How do personality and mental health influence our decisions? Can body odor shape social communication? Why do young children help others sometimes, but not all the time? These are all questions that psychologists are trying to answer. If you want to contribute to psychological research, experience what the life of a researcher is like, delve into the current topics in psychology and develop yourself in a small group of like-minded students, the Honours Programme General Psychology may be the perfect fit for you.
You start in your second Bachelor's year and the programme takes two years.
Do you have questions, or want to know more? For more information, please contact our programme director Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes
leonie.oostwoudwijdenes [at] donders.ru.nl (leonie[dot]oostwoudwijdenes[at]donders[dot]ru[dot]nl)
The General Psychology Honours Programme takes two years. In the first honours year (B2 of your study programme), together with a fellow student, you will conduct an honours internship within a research line at one of the research institutes affiliated with Psychology: the Behavioural Science Institute (BSI) or the Donders Institute (DI). You will also follow a course on current themes in Psychology, take part in two skills modules, go on extraordinary excursions and attend a Science in Society day.
In the second honours year (B3 of your study programme), together with a self-selected academic from the BSI or DI, you will design and organize your own research internship, follow a course on academic writing, write a review paper and go to a conference or lab abroad.
During the first year of the programme, you get hands on experience with conducting your own research by working on a research project together with one or two fellow students. Supervised by researchers from the BSI or DCC, you go through all research phases: processing literature, collecting and analysing data, and reporting results in an article and a presentation. Are you curious about potential research projects? Please have a look at these examples.
During a seminar course, experts will introduce current debates and developments in different areas of academic psychology. Under their guidance, you will participate in discussions with your fellow students and actively contribute to each topic, for example by giving an oral presentation, leading a discussion or writing an essay or research proposal. The course topics cover a broad range of psychological research. Currently, the themes are Developmental research, Experimental psychopathology of fear, Behaviour change and Forensic psychology.
Different extraordinary excursions are organized, such as visits to behavioural laboratories and neuro-imaging facilities at the Donders Institute, and to the Pompekliniek for psychiatric patients in Nijmegen.
In each semester, you follow a skills module specifically designed for honours students. The skills modules focus on specific skills, such as story telling, debating, memory training, or creative writing. The modules are open to all honours students on campus, so it is not only a chance for personal development, but also an opportunity to meet new people.
Once a year you get together with honours students from across campus to work on a major topic in science and society. You will bring your Psychology perspective to the table and discuss implications and possible solutions with honours students from a wide variety of backgrounds.
The most important part of the second honours year is your own research project. For this project, you are in the lead to find a supervisor to perform research on a topic of your choice. With personal guidance from your supervisor, you work independently on an individual honours project that will result in your honours thesis. If you want, your honours thesis can replace the Bachelor’s thesis on your Bachelor degree programme.
In addition to your honours thesis, you will write a review article on a topic of your choice. You may want to use the review as a broader theoretical framework for your honours thesis, but you may also choose a completely different topic. There are different options for the type of review you write. In consultation with your supervisor, you can choose a classic (“narrative”) literature review, a “systematic review”, or complete a meta-analysis.
To support writing your review, you will take the course “Academic Writing” by Radboud in’to Languages.
The honours programme Psychology offers financial support to gain international experience. You could for example visit an international lab for a short research stay or lab visit, or attend an international conference.
Upon successful completion of all elements of the Honours Programme Psychology, you will receive the honours certificate. Certificates will be awarded in a festive ceremony to which your friends and family are also warmly invited. We hope that the academic and personal development that the certificate signifies will open doors for you.
An Honours Programme has so much to offer: you are challenged, approached personally, receive all kinds of tools that you will benefit from during your studies and your future career and get to know many new people. However, it also requires a time investment from you. Because you follow the Honours Programme in addition to your regular studies, it is important that you have extra time to invest in the programme. In order to assess your suitability, we ask you to apply to participate in an Honours Programme.
The application deadline is 10 May 2024. You can apply using the application form. Please upload the following:
You will receive a confirmation of application. Applicants can expect to receive a potential invitation for interview before 18 May. Interviews will take place on 21 and 23 May.
In your motivation letter, you should explain why you are applying for a position in the Honours Programme. What is your motivation for participating in this specific programme? Why are you a suitable candidate? What are your ambitions? And what do you expect from participation in the programme?