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Section 1 - The Course In Context

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A brief history of University College London

University College London is one of the top 10 universities in the World (The Times Higher Education league table). With Imperial College it is one of the great multi-faculty institutions in London, with particular strengths in medical sciences and in neuroscience.

Founded in 1826, UCL became the first university to welcome all people – regardless of their class, race, religion or sex – dramatically expanding access to higher education. The university’s teaching, research and community continue to be inspired by this radical tradition: the refusal to let convention inhibit progress.

Just 175 years ago, the benefits of a university education in England were restricted to men who were members of the Church of England; UCL was founded to challenge that discrimination. UCL was the first university to be established in England after Oxford and Cambridge, providing a progressive alternative to those institutions’ social exclusivity, religious restrictions and academic constraints.

Some interesting facts about UCL:

  • UCL was the first university in England to admit students of any race, class or religion, and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men.
  • Students from outside London, and from overseas, were present from the start.
  • A teaching programme was established in which religious beliefs would not constrain the dissemination of knowledge and exploration of ideas.
  • Academic disciplines were introduced as required by the emerging industrial and commercial society. This meant that UCL was the first English university to offer the systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.
  • The university's main building was designed by William Wilkins, who went on to build the National Gallery.

Psychology at UCL

The discipline of psychology sits in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences headed by Professor David Shanks. The Division is located within the Faculty of Brain Sciences. A full description of the Division’s activities can be found at: www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/.

Within the Division psychology is represented by three Research Departments:

The Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology  is an applied psychology grouping including educational, health and social psychology in addition to a large clinical psychology section.  The Research Department has 50 academic staff, 37 research staff and 14 support staff based at Torrington Place and Bedford Way.  In addition to the 126 DClinPsy trainees it has 29 PhD students and 69 Master’s students.  It is headed by Peter Fonagy, with Norah Frederickson (who leads the Educational Psychology section) as Deputy Head. In the last RAE submission the grouping could boast of over 700 peer reviewed publications and £33m research grant funding. 

The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience straddles life and medical sciences.  It is linked to the Wellcome Functional Imaging Laboratory and is one of the great centres for human neuroscience in the World. It is based at Queen’s Square and is headed by Professor  Geraint Rees.  

Cognition and Brain Sciences is a primarily experimental psychology group currently headed by Gabriella Vigliocco and has its own imaging and animal laboratory facilities situated in the Bedford Way building within which CBS is located. 

The Clinical Psychology programme is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Research Department and is based in Torrington Place. Trainees are members of the Research Department and are welcomed as participants in Departmental activities, including the general and specialist seminar series.

Also based at Torrington Place are the BPS Centre for Outcomes and Effectiveness (CORE, headed by Stephen Pilling) and the Psychoanalysis Unit (headed by Peter Fonagy).

CORE undertakes a number of major research programmes; perhaps the most significant in terms of public policy is its role in the preparation of NICE guidance on interventions for people with psychological problems.

The Psychoanalysis Unit hosts a number of programmes, including the MSc in Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies, the MSc in Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology and a Doctorate in Psychotherapy (Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy). These are linked to the Anna Freud Centre (a specialist treatment, research and clinical training institute located in Hampstead).