which includes quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. This is mainly during the first year of registration (or first two years for part-time students. Our MPhil students also attend various short generic research skills and methods training (CRT) modules run by the College, also in their first year (or first two years if part-time).
Our students have full access to the Department's excellent facilities for lab and field research, and first-rate technical support is available from the Department's five-strong team of full-time technical staff.
Your progress
You may have the option to upgrade to a PhD after 12 months full-time, or 20 months part-time.
Your progress on your thesis is regularly monitored by the Department's Postgraduate Programmes Committee. The Head of Department can recommend suspension from the programme at any stage if progress is not satisfactory.
Postgraduate facilities
All full-time students have their own workplace and a networked computer with access to programmes for their research needs, plus email and internet facilities. Part-time students also have access to a networked computer, generally shared between two or three students. In addition, we have a lab solely for the use of postgraduates, and a postgraduate computing room. We also run a psychological test library for staff and students.
Seminars and presentations
Our postgraduates have regular opportunities to meet up with other students and to make contact with staff.
The Department runs a number of active visiting lecturer seminar programmes and a weekly Postgraduate Seminar Series, at which students learn about the research of their colleagues, and receive guidance on topics such as giving presentations or writing up a thesis. There are also several specialised research groups (including affective neuroscience, consciousness studies, development and social processes, occupational psychology, visual cognition) open to staff, researchers and postgraduate students which hold regular discussion sessions and talks.
All postgraduates are invited to attend an annual Research Seminar Weekend in an informal setting at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, which is funded by the Department. Here, we have a programme of internal and external speakers.
In addition, our annual Postgraduate Poster Party gives students the opportunity to update the Department on their work.
Conferences
Besides the yearly presentation to the Department, our postgraduates are strongly encouraged to present their work, eg as a paper or poster, at external conferences and financial support is set aside for this. Some recent presentations by postgraduates include:
-Priming for depth-rotated objects depends on attention. (Vision Sciences, Sarasota)
-Imagining objects you have never seen: Imagery in individuals with profound visual impairment. (BPS Annual Conference)
-Modelling dopaminergic effects on implicit and explicit learning tasks. (Annual Summer Interdisciplinary Conference)
-Individual differences in affective modulation of the startle reflex and emotional stroop task. (BPS Conference)
-Evolution and psi: Investigating the presentiment effect as an adapted behaviour. (Society for Psychical Research 25th International Conference)
-Presence: Is your heart in it? (4th Annual International Workshop on Presence)
-The effects of state anxiety on the suggestibility and accuracy of child eyewitnesses. (11th European Conference of Psychology and Law)
-The psychosocial sequelae of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. (6th Scientific Meeting of the Stroke Association)
-The role of Electrophysiology in Human Computer Interaction. (HCI Conference)
-Categorical shape perception. Experimental Psychology Society and Belgian Psychological Society)
-Schizotypy, eye movements, and the effects of neuroticism. (10th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Individual (ISSID))
-Eye movements in siblings of schizophrenic patients. (World Congress of Biological Psychiatry, Berlin, Germany)
Assessment
Thesis and viva voce.
Department
Psychology at Goldsmiths is ranked joint 3rd in the UK for the quality of our research**
**Research Excellence Framework 2014, Times Higher Education research intensity subject rankings
How does music affect mood?
Why do some people believe in the paranormal?
How do people with autism think?
In the Department of Psychology we try and investigate questions like this, conducting research that’s relevant to a range of sectors and industries – from advertising to education, and from banking to the public sector.
You’ll be taught by experts in the field, who are carrying out research that’s world class. And you’ll learn in a department with excellent specialist and general-purpose research laboratories, including:
EEG and brain stimulation labs for neuroscience research
a visual perception and attention laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art eye tracking systems
an infant lab
in-house technical support staff
Skills & Careers
You will receive training in and develop wide-ranging research skills, including:
database searching and bibliographic skills
managing and analysing data
presentation and communication skills
quantitative and qualitative research methods
handling legal and ethical issues in research
research design
project management
How to apply
Before you apply for a research programme, we advise you to get in touch with the programme contact, listed above. It may also be possible to arrange an advisory meeting.
Before you start at Goldsmiths, the actual topic of your research has to be agreed with your proposed supervisor, who will be a member of staff active in your general field of research. The choice of topic may be influenced by the current research in the department or the requirements of an external funding body. Supervision can be offered in any of the areas of departmental activity, as reflected in the research interests of our staff. Please contact a member of staff in the department, before making a formal application, and establish that they would be willing to supervise you in a research area of common interest.
If you wish to study on a part-time basis, you should also indicate how many hours a week you intend to devote to research, whether this will be at evenings or weekends, and for how many hours each day.
Research proposals
Along with your application and academic reference, you should also upload a research proposal at the point of application.
An approximate timeline of training and research plans and an outline of a previous research project in which you have played a leading role (for instance, a study you conducted for your undergraduate or MSc degree). The personal statement in the Departmental form will be structured in a different way to that on the College form. Please see guidelines on the form itself. Finally, your supervisor will be required to provide a statement detailing ways in which the project fits into their overall research programme and the wider research interests and facilities of the Department. Guidance on how to structure these is given on the form. Please do not exceed the word length, and DO NOT submit additional material emanating from your previous research (e.g. copies of dissertations, published papers) as this will not be read. Note that all aspects of the application are required for an application to be considered.
Funding
Please visit
http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ for details.
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