Psychological and Behavioural Sciences

Jesus College has a resident Fellow who specialises in Experimental Social Psychology: Professor Simone Schnall, an expert on the interaction of cognitive and affective processes. 

Dr Catherine O’Brien is Director of Studies for Parts IA and IB. Her research focuses on social and developmental psychology and has centred on schools - both primary and secondary - in terms of children and young people’s understanding of authority and power. She is also interested in autistic spectrum conditions from a social and developmental, and also depth psychology, perspective.

We encourage our students to develop their own interests within a supportive and challenging intellectual environment. Psychology is unique as a discipline because it spans a wide range of topic areas that can be approached from a biological perspective and a social science discipline.

Psychology is the study of the interface between mind and body. You should therefore have a good understanding of brain structures and processes, and bodily systems, including gene x environment interactions. Equally, you should understand the socio-cultural factors influencing or constituting our behaviour and the meanings we attach to it.

We are looking for those who can think both philosophically and neurobiologically about psychology. To a significant extent, this is a science-based course, therefore you should be prepared to engage with maths, statistics and methodology, and be keen to learn about cellular biology, synapses, neurotransmitters, anatomy, to a relatively in-depth level.

The University has published a video explaining what PBS is like at Cambridge. At Cambridge we emphasise the scientific study of Psychology and its link to other areas of study, which can be chosen as optional modules. In this way, our undergraduates have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and develop independence of thought and pleasure in intellectual engagement with the material.

The College has first rate study facilities, such as the Quincentenary Library, which has an excellent stock of textbooks and more advanced readings in Psychology and related areas, as well as a number of anatomical models that are useful for the study of the brain and neuroscientific investigation.

Our Psychology graduates find employment in a very wide range of professions because they develop a variety of skills that are popular with prospective employers, like the ability to analyse quantitative data, a skill that is extensively practiced in the form of statistical methods and research methods.

We're also very pleased to be able to welcome some of our graduates back as postgraduate students, in the first instance for the MPhil Degree in Social and Developmental Psychology, or as PhD students.