Department of Psychology, University of Oslo

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Department of Psychology
Psykologisk institutt
AbbreviationPSI
Formation1909;110 years ago (1909)
TypeInstitute
Location
Parent organization
University of Oslo
Staff (2015)
90
Website www.sv.uio.no/psi/english/

The Department of Psychology (Norwegian : Psykologisk institutt) at the University of Oslo is the oldest and largest research institute and educational institution in psychology in Norway. It is Norway's main research institution in clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, and social and cultural psychology, and one of the main research environments in neuroscience. The institute is located in the Harald Schjelderup Building adjacent to Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet in the Gaustad area of Oslo; the building is shared with parts of the Faculty of Medicine, while Oslo University Hospital occupies surrounding buildings. The institute's alumni include two Nobel laureates, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser.

Contents

Focus and history

The institute has about 90 academic employees and around 1100 students. It has substantial research activities in all fields of psychology, and especially in cognitive neuroscience and personality psychology. It offers PhD, professional, master's and bachelor's programmes in psychology. The institute also includes a neuropsychological clinic. It is divided into six sections:

The Neuropsychological Clinic treats patients referred with suspicion of brain injury. The department also has several laboratories, partly located at Oslo University Hospital. A neurocognitive test lab with eg. MR scanners is shared between the Department of Psychology and Oslo University Hospital, and is located at Oslo University Hospital across the street. [3] [4]

The Department of Psychology cooperates closely with the Faculty of Medicine, Oslo University Hospital and the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, among other institutions.

Neuroscientist and Nobel laureate May-Britt Moser May-Britt Moser 2014.jpg
Neuroscientist and Nobel laureate May-Britt Moser

The institute was established in 1909 on the initiative of Anathon Aall. The first chairholder in psychology was Harald Schjelderup, who was appointed by the King-in-Council in 1928. The Department of Psychology was originally part of the Faculty of Humanities, and became part of the Faculty of Social Sciences in 1963. Since then the creation of a separate Faculty of Psychology or a merger with the Faculty of Medicine has been discussed several times. The Department of Psychology in Oslo has had an important role in the development of psychology as a discipline since the early 20th century. [5] [6]

The neuroscientists and Nobel laureates Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser both started their careers at the institute.

Notable academics

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

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May-Britt Moser Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist

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Stein Andersson is a Norwegian psychologist, neuroscientist and Professor (Chair) of Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Oslo, where he also heads the department of cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. He researches clinical and cognitive neuropsychology in patients with different somatic, neurological and neuropsychiatric and psychiatric disorders, including neurocognitive mechanisms in affective disorders.

Audrey van der Meer is a Dutch-born Norwegian neuroscientist and Professor of Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). With her husband, Professor of Cognitive Psychology Ruud van der Weel, she directs the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory at NTNU. Her research seeks to understand the underlying principles that guide development, learning, and cognitive ageing. She joined the psychology department at NTNU in 1996, in the same year fellow neuroscientists Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser joined the department; in 1997 she was promoted to full professor of neuroscience. She was part of the Section for Biological Psychology headed by Edvard Moser, but had her own research group. She is a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.

Carles Escera is an ICREA Academia Distinguished Professor at the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats and a full professor at the University of Barcelona. He also was president of the Spanish Society of Psychophysiology and Cognitive Neuroscience from 2001 to 2004 and is a member of the Academia Europaea since 2015.

References

  1. Utpekt til verdensledende hjerneforskere
  2. UiOs fem verdensledende forskningsmiljøer
  3. Laboratorier ved Psykologisk institutt
  4. Bygger ny nevrolab
  5. Åse Gruda Skard, "Universitetets Psykologiske Institutt 50 år" (pp. 41–63), Psykologi og psykologar i Norge, Universitetsforlaget, 1959
  6. Seculum primum : glimt fra 100 års psykologi i Norden (pp. 79ff.), Copenhagen, Dansk Psykologisk Forlag, 1987