Program Overview

Psychologists conduct experiments to study our perceptions, decisions, prejudices, motivations, friendships and memory. But how do the brain and the body affect these processes? Where in the brain do they occur? And how are they represented? Psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists aim to map how brain and behaviour are related.

This contemporary area of psychology investigates areas ranging from vision, hearing and touch to the mechanisms underlying language, action, attention, emotion and social processes. Our Centre for Brain Science allows you to discover the neurophysiological processes that take place in our bodies and brains.

We give you the freedom and facilities to study and experiment, explore and research the human mind. You cover core areas in psychology and cognitive neuroscience including:

• Brain and behaviour
• Methods in cognitive neuroscience
• Applied psychology
• Language, memory and perception
• Developmental psychology

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university