Ph.D. Program in Psychological and Brain Sciences

Graduate students in the Ph.D. program are trained to be knowledgeable about the discipline of psychology and to apply modern experimental and theoretical techniques to specific areas of inquiry within psychology. Training takes place in a variety of formal and informal ways, including graduate courses and seminars, research, and teaching practicum.

Area Seminars

Each student completes a sequence of Area Seminars during their first two years in which they become familiar with the discipline of psychology. All departmental faculty participate in the Area Seminars, in which both faculty and students lead discussions of significant research and theory. There are Area Seminars in biopsychology and cognitive/developmental psychology.

Advanced and Topical Seminars

Advanced and Topical Seminars are offered every semester. Each seminar is led by one or more faculty members, and focuses in depth on a topic in psychology. Topics vary from one semester to the next and reflect the interests of faculty and graduate students.

Research Seminars

Groups of students and faculty meet regularly to present (both formally and informally) the results of their own and other relevant research.

Research

Every graduate student engages in supervised and independent research throughout their graduate training, starting with a first-year research project and culminating in a dissertation project. Although students often come to Hopkins to study with a particular professor, many become involved in a number of research projects with different faculty, thereby gaining a range of research experience during their graduate careers. Students are expected to present the outcome of their collaborative and independent research at regional and national meetings and in published journal articles.

Teaching Practicum

All graduate students teach under faculty supervision. They work closely with professors of undergraduate courses and independently plan and conduct seminars during the January Intersession. Learning to teach is an important part of the graduate curriculum.