Our vibrant team of researchers consistently produce excellent research that addresses applied and theoretical issues in psychology; such as understanding the development of mental health problems, supporting children’s learning and improving health outcomes in ageing.
We aim to
- Produce world-leading, life-changing research that has national and international relevance
- Provide a vibrant and collaborative research environment to nurture and develop global leaders in psychology research
Themes
Our research falls into the following main themes:
Mental Health
- Big data to understand descriptors and predictors of mental health problems
- Health services provision, prevention and intervention
- Psychosis, trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and suicidal ideation, addiction
Children, Young People and Schools
- Impact of environmental, social and societal factors on child development
- Identifying and developing early intervention
- Early predictors of developmental outcomes, attachment, developmental differences (Specifically Autism), health interventions in schools, learning and educational achievement.
Health and Ageing
- Factors that influence our ageing society and the promotion of healthy ageing
- Multiple perspectives such as sports psychology, health psychology, psychopharmacology, rehabilitation sciences and health services provision.
- Food supplementation and cognition, physical activity to maintain healthy communities, drug therapies for dementia and motor rehabilitation after stroke.
Impact
Our research has tangible impact, we have transformed support and provision for people who have experienced conflict-related trauma, both in Northern Ireland and across the globe.
We have impacted policy on treatment and therapy following Stroke. We work in global contexts, using psychological methods to understand why communities use technology to access safe water.
We have worked with vulnerable children to understand the impact of growing up in the care system, informing education and judicial systems.
Facilities
We have state-of-the-art facilities in our recently renovated School of Psychology, including a Cognitive Science Laboratory (brain stimulation and recording), Human Performance and Exercise Laboratory (metabolic and cardiovascular analysis), Behavioural Insights Laboratory (eye tracking and biometric measurement) and a suite of human observation facilities (ideal for focus groups).
Our collaborations are interdisciplinary and international. We are proud to host the Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRC-NI), as part of a UK network supporting the use of administrative data. We also lead in Doctoral Training partnerships, such as the European H2020 training network Collaborative Network for Training and Excellence in Psychotraumatology (Context).