seminars

Date	Venue	Time	Speaker(s)	Topic

---

	WELCOME

The NUS psychology programme was first introduced during the 1986-87 academic year and is the oldest psychology programme in Singapore. NUS offers a full undergraduate programme, including an honours course, as well as Masters and Ph.D. programmes. Since its inception, the psychology programme has attracted a strong response from students in the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.

Psychology contributes to society by providing behavioural scientists who are equipped with the skills to use empirical research methods to seek an account of human behaviour and experience. It has been only a little over a hundred years that psychology has been a discipline in its own right.

In addition to being a scientific discipline, psychology has a professional and vocational role. For instance, psychologists are involved in the assessment of mental disability as well as mental illness and subsequently contribute to treatment, rehabilitation and training of individuals with these conditions. Psychologists are also involved in such diverse areas as counselling, occupational guidance, and the development of health education and other public campaigns. As such, the Department of Psychology has established and maintains links with the Singapore Psychological Society as well as with various institutions which provide psychological services such as the Ministries of Defence; Community Development, Youth and Sports; Education; and Health, and with government hospitals.

For more information on the history and evolution of the department, please take a look at the following article "Psychology in Singapore by George Bishop, which appeared in the May 2008 issue of the APS observer.

---

	CAREER PROSPECTS

Virtually all employment settings involve interaction with others. As such an understanding of how the mind functions and of interpersonal relationships can be an advantage. Psychology graduates from the Department are employed in a variety of settings where such psychological skills and understanding can be put to good use - often in management /leadership roles.

Those who go on to do Honours in Psychology are sought after in employment settings where their potential as future professional psychologists is of particular interest to employers. Psychologists in Singapore are employed in various settings which include MINDEF, MCYS, MOE, MOH, ITE, SPRING Singapore, a number of voluntary social service organizations, as well as in consultancy firms and research organizations.

---

	PROFESSIONAL AFFLIATIONS

Singapore Psychological Society c/o 93 Toa Payoh Central, #05-01 Toa Payoh Central Community Building Singapore 319194 Tel: (65) 6251-5503 E-mail: Website: www.singaporepsychologicalsociety.org

---

	MASTER OF PSYCHOLOGY (CLINICAL)

Programme Requirements

courses.nus.edu.sg/course/psytsk/internet/clinical_psych_web/

---

Application Materials

• www.fas.nus.edu.sg/prospective/grad/coursework/advert.html

---

	PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAMME

The objective of the Psychology programme at the B.A. level is to provide a comprehensive basic academic grounding in psychology. The programme aims to equip students with knowledge in the key areas of psychology (such as human biological processes, developmental processes, social processes, cognitive processes, mental health and adjustment of individuals) as well as an understanding of the applications of psychology. It also develops skills for undertaking studies of behaviour, including statistical skills and the use of computers for data analyses.

Among the central topics and questions that the programme considers are:

Biological Psychology – What are the biological bases of our behaviours?

Cognitive Psychology – How do we know about the world and ourselves?

Abnormal Psychology – What are the nature and causes of abnormal behaviour?

Developmental Psychology – What happens as we grow from birth through childhood into adulthood and then into old age?

Social Psychology – How does interaction with others and groups influence our behaviour?

Empirical Methods – How can we obtain data about psychologically interesting phenomena and how should these data be analysed and reported?

The programme seeks to provide sufficient rigour and coverage so that students can either take on psychology-related vocations or pursue graduate training in psychology when they graduate. Toward this end students undertake laboratory/practical work and are encouraged to enquire through empirical study rather than simply to through reading or classroom instruction.

Psychology is an empirical discipline and the Department places heavy emphasis on developing students’ empirical skills. In 2003, the Department introduced a new type of module—the laboratory module—for the specific purpose of equipping students with the necessary know-how to conduct psychological studies in specific fields (such as cognitive psychology, social psychology, and developmental psychology). The laboratory modules are offered at the more advanced level and class size is deliberately kept small to ensure that students get the necessary attention and exposure in learning particular empirical techniques.

---

	Master of Social Sciences and Ph.D.

Master of Social Sciences and Ph.D. by research programmes are offered by the department. We have a wide scope of research areas for prospective candidates including,

Cardiovascular psychophysiology

Genetic and psychosocial factors in coronary heart disease

Cognitive neuroscience of learning and memory

Selective attention

Visual perception

Biological bases of schizophrenia and depression

Interpersonal and group relations

Psycholinguistics

Cross-linguistic comparisons of literacy development

Bilingual language development in young children

Adolescent social development

Parents' stress and adaptation to paediatric illness in Singapore

These research areas tend to focus around several labs to which students may be attached in order to develop their research interests and expertise:

Cardiovascular Psychophysiology Lab

Functional Brain Imaging Lab

Memory & Speech Lab

Psycholinguistics Lab

Perception and Attention Lab

Prospective candidates with a good honours degree in psychology can apply for graduate training and they can undertake research work under the supervision of an assigned academic staff. Several scholarships are available for outstanding scholars for both Masters and Doctoral candidates.

---

	JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Assistant / Associate / Full Professor

Applications are invited for academic positions in the Department of Psychology. Individuals able to teach in at least one of the following areas: industrial/organizational, social, and abnormal/clinical, will be preferred but applicants in other areas will also be considered. For applicants in abnormal/clinical we are particularly interested in those specializing in work with children. Applicants should have completed their Ph.D. degree (including clinical training for applicants in abnormal/clinical) by the time of appointment and have either established or show promise for establishing a strong internationally recognized research program.

Two types of appointments are anticipated:

1. Junior tenure-track appointments at the Assistant Professor level will in the first instance be for a 3-year term contract with provision for renewal and tenure. Applicants for such positions should send full CV along with statements of research interests and teaching interests. They should also arrange for at least three letters of reference to be sent to the Department.

2. Senior tenure-track/tenured appointments are also anticipated for internationally recognized scholars at the Associate or Full Professor levels. Applicants for such positions should send full CV along with statements of research interests and teaching interests as well as the names and contact details of at least six referees. Nominations of appropriate candidates are also sought.

Visiting appointments are also possible at both junior and senior levels, usually for a term of one or two years.

Remuneration is very competitive and includes housing and travel benefits. All application materials should be sent to: Ms Loo Bee Bee, Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Block AS4, Level 2, Singapore 117570, Fax: (65) 6773 1843.

Information on the Department and the University can be obtained at http://www.nus.edu.sg and informal inquiries can be directed to Search Committee Chair, at psysearch@nus.edu.sg. Review of applications will begin October 1, 2008 and continue until all positions are filled. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

	JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Applications are invited for Postdoctoral Fellowships in the Department of Psychology. We are specifically looking for postdoctoral fellows to work with listed staff on research in the following areas.

• Emotion regulation, genetic and psychosocial factors related to coronary heart disease (G. Bishop, )
• Structural equation modeling and meta-analysis (M. Cheung, )
• fMRI and cognitive changes following physical exercise (S. Graham, )
• Lexical and indexical influences in speech perception and memory (W. Goh, )
• Self management intervention in chronic illness; psychosocial aspects and outcomes in kidney disease (K. Griva, )
• The neural basis of attention and cognitive control (N. Hon, )
• Personality and psychopathology (R. Hong, )
• Cognitive and neural substrates of time perception, learning, and memory (T. Penney, )
• Social cognitive neuroscience (A. Schirmer, )
• Attitudes, persuasion, and meta-cognition (M. See, )
• Social-functionalist models of people as prosecutors, politicians, and theologians (R. Singh, )
• Cognitive processes in gesture communication, cognitive functions of gesture, cross-linguistic differences in gesture (C. So, )
• Vocabulary acquisition and phonological representation in bilingual children and adults (S.H. Tan, )
• Outcome research on psychological treatment to depressed and traumatized (C. Tang, )
• Emotion and social-cognitive processes (E. Tong, )
• Care giving, dependency, emotional expressiveness and attachment in close relationships (F. Tsai, )
• Personality, emotions, and cardiovascular stress response (Y.P. Why, )

Interested individuals should contact the relevant staff member at the e-mail address provided above prior to making application. More information about individual research programs is available at: www.fas.nus.edu.sg/psy/. General inquiries concerning these fellowships can be directed to .

Postdoctoral fellowships will be tenable for one year with possible renewal for a second year and include an attractive stipend along with travel and medical benefits as well as vacation leave and conference funding. Research funding is available through existing grants to PIs as well as university funding mechanisms. A detailed description of the program along with application forms can be found at http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/research/pfp.html.  Applications are due 15 October 2008.