PhD Opportunities. In addition, we invite outstanding applications for 14 specific areas of research:

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1 PhD Opportunities The Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London invites applications for PhD studentship for the academic year The Department of Psychology was ranked 7th in the UK in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and is consistently amongst the top rated Psychology depts in UK University rankings. The department has over thirty members of academic staff and some 25 post-graduate research (PhD) students. We offer a vibrant research community and excellent facilities including a research designated functional imaging unit. The department is part of The South East Doctoral Training Centre which unites the Universities of Royal Holloway, Kent, Reading, and Surrey in providing outstanding postgraduate training in the M25 region through ESRC funding. In addition to ESRC funding, a number of funding opportunities exist including College studentships. These provide a stipend and also cover the tuition fees for UK and EU students. Overseas applicants are also welcome to apply but would be required to pay the OS tuition fees. There may be opportunities to compete for scholarships to cover part of these fees. We encourage applications from students with first class undergraduate degrees in Psychology, or related disciplines to contact potential supervisors via before submitting a full application. Further details regarding supervisors research interests along with suggested PhD topics, and details of the application process, are described on our web site: ( In addition, we invite outstanding applications for 14 specific areas of research: Deadline for all applications is 7 th February Adult and Child Cognition Area of research: Individual differences in lateralisation for processing emotional faces (e.g., pregnancy, hormones, sex differences, anxiety, depression). Understanding statistics anxiety in undergraduate psychology students. Staff member: Dr Victoria Bourne victoria.bourne@rhul.ac.uk Prerequisites and necessary skills: Strong knowledge of SPSS and statistical analysis. Area of research: Cognitive Psychology: Attention and awareness in vision, hearing and touch. Staff member: Polly Dalton, polly.dalton@rhul.ac.uk

2 Prerequisites and necessary skills: Experience with stimulus presentation software (such as E-Prime) would be an advantage but is not required. Area of research: Cognitive psychology: Attention and working memory; distraction, particularly auditory distraction; individual differences in working memory capacity and distraction; the roles of perceptual and motor processes in memory performance. Staff member: Rob Hughes Prerequisites and necessary skills: None. Area of research: Social, Cognitive and Evolutionary Psychology: Religion and Prosocial Behaviour; Delusions; Self-Deception. Staff member: Ryan McKay Prerequisites and necessary skills: Experience with experimental economic methods is an advantage. Area of research: Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics. I am particularly interested in the mechanisms that underpin language and language learning, including the role of sleep in language learning. Staff Member: Professor Kathy Rastle, Kathy.rastle@rhul.ac.uk Prerequisites: 1 st class marks in statistics and research methods; overall average in first degree above 65%. Area of research: Cognitive development in infancy and early childhood: Mental representations of objects (including quantity), people, and symbols (e.g., pictures, words). Staff member: Jeanne Shinskey Jeanne.Shinskey@rhul.ac.uk Prerequisites and necessary skills: 1st class honours undergraduate degree in Psychology or distinction at MSc level; experience with infants or young children; fluency in spoken and written English.

3 Brain and Behaviour Area of research: Sensory neuroscience: time perception, interaction of the senses, human navigation, neural encoding of sensory cues. Staff member: Szonya Durant, Prerequisites and necessary skills: Good relevant degree (2:1 or Masters) in relevant subjects such as Psychology, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science. Areas of research: Motor control, music and cognition, cognitive neuroscience. Staff member: Scott Glover, Prerequisites: First class degree required. Advantageous would be experience in TMS and/or fmri. General : Social Cognitive Neuroscience; Specific: Self-awareness, body-image, interoceptive awareness & empathy, social stereotypes. Staff member: Prof Manos Tsakiris, manos.tsakiris@rhul.ac.uk (website: ) Prerequisites and necessary skills: First Class degree in Psychology or Related Discipline, some experience of conducting research with human volunteers. Desirable skills: MSc in related subject; fmri and/or TMS Experience Area of research Neuroscience - perception and computational modelling; motion vision; perceptual choices and eye movements; experimental aesthetics; Staff member: Johannes M Zanker: J.Zanker@rhul.ac.uk Prerequisites and necessary skills: First degree, or Masters, in any area related to Neuroscience, including Psychology, Biology, or Computer Science; Data analysis and/or programming experience would be an advantage, but not required

4 Adult and Child Cognition Areas of research: Social Psychology: Intergroup relations, media effects, prejudice, online communication, self and identity Staff member: Dr Marco Cinnirella. Prerequisites and necessary skills: First class degree (or working towards a 1 st class degree) in Psychology. Confident with statistics and SPSS. Some prior modules passed in Social Psychology. * * * * * Area of research: Developmental and social psychology: particularly work focusing on gender and ethnic understanding in educational contexts; beliefs in conspiracy theories; women in science. Staff member: Professor Patrick Leman Patrick.leman@rhul.ac.uk Prerequisites and necessary skills: Undergraduate degree in psychology and some skills in quantitative methods. Some experience of work with children would be useful but is not essential. Area of research: Social, Cognitive and Evolutionary Psychology: Religion and Prosocial Behaviour; Delusions; Self-Deception. Staff member: Ryan McKay (ryan.mckay@rhul.ac.uk) Prerequisites and necessary skills: Experience with experimental economic methods is an advantage. Area of research: Social Development: children s understanding of self-presentational tactics, self-presentational tactic usage, and explaining individual differences (social anxiety, depression, personality, etc.); development of emotion recognition skills with possible focus on emotion processing (lateralisation) and/or individual differences (social anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, etc.). Staff member: Dawn Watling (Dawn.Watling@rhul.ac.uk) Prerequisite and necessary skills: Achieved a 1 st class BSc degree in Psychology (or be on track for a 1 st ).

5 Area of research: Social Psychology: The psychology of donations, the psychology of acculturation and intergroup processes. Staff member: Hanna Zagefka, Prerequisites and necessary skills: Good first degree in psychology.