The unique strength of the Psychology Department is its breadth of expertise and diversity of research, unparalleled in any other IoPPN department. We carry out interdisciplinary research with all other IoPPN departments, and many others across KCL more generally.

Since the Department of Psychology was founded in 1950, it has carried on a distinguished programme of research, teaching and clinical practice, with long-standing links with our NHS partners, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and King’s College London NHS Foundation Trust. This unique fusion of the research and clinical infrastructure facilitates implementation of the department’s academic strategy. It ensures that research and teaching reflect current clinical priorities, and that clinical practice is informed by the latest research findings.

The Department’s research interests span a wide range of mental health problems, including anxiety disorders, trauma, somatoform disorders, pain, psychosis, depression, antisocial personality, disorders in childhood and adolescence, emotion and personality, and neurodegeneration. In physical health, we work at the interface between physical health and mental health, focusing on understanding mechanisms that underlie symptom experience, adjustment and self-management in long term conditions and the development and evaluation of new behavioural treatments in these areas. We use a wide range of methodologies, experimental designs, and analytical techniques. We are also pioneers in Digital Therapeutics and LGBTQ research. With the start of our Psychology BSc in 2017, the breadth of research expertise has broadened with the recruitment of ‘basic’ cognitive and social psychologists whose interests intersect with and extend our existing profile in translational and applied research.

The Department currently has around 40 academic staff (of whom 16 are clinical or health psychologists), and a total of approximately 170 members of staff. We are based on two sites of the IoPPN, one at Denmark Hill, and the other at Guy’s Campus (where the Health Psychology and BSc groups are based). The department has approximately 70 PhD students, spread more or less equally across the two sites.

A list of recent publications in the department, including many by PhD students, can be viewed here.

Course details

Research students will all have a Primary and Secondary supervisor in their field of interest; some may also have a third supervisor. They work closely with their supervisors and have regular meetings to discuss their progress. They also liaise with other members of staff with relevant research interests and are encouraged to attend and participate in departmental research presentations and other IoPPN seminars. There is a full induction for new students on commencing their studies. Students are provided access to desk space and a computer at one of the two sites in the department, based on their supervisors’ location, in addition to general access to library and computer rooms.

Training courses run by the department, the IoPPN, or through the KCL Centre for Doctoral Studies can be utilised as required to provide training in a wide variety of topics, from transferable skills to academic areas directly relevant to the student's thesis.

Students are supported to submit papers based on their research findings to peer-reviewed academic journals.