Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology - Developmental Science

Our program uses an apprenticeship model for graduate training and aims to train skilled and independent researchers who will make significant contributions to the discipline of psychology. Our program encourages early, significant, and sustained involvement in research through apprenticeship-style training, mentored by a group of vigorous world-class faculty members. Our graduate alumni have successful positions in universities and colleges, branches of government, and industry.

The Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta is committed to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment. We welcome applications from all qualified persons. We encourage women, First Nations, Mtis, and Inuit persons, members of visible minority groups, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and all those who may contribute to the further diversification of our Psychology program.

Developmental Science is concerned with describing and explaining human growth, change and variability in social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning across the lifespan at multiple timescales, levels of analysis, and across diverse contexts. Full-time members of the area conduct research that investigates individual and environmental processes that explain change and variability in emotions, behaviors, and cognitions in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, with the application of innovative quantitative modeling techniques. Currently, research in the DS cluster focuses on 4 main themes:

Cognitive Development and Aging - studies of executive function, normal and successful aging, and neuropsychology of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Social Cognition - studies of the development of age stereotyping and ageism and impacts in real world contexts.
Developmental Neuroscience and Neurogenetics - studies of developing brain-gene-environment-cognition relations.
Social and Emotional Development - studies of mental health and psychopathology, emotion and behavioral self-regulation, and peer, family and teacher-child relations.

Four-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree
Close match of research interests with one or more faculty members
Grade point average of 3.0 or better in last two years or equivalent of study
When primary language is not English, either:
a satisfactory score on the TOEFL (minimum total score of 88 on the iBT with a score of at least 20 in each skill area) or another approved English language examination
or, baccalaureate degree or its academic equivalent from a recognized institution, in which the language of instruction is English
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is a requirement for admission to the graduate program. This requirement can be waived with the explicit written consent of the applicant's potential supervisor(s). In the absence of the supervisor's consent, applications lacking GRE scores will be considered incomplete