FAQS
Can I get clinical experience during the programme?
Can I choose my supervisors?
What is a research proposal?
Clinical experience
This is not required and is therefore not assessed as part of a PhD. However, some students may wish to gain such experience, either because of its relevance to their research topic or because they hope to enter clinical training during or after their research degree.
Applying for psychoanalytic training is always supported and encouraged for those interested. Many Unit staff have begun their academic and psychoanalytic careers in parallel, and many of our MSc and PhD students make applications for training. Studying at the Unit does not give any priority to students in their applications to train elsewhere (or even within the Department if applying to its large clinical psychology programme), but the Unit staff are very experienced in advising would-be applicants about the options and procedures and will be pleased to write references for students considered suitable.
Students should be aware that in London unqualified paid clinical jobs, unpaid attachments and even placements where the student pays to gain experience are in great demand. Colleagues usually give priority to those who are either undertaking research of interest to them, or who have been accepted for training once such experience has been obtained, for example at the Institute of Psychoanalysis.
Students often choose to undertake a personal clinical analysis, but it is not required.
Supervision
Applicants should have a proposed research area with a UCL supervisor (or supervisor attached to the programme) in mind. This will be discussed with Dr Patrick Luyten and should he consider it suitable to proceed, they will make a preliminary contact with the supervisor that has been jointly selected. Following acceptance by the selection committee, the student will make a formal appointment to meet the supervisor. Each student is required to have two supervisors, the Primary (appointed by the Unit) and Secondary (the main supervisor), chosen by the student with the Graduate Tutor.
Research Proposal
UCL's application procedure requires that applicants include a research proposal. You should indicate what aspect of psychoanalysis you are interested in and how you intend to study it. For example, if you are interested in literature and psychoanalysis, who the author(s) are that you would like to look at and what psychoanalysis ideas would you want to focus on to help elucidate the work of that person. If your interests are in conceptual research, you should identify not only the concept that you want to work on, with a discussion of relevant background, but also the methodology that you are interested in, such as studying historical texts including Freud, or looking at how the concept is currently used, or both, etc. If you are interested in conducting empirical research, your proposal should contain a brief discussion of the relevant theoretical background, previous research in this area, a clear rationale for the study, and a proposal for methodology. Moreover, we strongly encourage research that combines conceptual and empirical research. The Graduate Tutor is available to discuss the suitability of your proposal.
For further guidance please refer to:http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/ucl-staff/academic-regulations-students/
