Psychology

Highlights of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh

RAE Results

The Psychology Department at the University of Edinburgh is celebrating excellent results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. The department is delighted to have moved into the top ten in 4* and 3* (world leading and internationally excellent) research by volume of research staff in the 2008 RAE. The department now ranks 9th out of 76 departments in the UK and 1st in Scotland on 4* and 3* research by volume.

Overall, 95% of our research activity was classified as being of international quality, and 60% was classified as world leading or internationally excellent.

Professor Fernanda Ferreira said “I am delighted with our strong showing, particularly given the inclusive approach we took to our submission. These results validate what we in the department knew, that Edinburgh Psychology is among the largest and most internationally visible departments for psychological science in the UK.”

Editorships

Current Editors in Chief: Publication:
Professor Sergio Della Sala Cortex
Current Associate Editors:
Dr Elizabeth Austin British Journal of Psychology
Dr Elizabeth Austin Personality and Individual Differences
Professor Timothy Bates Intelligence
Professor Timothy Bates Psychological Science
Dr Wendy Johnson European Journal of Personality, (2006 - 2008)
Dr Lars Penke European Journal of Personality, (January 2009)
Professor Martin Pickering Psychological Science
Dr Patrick Sturt Language and Cognitive Processes
Consulting Editors:
Dr Alexander Weiss Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences
Former Editors in Chief:
Professor Robert Logie Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, (2002 - 2005)

Staff Honours and Awards

Professor Ian Deary

Professor Ian Deary is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1996), a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British Academy (2003), and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2007). He received the first Chancellor’s Awards of the University of Edinburgh in 2003, for excellence in teaching and research. Professor Ian Deary is also the recipient of a Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award (2001 - 2007). In December 2006 Professor Deary, with Dr John Starr and Professor Lawrence Whalley, received the Tenovus (Scotland) Margaret MacLellan Award (2006) for the best research on the brain conducted in Scotland in recent years. Professor Deary is Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (September 2008).

Professor Sergio Della Sala

Professor Sergio Della Sala is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). He was awarded the Raine Visiting Professorship (2004 - 2005) by the University of Western Australia.

Dr Wendy Johnson

Dr Wendy Johnson (RCUK Fellow) is the recipient in 2005 of the International Society for Intelligence Research’s 2004 John B Carroll Award for Methodology in Intelligence Research. In the same year she received the 2005 Mensa Education and Research Foundation and Mensa International Ltd Award for Excellence in Research. Dr Johnson is due to receive the 2007 Early Career Award from the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences.

Professor Robert Logie

Professor Robert Logie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).

Dr Rob McIntosh

Dr Rob McIntosh was awarded the Elizabeth Warrington Prize (2005) by the British Neuropsychological Society.

Professor Martin Pickering

Professor Martin Pickering is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He was the 2006 British Psychological Society Broadbent Lecturer.

Dr Alexander Weiss

Dr Alexander Weiss received the Behavior Genetics Association, Thompson Award for Outstanding Research by an Associate Member (1998).

Other Highlights

Professor Robert Logie and Renae Smith-Ray from the HCN group have been involved in a project with the BBC to run the largest memory experiment ever conducted.