Program Overview
The Department of Psychology offers a 90-credit Ph.D. in Psychology and a 90-credit Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. Overall, the Department offers five specialty areas:
- Behavior Analysis
- Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
- Counseling Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology.
Students admitted into the PhD program in Psychology (but not the PhD program in Counseling Psychology) may develop a co-major with another training program in the department (see our Graduate Handbook for a detailed description of this option). The excellence of our training program is reflected in the fact that our Department is competitive in garnering federal funding for faculty, national fellowships for our students, and excellent positions for our graduates.
Our graduate program represents a collegial apprenticeship model where students work closely with a faculty member to achieve research goals and develop as professionals. Coursework and research are tailored to fit the specific research interests of students and faculty. The range of expertise of our faculty contributes to an exciting intellectual climate for student pursuit of research ideas. The research interests of our students and faculty vary widely, and include:
- age-related changes in cognition
- animal models of addiction
- artificial intelligence
- autism
- autobiographical memory
- behavioral economics
- choice and decision-making
- emotional stress
- health-related behaviors
- health disparities
- impact of social inequality
- organizational behavior
- perception and attention
- reinforcement
- self-esteem and identity
- self-injurious behavior
- vocational Psychology
- many others.
Research profiles of faculty in the Behavior Analysis program can be found at the following link: Behavior Analysis Faculty.
Research profiles of faculty in the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience program can be found at the following link: Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Faculty.
Research profiles of faculty in the Counseling Psychology program can be found at the following link: Counseling Psychology Faculty.
Research profiles of faculty in the Developmental Psychology program can be found at the following link: Developmental Psychology Faculty.
Research profiles of faculty in the Social Psychology program can be found at the following link: Social Psychology Faculty.
Our training program in Counseling Psychology is accredited by the American Psychological Association and our training program in Behavior Analysis is approved by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board.
Nine-month teaching or research assistantships, with a stipend and full tuition waiver, are awarded to all first-year students. These are renewed annually, for up to five years of funding for students in good standing. Students may also work as research assistants on faculty contracts and grants during the academic year or the summer. Competitive multi-year and 12-month fellowships are available from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the University of Florida, and the National Institutes of Health.
The Department of Psychology does not offer a terminal masters degree, nor do we offer a distance-learning (i.e. online) graduate program.
Students interested in pursuing a graduate program in Clinical Psychology should contact the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florida. Students interested in pursuing a graduate program in School Psychology or Counselor Education (including Marriage and Family Counseling, School Counseling, and Mental Health Counseling) should contact the College of Education.