Category Archives: News

Dr Rachel Povey blogs on encouraging children to make healthy choices

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Dr Rachel Povey (Associate Professor in Health Psychology & Co-director of Staffordshire University’s Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology) blogs about her recent research on encouraging healthy eating amongst schoolchildren and public engagement:

Last November I was invited to give an assembly at a primary school in Stockport, in order to promote their “healthy eating” week.  I hadn’t given an assembly before, and was apprehensive, but excited about speaking to 420 primary school children.

I produced a few colourful slides about making healthy eating choices, and together with Lisa Cowap, we launched our assembly. The fun part was luring the head teacher with an iced doughnut, and asking a number of children to come out and try and persuade her to eat an apple instead.

At the end of the assembly Lisa and I launched a competition where we asked children to design a poster advert to persuade people to eat fruit and vegetables. The competition was designed in collaboration with a local book shop (@simplybooksNo1) who donated vouchers to spend in their shop for the prizes. The competition inspired children to produce lots of brilliant artwork, with some also using excellent motivational messages.  A panel of independent judges rated the work, and a winner and two runners up were chosen. The winners were announced in an assembly in January, and all three winning entries are now on show in Simply Books café (see below). The experience was a rewarding one, and if it encourages even a few children to think about making healthy choices, it was worth it.

 

Staffordshire University – The Home of Health Psychology

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research.

Keep updated with the latest Health Psychology news from Staffordshire University via following us on @StaffsPsych and via the #HealthPsychStaffs hashtag.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

World Bipolar Day 2017: Raising awareness & new research at Staffordshire University

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This Thursday (30th March 2017) is the annual World Bipolar Day, a day to raise awareness and understanding of Bipolar-related conditions and reduce stigma. World Bipolar Day is held on the same date as the birthday of Vincent van Gogh, the renowned Dutch artist who likely experienced some form of bipolar-related condition. Dr Robert Dempsey, Lecturer in Psychology at Staffordshire University, conducts research to understand the role of psychosocial factors in the experience of and vulnerability to bipolar.

Dr Dempsey comments that around one in every hundred people experiences a bipolar-related condition. People living with bipolar experience changeable moods including mania, a heightened state associated with increased behavioural activity, energy and speeded thoughts, and depression, including the experience of low mood, sleep difficulties and low energy. There are many other experiences associated with bipolar-related conditions, including increased anxiety, psychosis and other general health-related issues, so people’s experience of bipolar can vary. People living with bipolar also often report difficulties in their social and personal lives, and have an increased risk of dying by suicide compared to the general population. Estimates suggest that around 19% of people with a clinical diagnosis of bipolar die by suicide, but this could be an underestimate given that some people do not come into contact with healthcare services and may not receive a bipolar diagnosis, so the actual rate could be higher. It is important to note that many people with bipolar maintain a high quality of life, self-manage the symptoms associated with a bipolar diagnosis very well, and many attribute positives with their diagnosis such as increased empathy, creativity and enhanced emotions (Lobban et al., 2012).

The research we conduct here at Staffordshire University does not treat bipolar as an ‘abnormal’ experience, rather we see a bipolar continuum on which everyone in the general population is located, with some experiencing more severe and changeable moods than others. We focus on understanding the interaction between psychological and social factors in people’s experiences of bipolar and have conducted various studies in this area (1, 2, 3, 4).

Our current research has investigated the role of appraisals of an individual’s social environment in the experience of suicidality for people living with bipolar. We have conducted qualitative interview studies to understand the role of various social factors in the experience of suicidality for people with bipolar (5), the complex relationship between bipolar and social functioning and vice versa (6), as well as the experience of talking about suicidality in our interviews from the perspective of our participants (7). We are currently analysing data from a quantitative study investigating the prospective predictors of suicidality in a sample of people with bipolar, and have already reported that feelings of defeat and internal entrapment (feelings of being trapped by one’s moods and thoughts) are a predictor of increased suicidal ideation over time (8). By better understanding the psychosocial precursors of suicidality experienced by people with bipolar we can inform the development of more effective, targeted interventions to improve outcomes for people living with bipolar.

I hope that World Bipolar Day helps to raise awareness of bipolar-related conditions, improve the understanding of the varied experiences associated with bipolar, and helps to reduce the stigma that is often associated with bipolar and other related conditions.

Dr Rob Dempsey was also briefly featured on the BBC Radio Stoke news bulletins on 30th March discussing his research into suicidality and bipolar (click here to listen: from 3:15 into the programme).

WBD is an initiative of International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF) in collaboration with the Asian Network of Bipolar Disorder (ANBD) and the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD). For more information about World Bipolar Day please visit http://ibpf.org/webform/world-bipolar-day.

Dr Rob Dempsey is Co-Director of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, home to psychology-related research at Staffordshire University.  The Centre is home to a number of research-active psychologists who are engaged in research across a wide range of psychological subdisciplines. The Centre has two overarching research streams, Health and Behaviour Change, and Applied Perception and Cognition.

The Centre provides training for PhD students, Research Masters degrees, as well as Professional Doctorates in Clinical and Health Psychology (click here for more details). The Centre also provides bespoke training to private and public organisations, as well as expertise for consultancy research opportunities. For more details about the Centre, its research activities, events and consultancy, please visit our website (click here).

Psychology & Me 2017: How does Psychology impact our everyday lives?

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In the Department of Psychology we love a chance to showcase how psychology can impact you in your everyday life. We were delighted to welcome over 80 guests to the Science Centre on Wednesday 22nd March for our annual event, ‘Psychology and Me‘, which was organised this year by Dr Nichola Street and Dr Daniel Jolley, both Lecturers in Psychology.

‘Psychology and Me’ was an interactive evening showcasing the latest technology and research from Staffordshire University’s Department of Psychology. Guests attending enjoyed the evening of short expert talks on different aspects of Psychology, where we explored if watching television affects children’s creativity, what may affect our memory and how psychology can improve our health behaviour. Dr Daniel Jolley, co-organiser, also spoke about how psychology can help explain why we believe in conspiracy theories.

“Psychologists are learning more about why so many millions of people believe in conspiracy theories and what the potential consequences of conspiracy theories may be.  We all know of at least one conspiracy theory, so it was great to showcase to the guests how psychology can help explain why so many people believe in them”

Visitors then had the chance to get hands-on with a variety of demonstrations of psychology in action, from measuring brainwaves with EEG testing to being involved in a casino-style craps table to explore gambling habits, using iPad technology to demonstrate classic facial illusions, and getting behind the wheel in our driving simulator to test how good your attention is when driving.

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For all the demonstrations, visitors were able to learn the psychology that underpinned the activity, and how it could be applied to them in everyday life. Dr Nichola Street, Lecturer and co-organiser said:

“We were delighted to see each guest getting hands-on with the demonstrations.  There was a real buzz around the Science Centre!  If you were unable to join us, you can find plenty of photos and videos on Twitter via our #StaffsPsychMe hashtag”

            ‘Psychology and Me’ was only made possible with the support of many staff and students throughout the University. Judy David, Head of the Department of Psychology, led this thanks on the evening and has said:

“I’m very grateful to the large numbers of psychology staff and student helpers who were there throughout the evening demonstrating, chatting to visitors and representing their pride in Psychology at Staffordshire University. The feedback received from everyone was excellent and we are already looking forward to next year!”

We look forward to welcoming you to ‘Psychology and Me’ in 2018!

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details, and to book your place at an open day, please visit: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

For more information about the undergraduate Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the course profiles below:

Student Blog: “Help! My child’s a neophobe!”

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Dr Sarah Rose (Lecturer in Psychology & Director of the Children’s Lab at Staffordshire University) introduces a blog by a current Staffordshire Psychology & Child Development Student:

Sharing the findings of research in psychology is important. To develop the skills required for this, our third year BSc Psychology and Child Development students have been writing informational blogs aimed at parents. These have been completed as part of a series of tasks designed to develop their ability to share psychological research findings in an informative and engaging way. The work below was written by current student Carol Ashley.

Help! My child’s a neophobe!

It’s official, I am a failure as a mother, I have raised a food neophobe, albeit unwittingly. Apparently, my child’s road to ruin began when she was just 14 months old. Researchers at Queensland University have indicated that the type of foods introduced at this age can determine whether or not a child will be a fussy eater (the neophobe in question) by the time they reach the (very precise) age of 3.7 years.

The 2016 study speaks grandly about “non-core foods” by which I’m assuming they mean the custard creams I gave her (I was trying to finish the ironing). However, on a serious note, I realise I may have been slightly lax when it came to introducing new vegetables and occasionally resorted to the fast food option.

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The research points out the difference between fruit and vegetables never having been offered rather than actually being refused. My daughter balked at her first taste of broccoli and turned up her nose at other vegetables too. Fruit was a different story, she liked every type I gave to her and, in my defence, she ate a lot more fruit than the dreaded non-core foods with their saturated fats, added sugars and salt. Nevertheless, the study suggests that being introduced to different vegetables at 14 months a child would later like more vegetables and fruit, yet eating fruit may not mean they will like more vegetables – still with me? Interestingly the research found no connection between the content of the diet with a toddler’s BMI score, but don’t be fooled – this could affect children as they get older.

As is usually the case there is another school of thought that restricting a child’s diet is counter-productive. In 2014, Rollins, and his colleagues suggested that there may be a link between inherited and environmental influences in the emergence of the fussy eater. So is it my fault that my daughter is partial to the odd chicken nugget or fish finger, has my horror of the “golden arches” and the eerie clown lit an unquenchable flame? Or could it be inherited from me? I cannot look a Brussels sprout in the eye!

Can this pattern be reversed? Well, Webber (2010) states that it takes 8-15 attempts before taste buds become accustomed to flavours, so armed with my trusty steam cooker, I am determined that at the grand age of 3.7 years my tiny neophobe will learn that broccoli is not the root of all evil.

Interested in Psychology? Come to an Open Day & find Staffs-Uni-Hi-Res_45-1024x683out more about Psychology courses at Staffordshire University.

Thinking about taking a Psychology degree or a related course? Come to one of Staffordshire University’s Open Days and find out more! Book your place via: www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

Find out about our Psychology degrees, including our highly rated BSc Psychology & Child Development degree and our Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses.

#HomeOfHealthPsychology on Tour: Midlands Health Psychology Network Conference, Coventry

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Dr Amy Burton (Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology & Course Director MSc in Health Psychology) blogs about a recent conference trip with staff and students from the Centre for Health Psychology at Staffordshire University.

Staff and students recently attended and presented at the Midlands Health Psychology Network Conference. The event, held at Coventry University on the 2nd March 2017, was attended by over 20 current staff and MSc, Professional Doctorate and PhD students from Staffordshire University.

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Poster contributions included: MSc Student Laura Campbell, who presented her Masters research investigating causal attributions towards people with familial Hypercholesterolaemia; Professional Doctorate student Dayyanah Sumodhee on her exploration of healthy eating in people attempting to quit smoking; and PhD students Sonia Begum, Sian Calvert and Claudia Lega. Staffordshire University also contributed to oral presentations with Professional Doctorate Student Meghan Linscott delivering a well-received talk on the benefits of applying Health Psychology to urban planning.

Meghan Linscott, Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology Student

Meghan Linscott, Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology Student

Meghan enjoyed the opportunity to deliver her first presentation at a local friendly conference: “For me, the conference was an excellent opportunity to deliver an oral presentation for the first time. Whilst I am pleased with how it went, I feel confident that my performance will be much better the next time I present at a conference, so this was a very valuable experience for me. For a relatively small conference, I am so pleased it attracts an audience from undergraduate students right through to the influential health psychology figures. I like how varied the talks were and I thought the talks about health psychology and public health were particularly insightful for the whole audience.”

A trip to the conference was built in to the MSc Health Psychology teaching programme to ensure all current students had the opportunity to attend. MSc student Riana Mansfield really enjoyed the experience: “I found the conference was a fantastic opportunity to find out about real-life applications of health psychology in various fields, in some areas which I hadn’t considered before, such as audiology. I enjoyed hearing about the many different career paths health psychology can open the door to and it gave me food  for thought on my potential next steps following my degree. Thank you for the opportunity to attend the conference and to network with professionals and fellow students from different areas sharing the same interest in Health Psychology!”

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#HomeOfHealthPsychology on Tour

MSc student Sam Ridyard also valued the opportunity to learn about future possibilities for Health Psychology careers; “I really enjoyed attending the conference. It was a good opportunity to see what others in our field are involved with and to communicate with others in Health Psychology, and I have come away with a number of ideas about post-MSc avenues to take”.  While MSc student Lucy Field valued the opportunity to network with other Health Psychologists and trainees: “The MHPN was a fantastic conference and we were very lucky to attend as part of our MSc course. It was great to listen to current researchers and connect with health psychologists”.

Once again, as MSc Course Director I was impressed by our Health Psychology students. They all presented extremely well and made sure they took every opportunity to network and discuss their research with others at the conference. I look forward to attending again next year.

The Midlands Health Psychology Network

The MHPN hold a one day conference in February every year which is attended by around 100 members from across the Midlands and is a forum for health psychologists to share clinical and research experiences, information, knowledge and training. Existing members include MSc students, doctorate students, chartered health psychologists based at local NHS sites and regional universities, third sector employees, senior and early career academics, health practitioners and pharmacists. To learn more about the MHPN please visit their website: www.mhpn.co.uk

Staffordshire University – The Home of Health Psychology

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Psychology is a centre of excellence for teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Centre for Health Psychology is part of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research.

Keep updated with the latest Health Psychology news from Staffordshire University via following us on @StaffsPsych and via the #HealthPsychStaffs hashtag.

For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:

Dr Daniel Jolley blogs about his recent research on the psychology of conspiracy theories

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Dr Daniel Jolley (Lecturer in Psychology, Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) blogs about his recent research:

In a recent paper published in Political Psychology by myself, Karen Douglas and Robbie Sutton from the University of Kent, we found that conspiracy theories might be a way that people can defend their everyday lifestyle when society is under threat. In other words, conspiracy theories may sometimes bolster rather than undermine support for the social status quo when its legitimacy is threatened.

Conspiracy theories are associated with almost every significant social and political event, such as the suggested theory that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.  A similar thread throughout conspiracy narratives is that they point accusing fingers at authority (such as the government).  Conspiracy theories single out a small group of perceived wrongdoers who are not representative of society more generally but instead are working against us.  Believing in conspiracy theories may, therefore, give people the opportunity to blame the negative actions on these wrongdoers, thus then bolstering support for the social system in general; blaming a few bad apples to save a threatened barrel.

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This argument is in line with system justification theory which proposes that we all have a motivation to hold positive views about the society that we live in.  When our society is threatened, however, we seek to defend or bolster the status quo; for example, people may use stereotypes – which are mental shortcuts about different groups of people – to justify differences between people to maintain the status quo that we are used to.  In our new paper, we argue that belief in conspiracy theories may join the ranks of these system-justification processes.

We tested the system-justifying idea across several research studies, using both undergraduate students and members of the general public.  We found that conspiracy theories increased when the legitimacy of society was threatened, and that also being exposed to conspiracy theories increased satisfaction with the status quo when under threat.  We found that conspiracy theories were able to increase satisfaction with society in general because people blamed society’s problems on a small group of wrongdoers, rather than society in general.

This research provides a new understanding of the role that conspiracy theories may place in our society.  To directly quote the end of the paper: “The present results suggest that by pointing fingers at individuals – even groups of individuals charged with operating the system – conspiracy theories may exonerate the system, just as blaming a driver for a car crash shifts blame from the car.”

Reference: Jolley, D., Douglas, K.M, & Sutton R. (in press).  Blaming a few bad apples to save a threatened barrel: The system-justifying function of conspiracy theories.  Political Psychology.

The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research is home to research activity in the Psychology Department at Staffordshire Centre. The Centre is home to a number of research-active psychologists who are engaged in research across a wide range of psychological subdisciplines. The Centre has two overarching research streams, Health and Behaviour Change, and Applied Perception and Cognition.

The Centre provides training for PhD students, Research Masters degrees, as well as Professional Doctorates in Clinical and Health Psychology (click here for more details). The Centre also provides bespoke training to private and public organisations, as well as expertise for consultancy research opportunities. For more details about the Centre, its research activities, events and consultancy, please visit our website (click here).

Psychology & Me 2017: Upcoming Psychology Event at Staffordshire University

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The Psychology Department at Staffordshire University are very pleased to announce Psychology and Me, a fun and interactive evening with a chance to learn how psychology relates to you and your everyday life. This is your invite to join us!

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Psychology and Me aims to inspire and enthuse you in showcasing how psychology applies to real world issues. There will be three stages to the evening; getting you to ‘listen’, have ‘hands-on; experience and then, a ‘chance to win’.

Psychology and Me: Listen

Have you ever wondered…Is children’s creativity effected by time in front of the TV? Are conspiracy theories harmful? A series of short expert talks will explore these and other fascinating questions.

Psychology and Me: Hands on

Try your hand at learning how our equipment works such as how we tell if you are stressed, how we can measure your brain activity with EEG and how we test your reaction skills in our driving simulator, amongst other fun demonstrations.

Psychology and Me: A chance to win

Having taken part in the hands on activities, you have a chance to win some Love2Shop vouchers. Entry information and winners announced on the night.

Psychology and Me will take place at Staffordshire University’s Science Centre, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent, on Wednesday 22nd March 6 – 8:30pm. Click here to view the location of the Science Centre on Staffordshire University’s Stoke-on-Trent campus. The event includes free on-site parking and refreshments.

Book Tickets: Reserve your (free) space at https://psychologyandme.eventbrite.com or contact psychologyevents@staffs.ac.uk for more information.

Follow @StaffsPsych and #StaffsPsychMe on Twitter for updates

Feb17 Psych and Me banner

(Artwork designed by our Level 6 student Chris Vale)

Mental Health Research Seminar: “Bipolar Disorder & Suicidality” and “Books, Meaning and Hope”

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Dr Robert Dempsey (Lecturer in Psychology & Co-director of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) blogs about a recent seminar on mental health-related research.

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Rob presenting research at the CHAD seminar in November 2016

I was pleased to be able to present some of our ongoing bipolar disorder and suicidality research at a seminar hosted by Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health and Development, a collaboration between the University and local councils (Stoke-on-Trent City and Staffordshire County councils) which focuses on addressing health inequalities. We held the seminar for the second time at the Staffordshire County Council Buildings in Stafford in February 2017, with myself and researchers from the South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust presenting research to a mixed audience of academics, service-users, charity workers, public health staff and representatives from the local councils. (Click here for a write-up of the first seminar)

My talk presented some of the latest findings from our research focusing on understanding the experiences of suicidality amongst people with a bipolar disorder diagnosis, including the need to better understand the psychological pathways to suicidality for people living with bipolar disorder (especially to design appropriate interventions to reduce suicidality). I presented some findings from a new paper investigating the mediating role of perceptions of defeat and entrapment on the experience of suicidal ideation at a four month follow-up amongst a sample of people with bipolar disorder.

Our paper is the first to investigate the role of defeat and entrapment in the experience of suicidality for people with bipolar disorder, despite defeat and entrapment being key predictors of suicidality according to several key theories of suicide and being previously associated with suicidality amongst other groups (e.g. people living with psychosis and post-traumatic stress). Our findings suggest that a sense of ‘internal entrapment’, being trapped by your own thoughts and feelings, explains the relationship between defeat (a sense of low social rank) and suicidal ideation. Interestingly, ‘external entrapment’ (by social circumstances, for example) did not mediate this relationship, suggesting that there is a pathway to suicidality through feeling entrapped by your own thoughts and moods when feeling defeated – which makes sense in the context of bipolar disorder, where many people experience changeable moods and other symptoms which may not always be easy to predict or manage. One possibility is that the experience of bipolar disorder may be a defeating one for some individuals.

I also briefly presented some ongoing analyses into the role of perceived social support on these pathways to suicidality, which seem to indicate that perceptions of social support are important in reducing feelings of defeat and entrapment (prior to feeling suicidal) but not after someone feels defeated/entrapped. We are continuing to analyse this data, but it appears that perceived social support has a specific role in the pathway to suicidality suggesting that boosting individuals’ awareness of their social support resources may lower the risk of feeling defeated/trapped by their thoughts, feelings and current circumstances.

Our defeat/entrapment mediation paper is currently in press and we hope to publish further articles on our suicidality data in the near future:

  • Owen, R., Dempsey, R., Jones, S., & Gooding, P. (in press). Defeat and Entrapment in Bipolar Disorder: Exploring the relationship with suicidal ideation from a psychological theoretical perspective. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.

It was also pleasing to hear about some service-user led research into the role of ‘book indexclubs’ for individuals in recovery from various mental health conditions. Dr Joy Thorneycroft and Dr David Dobel-Ober talked about how these book clubs were co-produced between service-users and healthcare staff and aimed to help support service-users in recovery and post-discharge from trusts. Joy and David’s talk included some very interesting qualitative data about the challenges and benefits associated with running these groups, including good practice for running other co-produced groups in the future. What seemed particularly important was that the book groups were informal, unpressured (in terms of having to read a certain number of books per month), and were run in a ‘non-mental health’ setting (i.e. a local library). Their evaluation of these groups suggested that they were particularly helpful with boosting the attendees’ self-confidence and social interaction, if not with more specific issues like concentration difficulties associated with the experience of and recovery from depression.

Both talks highlighted the importance of social support and interaction for improving mental health outcomes and recovery – irrespective of whether support is perceived or based on actual, in-person interactions with others. Giving opportunities for social interaction for those experiencing an ongoing mental health issue, and reinforcing their available support resources, may be critical for improving mental health outcomes.

Staffs-Uni-Hi-Res_45-1024x683The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research is a hub for research excellence for psychology research at Staffordshire University. The Centre is a lively and active research community, including established academic researchers, early career researchers and postgraduate students. The Centre runs a regular series of public engagement events, including research seminars and Psychology in the Pub talks which are open to the public (click here for more details).

The Centre houses experts from a variety of psychological disciplines, including our renowned Centre for Health Psychology, and offers Postgraduate Training in Research, including Applied Masters by Research courses, MSc in Health Psychology, MPhil/PhDs, as well as taught Professional Doctorates in Health and Clinical Psychology.

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

Sarah Higgins wins the National BPS/ATSiP Technical Support in Psychological Teaching Award!

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We are very pleased to announce that Sarah Higgins, Technical Sarah-HSkills Specialist in the Psychology Department at Staffordshire University, has won a National Award in recognition of her excellent contribution to teaching!

Sarah’s award is jointly recognised by the British Psychological Society and the Association of Technical Staff in Psychology (ATSiP), and has been announced as a joint-winner of this year’s award. Sarah has been invited to the BPS’s Annual Conference to be held in Brighton in May 2017 to receive her award.

Sarah’s award recognises her excellence in teaching, her contributions to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, supporting staff research projects, her advanced technical skills knowledge as well as her interactions with prospective students at Open Days where she demonstrates the state-of-the-art equipment housed in the £30 million Science Centre home to the Psychology Department. Sarah is also an active member of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, home to Staffordshire University’s psychological research, and has previously won national prizes for her own research (click here for further details).

Judy David, Academic Group Lead for Psychology and one of the team who nominated Sarah for the award, commented:

“Psychology is so proud of Sarah, and we feel very lucky indeed to have her in our Technical Team.  The award is so richly deserved! Sarah works incredibly hard in teaching and supporting students and helping them learn new skills and knowledge. We are delighted this has been recognised with this prestigious award.  With two award winners now in our technical team, we know our students are getting the very best experience possible!”

Dr Amy Burton, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology who was also part of the nominating team, said:

“Sarah is an irreplaceable member of the team having progressed from being an undergraduate student to MSc level and now actively contributing to our MSc Health Psychology. Sarah has shown a fantastic commitment to our students from assisting at open afternoons, giving applicants a taste of the equipment and inspiration on how it might be used, through to one-to-one tutorials facilitating the use of complex technical equipment.

In particular, Sarah plays an essential role in the learning and development of our MSc Health Psychology students and supports them to complete high quality, well-designed and innovative research using technology and equipment at the forefront of the discipline. Sarah fully deserves this award and we are very proud and lucky to have her as part of our team.”

Many congratulations to Sarah on her fine achievement!

Staffs-Uni-Hi-Res_45-1024x683The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details, and to book your place at an open day, please visit: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

Opportunity for a Paid Internship as a Graduate Psychology Technical Support Assistant

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The Psychology Technical Skills Specialists at Staffordshire University are looking to recruit a Graduate Psychology Technical Support Assistant to begin in January 2017. This is an exciting opportunity to develop your practical and applied psychology related technical skills by supporting student learning, research and enterprise activities and developing technical materials.

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This is a 12 week full-time graduate paid internship available to Staffordshire Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from 2016. If you consider yourself to be enthusiastic, an excellent team player and have a willingness and interest in developing psychology related technical skills then this may be the role for you!

Closing date: 18th December 2016 with interviews week commencing 19th December 2016.

For more information and to apply for this internship please go to: https://www.unitemps.com/Search/JobDetails/11946

Staffs-Uni-Hi-Res_45-1024x683The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England.  We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details, and to book your place at an open day, please visit: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/openyourmind/

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.