Psychology
About
The Department of Psychology at Mary Immaculate College is committed to providing outstanding education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and conducting excellent research. Our dedicated members of staff are all qualified to the highest level in their subject and are research active. Moreover, they are vastly experienced at teaching and place great emphasis on the needs and experience of students.
Psychology at Mary Immaculate College can be studied at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
The Department of Psychology offers the following three undergraduate programmes:
- BSc Psychology programme - a single honours psychology programme that focuses on applications of psychology
- Psychology in the Bachelor of Arts programme - a joint honours programme that allows students to combine psychology with another arts subject.
- BEd in Education and Psychology programme - a unique dual undergraduate degree in psychology and education.
Each of the programmes provides a different pathway into psychology and all three programmes are accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI). These programmes also include work placement/s to gain real world employability skills alongside core psychology content.
This blend of scientific theory and real-world application gives students a chance to develop incredibly valuable critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.
Psychology can also be studied at postgraduate level within the Department of Psychology at MIC. We regularly advertise funded positions for those seeking to study for a research master’s degree or a doctoral level qualification.
Subject Overview
Undergraduate
Undergraduate psychology at Mary Immaculate College is studied either as a single honours degree programme within the BSc Psychology programme or alongside a second subject; either as part of the BA Liberal Arts programme or the B Ed in Education and Psychology programme. The core psychology content of all three programmes is similar and meets all the standards for accreditation with the Psychological Society of Ireland. Each programme then additionally has its own specialism, be that, applications in psychology in the case of the BSc Psychology programme, education in the case of the BEd Education and Psychology or your choice of arts subjects within the BA Psychology programme.
Below are some examples of modules we offer within our undergraduate Psychology provision at MIC.
| Core Modules |
|---|
| Individual and Developmental Influences on Behaviour |
| Social Psychology |
| Introduction to Research |
| Cognitive Psychology |
| Psychology and Social Justice |
| Lifespan Development |
| Personality and Individual Differences |
| Human Behaviour and Mental Health |
| Biological Basis of Behaviour |
| Work and Organisational Psychology |
| Design and Ethical Evaluation of Psychological Research |
| Skills for Study and Work |
| Critical Perspectives on Research |
| Dissertation in Psychology |
| Controversies in Psychology |
| Elective Modules |
|---|
| Advanced Issues in Educational Psychology |
| The Psychology of Motivation |
| Development, Difference and Diversity |
| Health Psychology |
| Bodies and Behaviour in Context |
| Organisational Psychology |
| Developmental Psychology |
Postgraduate
Postgraduate research qualifications offered in Psychology at MIC include a Master’s degree by Research and PhD study. If you are interested in pursuing these routes at MIC the best place to start is to read individual staff research profiles and make an initial informal enquiry with the member of staff who matches your research interests.
Funded opportunities are available through the MIC Doctoral Award, MIC Doctoral Studentship Award, MIC Postgraduate Studentship Award, and Departmental Assistantships. All of these opportunities carry a stipend and full fee waiver. For more information, contact a member of staff with whom your proposed research aligns.
We are currently seeking applications for Departmental Assistantships.
The MIC Departmental Assistantship Award is offered to postgraduate students who are prepared to participate in departmental and college activities (tutorial/seminar/laboratory/field work/course work marking etc.) for a maximum of 108 hours in the academic year. An assistantship entitles the student to a fee waiver and a subsistence bursary of €6,900. For informal enquiries, please contact Psychology@mic.ul.ie.
Staff
Blog
Research
Staff in the Department of Psychology at Mary Immaculate College are engaged in a variety of research projects aimed at developing knowledge and having a real-world impact on a national and international scale. Staff regularly publish their work in peer-reviewed journals, present at international conferences, and inform practice in applied areas. Generally, our research expertise falls under the areas of personality, stress, and health, education, community and social psychology, and the work of the Cognition, Development, and Learning Lab.
Cardiovascular responses to stress is the focus of two of our researchers. Dr Niamh Higgins examines attention towards or away from threat with an emphasis on physiological response.
This also includes personality influences. Similarly, Dr Paul Mulcahy is interested in the reactivity to stress in different individuals and the impact on sleep deprivation. Dr Higgins is also currently active in research regarding youth mental health and individuals working with musculoskeletal pain.
Dr Marc Scully leads research on individual’s identification with a place, particularly related to migration. Dr Scully is highly active in discourse surrounding Irish diaspora issues.
Dr Marek McGann aids in the management of a national forum project, the Teaching Research Expertise Exchange (T-REX), which aims to build a digital bridge between academic and professional practice. This fits with Dr McGann’s ongoing interest in the practice of science and implementation.
Prof Niamh Stack research is predominantly in the areas of gifted education, ecopsychology and community psychology.
Researchers in the Cognition, Development and Learning Lab in the Department of Psychology, led by Dr Suzanne Egan, study the factors that impact on how we think, reason, learn, solve problems and interact with others, with a special focus on early experiences. Examining data from children, parents, preschool educators, and teachers, we aim to understand the interactions and interdependencies between people's physical and social environments and their cognitive and socioemotional development. For current information about research from the lab please check the Department of Psychology blog or Dr Egan’s profile page.
These are some of the research questions and topics we focus on:
- What level of outdoor play are Irish children engaged in?
- How much of an impact does reading to infants have for later cognitive development?
- What sorts of different activities and games in the home learning environment influence socio-emotional development?
- What effect does screen use have on development during early childhood?
Postgraduate Opportunities
Departmental Assistantships 2024
General Information
The Department of Psychology, Mary Immaculate College, is now accepting applications for a funded Departmental Assistantships in Psychology beginning in September 2024.
The successful applicant will work under the supervision of a member of staff in the Department of Psychology. They will be provided with a fee waiver (two years for a research M.A. student; four years for a Ph.D. student) and an annual stipend of €6,900 (two years for a research M.A. student; three years for a Ph.D. student). The applicant will undertake tutorial or other departmental work, to a maximum of 120 hours per year.
General information on the Departmental Assistantship funding scheme is available here: https://www.mic.ul.ie/researc…
Application Process - Part One
To be considered for a Departmental Assistantship, applicants should identify a research topic and supervisor, and complete a research postgraduate application. Information on this process is available here
It is essential that potential applicants allow sufficient time to prepare an application in conjunction with a potential supervisor. Further information on the research interests of faculty in the Department of Psychology is available here: https://www.mic.ul.ie/faculty-of-arts/department/psychology
We are particularly welcoming applications this year to work with the supervisors below in the following areas:
Dr Paul Mulcahy/Dr Niamh Higgins: Social support reciprocity and cardiovascular reactivity to stress - The proposed PhD project would investigate the relationship between a reciprocity-oriented framework of social support and acute cardiovascular stress reactivity, and explore how other individual difference variables such as personality factors may moderate this relationship.
Dr Lorcan Cronin: life skills development in youth sport, PE, dance, or higher education; life skills as a way of combatting depression, anxiety and stress; sport and exercise psychology.
Dr Marc Scully: Social psychological approaches to migration, transnationalism and diaspora. Discourses of local and national identity. Identities and pro-environmental behaviour – the focus within these topics will preferably be on qualitative methodologies
Prof Niamh Stack: Ecopsychology, outdoor learning, gifted development, developmental impact of growing up with congenital heart disease, community psychology – the focus within these topics will preferably be on qualitative methodologies
Application Process - Part Two
The applicant should complete a Departmental Assistantship (Psychology) application.
Selection Criteria
- Academic record at undergraduate level;
- Academic record at postgraduate level (if appropriate);
- Research M.A. or Ph.D. project;
- Aptitude for teaching undergraduate students in tutorials.
Application Process - Part Three
Applicants should submit the following documents in hard copy or by email to the Head of Department, Prof Niamh Stack (Niamh.Stack@mic.ul.ie):
- Academic transcript(s).
- A copy of the research M.A. or Ph.D. application.
- A short statement indicating aptitude for teaching undergraduate psychology students in tutorials (maximum 200 words).
The deadline for applications is noon on Friday 16th August 2024.
Selection Process
The department will convene a Selection Committee consisting of the Head of Department (chair) and at least two other members of staff. The committee will assess applications on the basis of the selection criteria and make recommendation(s) for approval via the Research and Graduate School to the Executive Team. The Head of Department will notify applicants of the outcome of the selection process as soon as possible.
Late Applications
Late applications will be welcomed if Department Assistantships in the Department of Psychology remain unfilled after the deadline. Please contact Prof Niamh Stack (Niamh.Stack@mic.ul.ie)
Contact Information
Please direct general queries to:
Prof Niamh Stack, Head of Department (Niamh.Stack@mic.ul.ie).
Resources
Staff and students in the Department of Psychology have access to a range of excellent facilities, equipment and technical support.
We have a Psychological Test Library, which includes intelligence and personality tests, and a dedicated Psychology Computer Laboratory, which features high performance networked PCs, specialist software, response pads and more.
We also have a suite of individual and small group observation and testing rooms. These include a Cognition and Perception Laboratory equipped with two SMI Eye Trackers (an iView X HED for mobile eye-tracking and a RED 250 for remote eye tracking) and a Psychophysiology Laboratory equipped with blood pressure monitors and PowerLab systems (which can be used to measure EEG, EOG, ECG and GSR).
Our Cardiovascular Psychophysiology Laboratory has a Finometer PRO which allows for accurate non-invasive beat-to-beat blood pressure monitoring.
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