Your complete guide to a PhD in Psychology

Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Psychology

part of Social Sciences

Psychology is the scientific study of the human psyche and how people are influenced by society, culture, and contemporary challenges. Psychology explores diverse topics, trying to answer questions like: Is the mind just a by-product of brain processes? Is behaviour learned or inherited? What is the nature of the human subconscious? How can people change their behaviour through self-discovery?

Psychology can help you understand a broad range of human behaviours as well as the different forms of mental health problems. Psychology students will combine theoretical classes with practical work experience and case studies on issues such as trauma, mental disorders, addiction, child development, and current therapy methods, among others.

Psychology has a multitude of subfields, such as Clinical Psychology, Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology, Behavioural Psychology, Neuropsychology, Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, Experimental Psychology or forms of Depth Psychology (focusing on unconscious processes).

Given the increase of external factors that cause stress and the current socio-economic model of bigger-better-more, it’s no surprise that people are developing all kind of mental problems, like depression, anxiety, paranoia, or anti-social behaviour. This is where Psychology and psychologists step in, helping us to rediscover ourselves, heal old wounds, and change unhealthy behaviours and thought patterns.

By graduating Psychology degrees, students around the world gain access to a wide variety of career options including: psychotherapist, psychology counsellor, occupational psychologist, school counsellor, human resource officer, play therapist, forensic psychologist, organizational psychologist (I-O), and more.

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View all PhDs in Psychology. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Psychology.

Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Psychology on PhDPortal

Universities Location Times Higher Education Ranking (2018) Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017) TopUniversities Ranking (2018) U.S. News & World Report Ranking (2018)
Stanford University Stanford, United States 1 3 2 3
UCL London, United Kingdom 2 4 8 7
Princeton University Princeton, United States 3 44 16 41
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 4 1 1 1
Duke University Durham, United States 5 12 24 10
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 6 7 26 41
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 7 11 11 -
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 8 5 7 6
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 9 51 49 87
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 10 16 13 20
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 11 21 29 -
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 12 35 28 45
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 13 2 12 9
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 14 15 17 24
Columbia University New York City, United States 15 6 15 5
University of Washington Seattle, United States 16 33 51 31
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States 17 - 34 -
New York University New York City, United States 18 9 10 -
Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Sweden 19 51 101 -
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 20 51 32 71
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States 21 36 51 35
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, United States 22 76 51 106
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 23 31 40 53
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 24 43 51 67
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 25 48 51 25
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 26 40 51 23
University of Rochester Rochester, United States 27 51 51 58
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 28 14 51 46
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 29 28 50 29
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 30 29 50 54
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 31 76 101 72
McGill University Montréal, Canada 32 51 21 39
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 34 76 51 37
Brown University Providence, United States 35 51 51 62
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 36 32 46 28
University of York York, United Kingdom 37 76 51 113
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 38 39 51 64
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 39 47 18 34
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 40 49 34 49
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany 41 51 51 57
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands 42 18 51 -
Peking University Beijing, China 43 151 51 154
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 44 50 51 80
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 44 40 - 59
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 46 20 30 54
Boston University Boston, United States 47 51 34 48
Heidelberg University Heidelberg, Germany 48 201 101 66
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 49 101 44 88
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 50 37 25 49
University of Maryland College Park, United States 51 51 101 74
University of St Andrews St Andrews, United Kingdom 52 101 51 -
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 52 24 51 30
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 54 76 51 90
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 55 201 48 122
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 56 76 43 62
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States 57 45 151 84
Dartmouth College Hanover, United States 58 101 101 95
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 58 101 51 140
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 58 23 51 27
Emory University Atlanta, United States 61 51 151 43
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 62 151 44 142
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 62 101 51 126
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands 64 76 51 38
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 65 51 101 86
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 65 76 23 59
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 67 101 151 109
Birkbeck, University of London London, United Kingdom 68 101 101 96
Rice University Houston, United States 69 151 - -
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 69 151 101 139
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 69 51 101 103
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 72 51 101 51
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 73 101 51 75
The University of Iowa Iowa City, United States 74 51 101 68
University of Freiburg Freiburg, Germany 75 101 151 164
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 76 151 51 133
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel 76 76 101 99
University of Bern Bern, Switzerland 78 201 151 113
University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom 79 101 101 92
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 80 201 151 -
University of Geneva Genève, Switzerland 80 101 101 89
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 82 38 51 76
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, United States 83 51 - 94
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom 84 101 101 168
University of California, Riverside Riverside, United States 85 101 251 181
University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany 86 101 101 101
University of Oregon Eugene, United States 87 76 101 101
University of Würzburg Würzburg, Germany 88 151 201 140
University of Georgia Athens, United States 89 76 151 181
University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland 90 101 101 132
University of Mannheim Mannheim, Germany 90 - 101 -
Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 92 - 151 166
University of Basel Basel, Switzerland 93 151 151 76
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 93 151 101 118
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 95 101 33 177
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 96 76 151 124
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 96 76 51 85
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States 98 30 101 -
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 99 101 51 168
City, University of London London, United Kingdom 100 151 151 -
Yale University New Haven, United States - 7 5 4
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States - 10 14 -
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States - 13 - 22
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States - 17 5 26
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom - 19 4 8
University of Chicago Chicago, United States - 22 20 32
Cornell University Ithaca, United States - 25 37 33
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States - 26 26 52
King's College London London, United Kingdom - 27 21 2
University of California, Davis Davis, United States - 34 51 40
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States - 40 51 -
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands - 46 51 79
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands - 50 51 73
Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France - 101 151 -
Bangor University Bangor, United Kingdom - 101 151 -
Beijing Normal University Beijing, China - 101 101 162
Boston College Newton, United States - 101 151 -
Georgia State University Atlanta, United States - 101 - -
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia - 101 51 125
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada - 101 51 107
Northeastern University Boston, United States - 101 201 -
Queen's University Kingston, Canada - 101 51 172
San Diego State University La Mesa, United States - 101 251 -
Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden - 101 151 197
Stony Brook University Stony Brook, United States - 101 - 78
The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, United States - 101 251 157
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom - 101 101 177
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia - 101 41 68
Tufts University Medford, United States - 101 201 150
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom - 101 51 117
University of Cologne Köln, Germany - 101 151 123
University of Delaware Newark, United States - 101 - -
University of Denver Denver, United States - 101 251 -
University of Granada Granada, Spain - 101 201 -
University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany - 101 151 174
University of Houston Houston, United States - 101 251 -
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, United States - 101 101 -
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom - 101 51 134
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand - 101 51 97
University of Padua Padua, Italy - 101 101 142
University of Paris Paris, France - 101 251 113
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States - 101 - 145
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria - 101 201 -
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, United States - 101 201 93
Wayne State University Detroit, United States - 101 - -
York University Toronto, Canada - 101 51 137
Bar Ilan University Ramat Gan, Israel - 151 - -
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel - 151 251 -
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin, Germany - 151 - 126
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom - 151 51 195
George Mason University Fairfax, United States - 151 251 -
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States - 151 151 -
Iowa State University Ames, United States - 151 201 -
Kent State University Kent, United States - 151 - -
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom - 151 101 -
London Business School Camden Town, United Kingdom - 151 - -
Lund University Lund, Sweden - 151 151 193
Monash University Clayton, Australia - 151 42 105
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore - 151 51 183
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom - 151 151 120
Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona, Spain - 151 - -
Royal Holloway University of London London, United Kingdom - 151 201 -
Singapore Management University Singapore, Singapore - 151 201 -
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States - 151 201 -
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States - 151 251 -
University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States - 151 - -
TU Dresden Dresden, Germany - 151 201 61
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom - 151 201 -
University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain - 151 101 56
University of Essex Colchester, United Kingdom - 151 201 -
University of Haifa Haifa, Israel - 151 251 -
Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena, Germany - 151 201 189
University of Konstanz Konstanz, Germany - 151 201 157
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland - 151 151 196
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom - 151 101 177
University of Milano - Bicocca Sesto San Giovanni, Italy - 151 201 168
University of Münster Münster, Germany - 151 201 188
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, United States - 151 251 -
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States - 151 - 185
University of Quebec in Montreal Montréal, Canada - 151 - -
University of South Carolina Columbia, United States - 151 251 -
University of Stirling Stirling, United Kingdom - 151 251 -
University of Trento Trento, Italy - 151 151 -
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada - 151 201 -
Western Sydney University Paramatta, Australia - 151 101 157
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden - 151 151 168
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand - 151 51 -
Auburn University Auburn, United States - 201 - -
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain - 201 101 -
Baylor College of Medicine Houston, United States - 201 - 137
Bielefeld University Bielefeld, Germany - 201 201 -
Brandeis University Waltham, United States - 201 251 -
Brigham Young University Provo, United States - 201 251 -
Brock University Thorold, Canada - 201 - -
Carleton University Ottawa, Canada - 201 251 -
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, United States - 201 251 175
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic - 201 - -
Claremont Graduate University (CGU) Claremont, United States - 201 - -
Colorado State University Fort Collins, United States - 201 251 -
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain - 201 101 -
DePaul University Chicago, United States - 201 - -
Ecole normale supérieure (ENS) Paris, France - 201 - -
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Eindhoven, Netherlands - 201 201 -
Flinders University Adelaide, Australia - 201 151 -
Griffith University Nathan, Australia - 201 151 -
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Manhattan, United States - 201 - 82
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal - 201 - -
IDC Herzliya Herzliya, Israel - 201 - -
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York City, United States - 201 - -
Korea University Seoul, South Korea - 201 151 -
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan - 201 151 -
La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia - 201 151 -
Laval University Québec, Canada - 201 201 -
Leuphana University of Lüneburg Lüneburg, Germany - 201 - -
Linköping University Linköping, Sweden - 201 201 189
Loughborough University Loughborough, United Kingdom - 201 101 -
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan - 201 101 -
University of Plymouth Plymouth, United Kingdom - 201 251 -
Queen's University Belfast Belfast, United Kingdom - 201 201 -
RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany - 201 201 -
Saarland University Saarbrücken, Germany - 201 - -
Saint Louis University Saint Louis, United States - 201 - -
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy - 201 151 129
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea - 201 101 161
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States - 201 - -
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel - 201 - -
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, United States - 201 - -
Texas Tech University Lubbock, United States - 201 - -
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) - 201 - -
The New School New York City, United States - 201 251 -
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada - 201 101 131
University of Memphis Memphis, United States - 201 - -
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom - 201 201 -
The University of Texas at San Antonio Helotes, United States - 201 - -
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan - 201 51 -
Tulane University New Orleans, United States - 201 - -
Institute for European Studies - Universite Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium - 201 151 -
University at Albany Albany, United States - 201 - -
Ruhr University Bochum Bochum, Germany - 201 201 -
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy - 201 - 187
University of Bonn Bonn, Germany - 201 251 119
University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, United States - 201 - -
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa - 201 151 150
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States - 201 - 150
University of Colorado Denver Denver, United States - 201 251 -
University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark - 201 101 64
University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom - 201 - -
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany - 201 - 197
University of Fribourg Fribourg, Switzerland - 201 - -
Justus Liebig University Giessen Gießen, Germany - 201 - -
University of Göttingen Göttingen, Germany - 201 201 134
University of Graz Graz, Austria - 201 - -
University of Guelph Guelph, Canada - 201 251 -
University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä, Finland - 201 251 -
University of Leicester Leicester, United Kingdom - 201 201 163
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal - 201 201 -
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom - 201 251 -
University of Luxembourg Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg - 201 - -
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz, Germany - 201 - -
University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada - 201 251 -
Philip University in Marburg Marburg, Germany - 201 201 155
University of Maryland Baltimore Baltimore, United States - 201 - 142
University of Minho Braga, Portugal - 201 - -
University of North Carolina Greensboro Greensboro, United States - 201 - -
University of Oklahoma Norman, United States - 201 - -
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada - 201 201 185
University of Portsmouth Portsmouth, United Kingdom - 201 - -
University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany - 201 201 -
University of Regensburg Regensburg, Germany - 201 - -
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil - 201 101 80
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States - 201 - -
University of Turku Turku, Finland - 201 251 173
Ulm University Ulm, Germany - 201 - -
University of Valencia Valencia, Spain - 201 101 197
The University of Vermont Burlington, United States - 201 - -
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Milwaukee, United States - 201 - -
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia - 201 251 -
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, United States - 201 - -
Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, United States - 201 - -
Washington State University Pullman, United States - 201 201 -
Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Canada - 201 - -
Yeshiva University New York City, United States - 201 - 128
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States - 51 8 -
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States - 51 101 104
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States - 51 151 120
Temple University Philadelphia, United States - 51 201 164
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia - 51 19 -
University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, United States - 51 - 36
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom - 51 3 -
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada - 51 51 150
University of Western Ontario London, Canada - 51 38 -
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark - 76 51 46
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel - 76 101 91
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom - 76 38 68
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States - 76 201 -
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom - 76 47 109
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States - 76 101 160
University of Kentucky Lexington, United States - 76 201 189
University of Miami Coral Gables, United States - 76 151 83
University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, United States - 76 151 99
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada - 76 51 113
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway - 76 101 98
University of South Florida Tampa, United States - 76 251 155
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom - - 30 176
Bologna Business School Bologna, Italy - - 101 -
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) - - 101 -
Goldsmiths, University of London London, United Kingdom - - 101 -
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico - - 101 -
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile - - 101 -
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia - - 101 -
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia - - 101 -
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain - - 151 134
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada - - 151 -
Dalhousie University Halifax, Canada - - 151 149
Deakin University  Burwood, Australia - - 151 197
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia - - 151 -
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea - - 151 -
Frankfurt University of Applied Science Frankfurt am Main, Germany - - 151 -
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom - - 151 -
University of Bergen Bergen, Norway - - 151 177
University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina - - 151 -
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand - - 151 -
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile - - 151 -
Leipzig University Leipzig, Germany - - 151 145
University of Liège Liège, Belgium - - 151 -
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia - - 151 -
University of Surrey Guildford, United Kingdom - - 151 -
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea - - 151 -
Curtin University Perth, Australia - - 201 -
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland - - 201 -
Keio University Minato, Japan - - 201 -
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia - - 201 -
Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand - - 201 -
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim, Norway - - 201 -
The Open University UK Undergraduate Programmes Milton Keynes, United Kingdom - - 201 -
Tsinghua University Beijing, China - - 201 -
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, Italy - - 201 -
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland - - 201 -
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium - - 201 -
University of Gothenburg Göteborg, Sweden - - 201 166
University of Quebec Québec, Canada - - 201 -
Brunel University London Uxbridge, United Kingdom - - 251 -
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre, Brazil - - 251 129
Fudan University Shanghai, China - - 251 -
National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan - - 251 -
University of Galway Galway, Ireland - - 251 -
Ohio University Athens, United States - - 251 -
Oxford Brookes University Oxford, United Kingdom - - 251 -
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa - - 251 -
Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, Australia - - 251 -
The University of Milan Sesto San Giovanni, Italy - - 251 -
Tohoku University Sendai-shi, Japan - - 251 -
Ulster University Coleraine, United Kingdom - - 251 -
Umea University Umeå, Sweden - - 251 -
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal - - 251 -
University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland - - 251 -
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - - 251 -
University of Massachusetts Boston Boston, United States - - 251 -
University of Seville Sevilla, Spain - - 251 -
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa - - 251 -
University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland - - 251 -
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Brussels, Belgium - - 251 -
The City University of New York New York City, United States - - 51 -
UCLouvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium - - 51 147
University of California, Irvine Extension Irvine, United States - - 51 -
Radboud University Nijmegen - Summer School Nijmegen, Netherlands - - - 44
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom - - - 107
Trinity Western University Township of Langley, Canada - - - 111
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, United States - - - 112
Technical University of Munich München, Germany - - - 148
Medical University of Vienna Vienna, Austria - - - 183
Sorbonne University Paris, France - - - 192
Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, United States - - - 193
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