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We welcome applications to undertake research towards MPhil and PhD degrees in Psychology.

Research at Worcester has grown significantly in the last 10 years as the University itself has expanded. As a research student you will join a vibrant student community in our Research School and become part of our dynamic research environment.

Overview

Overview

School of Psychology

The School of Psychology has a strong mix of academics with a high degree of professional and personal experience, enabling you to get the most out of your programme. Our staff have expertise in occupational psychology (values-based recruitment, coaching, resilience), mental health (adult and adolescent mental health, trauma, mood disorders, anxiety), social and cognitive psychology (cognitive reasoning, emotional intelligence, evolutionary perspectives on human behaviour), counselling approaches (CBT, EMDR therapy, suicide prevention), and developmental (family diversity, individual differences) and forensic psychology (intimate partner violence, bystander interventions). Staff can offer a wide range of expertise in relation to research methods and the full range of research interests can be seen with the supervisor details.

Register your interest

Enter your details below and we will keep you up to date with useful information about studying at the University of Worcester.


Entry requirements

Entry requirements

Entry qualifications

For MPhil

  • First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree or an approved equivalent award

or

  • Research or professional experience which has resulted in appropriate evidence of achievement.

For PhD

  • Postgraduate Masters Degree in a discipline which is appropriate to the proposed programme of study

or

  • First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree or equivalent award in an appropriate discipline

or

  • Research or professional experience at postgraduate level which has resulted in published work, written reports or other appropriate evidence of achievement.

International applicants

International applicants will be required to demonstrate that they have the appropriate level of written and spoken English.

For MPhil/PhD this is an IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 in every component.

Programme structure

Programme structure

PhD year by year

After receiving your application, we try to establish if we have the necessary expertise to supervise your project and we begin to form a supervisory team for you. This will normally consist of a Director of Studies (DoS), who will be your lead supervisor, and at least one other supervisor, who will offer you additional support and guidance throughout your studies. If, following a successful interview, you are offered a place as a full-time student, your programme of study will look something like this:

First year

You will have submitted a draft research outline with your application. In your first year, you will be working towards submitting a more complete research proposal. You will be aided in your research by meeting with your supervisory team to discuss your progress. You will also be supported through your first year by engaging with a series of three modules as part of our Researcher Development Programme:

  • RSDP4001: Developing as a Researcher
  • RSDP4005: Approaches to Research
  • RSDP4004: Planning Your Research Project

At the end of each year, beginning with your first year, you will reflect on and formally review your progress with your supervisory team and MPhil/PhD Course Leader. We call this annual meeting an Annual Progress Review (APR).

Second year

In your second year, you will be collecting data and working on your research project under the supervision of your supervisors through regular meetings. You may at this point have research papers ready to publish and you may wish to attend conferences to present your research to other experts in your field. You will be able to apply to our Research Student Support Scheme for some funding for this purpose. Students normally undergo Transfer from MPhil to PhD towards the end of their second year. This will be part of your Annual Progress Review for this year.

Third and fourth years

In your third and fourth year, you will be writing up your thesis and preparing for your viva voce examination. This is an oral exam with two examiners and a chair. You can also request that your supervisor be present at the exam. The exam will take place after you have submitted your final thesis. After the exam, it is not unusual for the examiners to ask that some amendments be made to your thesis before the final award is confirmed and you will have additional time to do this. It is possible to complete the course in three years, but we have found that the majority of students do take four years to complete the course. At the end of each year of your registration, you will go through an Annual Progress Review.

Resources

Access to the University of Worcester’s virtual resources and its state-of-the-art library facilities. The Psychology team at Worcester have an excellent range of resources available to support your learning and your research project, including: Mobile eye-tracker & associated laptop, 2 x static computer-mounted eye-trackers (eye-tribe eye-trackers), Psychometric test library, 3 x video recorders, 2 x digital voice recorders, 11 x Fitbits, 1 x mobile EEG, 1 x E-prime software, 7 x iPads, and 20 x callipers.

Programme specification

If you would like to see a full programme specification for this course, please email AcademicQualityTeam@worc.ac.uk

Part time students follow the same structure as full-time students but normally complete the PhD over a period of five to six years. Part-time students take two modules in each of their first two years, and will normally Transfer to PhD in their fourth year.

Research areas

Research areas

Supervisors

Dr Mikahil Sulaiman Azad
Expertise: Islamophobia studies; British Muslim Communities; honour- based abuse; structural inequalities; experiences in HE; qualitative methodologies with a focus on ethnographic approaches to research.

Professor Eleanor Bradley 
Research specialisms: adult mental health; medicines conversations (information-exchange, concordance); family input and support (shared decision making, coproduction); non-medical prescribing; qualitative research. The application of health psychology theory to mental healthcare. Current projects include the input of families to shared decision making within adult mental healthcare, an exploration of the role of motivational interviewing as a resource for prescribing professionals to enhance communication within adult mental healthcare, and defining recovery within and between adult mental healthcare services. 
Research methodologies: predominantly qualitative, with a particular interest in constructivist grounded theory.

Dr Tanya Carpenter
Expertise: mindfulness; sustainability and wellbeing; psychodynamic theory and therapy; attachment theory; relationships and the family; qualitative methodologies.

Dr Sarah Davis
Expertise: individual differences; emotional intelligence; child and adolescent development; personality; mental health; stress and coping; resilience; social cognition; attentional bias; longitudinal; experimental and cross-sectional research designs; psychometric validation; quantitative statistical methods including structural equation modelling and conditional process modelling (Mediation and moderation).

Dr Daniel Farrelly
Expertise: evolutionary perspectives on human behaviour, in particular social and cognitive psychology; quantitative, experimental methods.

Dr Beverley Gilbert
Expertise: domestic abuse; gender-based violence; community peer mentoring of women with multiple and complex needs and community strengths; women’s survival; qualitative (including IPA), feminist and ethical methodologies interventions; violence intervention and effective work with perpetrators of domestic abuse.

Dr Kath Gordon-Smith
Expertise: comorbidities (physical and psychiatric) of major mood disorders; quantitative, longitudinal mood measures in bipolar disorder.

Dr Gillian Harrop
Expertise: violence and sexual violence; false allegations; domestic abuse; police investigation.

Professor Lisa Jones
Expertise: aetiology of major mood disorders (including bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis). 
Research methodologies: quantitative, longitudinal measures in major mood disorders.

Dr Ali Khoshfetrat
Expertise: clinical psychology; mental health; psychological and social risk factors for mental health problems; experiences of psychological interventions; quantitative methods and qualitative methodologies.

Dr Naomi Lee
Expertise: mental health and mental disorders (focus on mood disorders) cognitive bias; mental health interventions; quantitative methods.

Dr Béré Mahoney
Expertise: living with long-term conditions, with a focus on allergy and cancer; self-diagnosis of physical and mental illness; victimisation and survivorship of crime; qualitative and quantitative methods and methodologies including the analysis of ‘Big Data’; mixed and multi-methods research; transdisciplinary approaches to research.

Dr Claire McLoone-Richards
Expertise: domestic and sexual abuse; violence prevention including public health responses; historical and cultural perspectives on childhood and institutional abuse, familicide, sibling violence; child abuse; professional advocacy and practice; qualitative methodologies and mixed research.

Dr Blaire Morgan
Expertise: psycholinguistics, education, positive psychology, social psychology, moral education and virtue ethics; quantitative, mixed methods.

Dr Helen Scott
Expertise: occupational psychology; empathy and emotional intelligence; resilience; training and development interventions to support employee psychological wellbeing.
Research methodologies: quantitative, mixed methods.

Dr Charlotte E Taylor
Expertise: public health; living with long-term conditions; qualitative, quantitative and mixed research.

Dr Felix Why
Expertise: personality, individual differences; health psychology; occupational psychology; predictors of health, health behaviour and behaviour change; quantitative methods and psychometrics.

 

Careers

Careers

All students engage with our Researcher Development Programme (RDP). The RDP aims to develop and enhance the skills, both generic and specific, that you will need to complete your research degree but also to become an effective researcher. The RDP is organised around thematic clusters, consisting of modules, and workshops, delivered face-to-face by subject specialists from across the University and the dedicated Researcher Development Team, or online through our virtual learning environment.

As part of the RDP, you will complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods (PG Cert). All students must complete the PG Cert in order to progress on their MPhil/PhD Programme. The PG Cert is strongly focused on developing your programme of research, starting from establishing your development needs, and preparing you for the planning and subsequent delivery of your programme of research.

Full-time students will complete the PG Cert in 12 months and part-time students in 24 months.

Fees

Fees and funding

Fees

The current fees can be found within the tuition fees document on our figure out finances page.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Halls' at £131 per week to 'Ensuite Premium Halls' at £228 per week (2025/26 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.
How to apply

How to apply

Additional information

Please see guidance on Applying for an MPhil or Applying for a PhD to include application and interview deadlines.

If your research involves working with vulnerable adults and/or children then you may be required to obtain an Enhanced DBS check. There will be a small charge for this. For more information please contact research@worc.ac.uk.

We are committed to making reasonable adjustment. If you require an alternative format for making your application due to a disability, please contact us to discuss your needs on 01905 542182 or research@worc.ac.uk.

How to apply

Please make your application via our online application form. If you have any questions, please contact the Doctoral School on 01905 542182 or research@worc.ac.uk

Application links

MPhil

MPhil - September - Full time MPhil - September - Part time MPhil - January - Full time MPhil - January - Part time

PhD

PhD - September - Full time PhD - September - Part time PhD - January - Full time PhD - January - Part time

Get in touch

Dr Berenice Mahoney

b.mahoney@worc.ac.uk

Research School

research@worc.ac.uk
01905 542182

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