Griffith University

Griffith’s School of Applied Psychology is recognised as one of the leading departments of psychology in Australia. The focus of the School is on innovative applications of psychology which we promote through an emphasis on work-integrated learning and skills development taught by a comparatively high proportion of professional psychologists.

The School is equally committed to its two core activities of teaching and research. A number of teaching initiatives in the School have been benchmarked as national best practice, and many of our staff have received national awards for excellence in teaching. The School is committed to providing our students with a rich learning experience that lays the foundations for a range of career options. Applied Psychology has many leading researchers with international reputations, who contribute to a stimulating learning environment at the cutting edge of our field.

The School of Applied Psychology is engaged in an extensive program of research activities in areas such as clinical, organisational, health, social, developmental and cognitive-neuropsychology.

An engaged and diverse community of postgraduate and doctoral students conducts research projects across the discipline of psychology under the supervision of experienced academic staff.

The name of the School, ‘Applied Psychology’, is unique in Australian universities and captures one of the special features of the School: whilst the School’s teaching and research programs cover the broad range of the scientific discipline and the profession of psychology, the focus of the School is on innovative applications of psychology. Reflecting this orientation, the School has a relatively high proportion of professional psychologists and applied psychologists, and the teaching programs have an emphasis on work-integrated learning and skills development.

School staff members have extensive work experience in both public and private sectors and are expected to consistently publish their research findings in leading psychological research journals. The School regularly attracts grant funding from national funding bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council and Australian Research Council.

Psychology was offered for the first time at Griffith as an undergraduate program in 1990 and on the Gold Coast in 1995. The two schools continued as separate academic units until 2005 when they finally merged. We became the School of Applied Psychology in 2011.

The first PhD in psychology enrolled in the year the School was established. The Master of Clinical Psychology enrolled its first students in 1994 at Nathan and in 1997 at the Gold Coast. Subsequently, a Masters program in Organisational Psychology was introduced on both campuses, and later professional doctorates in clinical and in organisational psychology.

The School on the Gold Coast campus has been located since its formation in the Business 1 Building Applied Psychology will move into the new Griffith Health Centre in July 2013. For the first time the school and its clinical services will be located under one roof with teaching and research opportunities extending from partnership with the new Gold Coast University Hospital, across the road.