Research areas

Our Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) accredited Clinical Psychology Training Program offers fully integrated training in research and clinical practice, preparing students for a wide variety of professional roles that include clinical research, psychological assessment and psychotherapy, teaching, clinical supervision, and program evaluation.


Our Cognitive Psychology program provides students with an interactive and enriching environment in which to study mind and behaviour, where you will work closely with other students and with faculty members. The program emphasizes the development of your research skills in the service of carrying out high quality independent research.


Students enrolled in the cognitive neuroscience area will gain a wide variety of experiences in conducting research and presenting their research findings. This experience will be gained via working in laboratories on thesis research and other projects as well as through courses taught by our Cognitive Neuroscience faculty.


Students in the Developmental program are exposed to a variety of methods for studying the minds and behaviours of infants and children. They conduct hands-on research in collaboration with other students and faculty members, and have the opportunity to present this research through various outlets.


The mission of the Industrial-Organizational (I-O) program at the University of Waterloo is to provide students with a well-rounded education that will both afford them flexibility in their future career path and enable them to positively impact the workplace. This is accomplished by exposing students through coursework to psychological theory and methods as well as providing students with hands-on opportunities to conduct research and consulting projects in collaboration with faculty. In short, our goal is to develop exceptional researchers, who can make a difference to organizations and workers.


Our Social Program provides a collaborative research environment, pushing boundaries of understanding the role of social context, individual differences and culture for mind and behaviour. During their years here, students typically work with multiple faculty members, conduct several lines of research, pursue independent projects, and use of cutting-edge experimental and Big Data methods.