The Department of Psychology
The Department of Psychology at Stellenbosch University has among the most productive academic psychologists in South Africa on its staff, several of whom have won prestigious awards and grants for their teaching and research. We are committed to conducting research, teaching, practice, and community service of the highest possible standard. As such, we continually measure our scholarly output against the best in the world. Our staff and students have published in the highest-ranking international academic journals and several former students have taken up positions in prestigious institutions in South Africa and around the world. Our department offers undergraduate modules in psychology, leading to a major in the discipline, and postgraduate training leading to registration as a psychologist. We also offer thesis-based research training leading towards the masters and doctoral degree. Our teaching and research programmes focus on key psychosocial issues affecting South Africa and the African continent. We are committed to contributing to the social relevance of psychology as a discipline and a profession in an academically rigorous and critical manner.
A teaching department
The psychology department is the biggest department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in terms of student numbers. We currently have 1200 first year students, 800 2nd-years students, 600 third year students, 37 honours students (that is obviously when selection starts), 8 clinical masters students, 40 research masters students and 40 doctoral students.
A research department
Our growth as a research department has been substantial and we have become a world-renowned and internationally acclaimed research department. Many staff members are part of local, national and global research networks. The Department participates in research with a number of partners in both the global north and in the global south, as well as with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
A community service department
Applied psychology has been a focus of the Psychology Department since the establishment of the Masters degrees in Clinical Psychology and Counselling Psychology in 1973. These prorammes were merged into one Masters programme in 2005. In the Masters Programme in Clinical Psychology between eight and ten students are annually trained as clinical psychologists and are able to register with the HPCSA as clinical psychologists in training.
Latest News
NEW BOOK: The Palgrave Handbook of African Men and Masculinities
One of the members of the department, Kopano Ratele, is a co-editor of a new handbook. The Palgrave Handbook of African Men and Masculinities, co-edited by Ezra Chitando and Obert Bernard of Mlambo of the [...]
Ask The Expert – Panic in The Workplace
SADAGS's 'Ask the expert Friday' hosted Mariam Salie, talking about 'Panic in the workplace'. She addresses questions about panic and anxiety, identifying symptoms, some strategies to manage panic and some ideas for employers when dealing [...]
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Association of South Africa Inaugural Congress 2024
The CBTASA (CBT Association of South Africa) was officially founded in October 2019. We are a constituted, non-profit organisation and are affiliated with the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) https://eabct.eu. Our association represents a network [...]
Statement by members of the Department of Psychology on the attacks on Gaza
We, members of the Department of Psychology at Stellenbosch University, note with deep concern the ongoing massacre and continued mass displacement of the population of Gaza by the Israeli military since 7 October. We are [...]
Stellenbosch Fellow wins international psychology research award
The International Council of Psychologists 2023 Seisoh Sukemune/Bruce Bain Encouragement of Early Career Research Award was awarded to Dr. Erinn C. Cameron. The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding early career contributions to scholarly [...]
Research Fellow awarded prestigious peace award
In these days of pain and sorrow, times of degradation from the good human nature, Guido Veronese, a research fellow in the Department of Psychology, feels a deep sense of honor on receiving the Ignacio [...]