MSc Environmental Psychology

Entry standards

A UK First or Upper Second class honours degree or equivalent in a social or design science discipline, understanding, experience or a passion for environmental, planning or architectural issues. We also accept students with a background in design disciplines, architecture or planning, as well as environmental engineering. Applicants without a degree who have significant relevant experience will also be considered.

English language requirements

Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (or equivalent).

Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.

MSc Environmental Psychology - structure and modules

Module Titles

Compulsory Modules

• Quantitative Research Methods
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Key Questions in Environmental Psychology
• Inquiry and Design
• The Psychology of Sustainable Development
• Critical Reflections on Social Psychological Research
• Self and Identity in Context
• Social Change and Influence

Programme Structure

 The programme is modular and is offered in both full-time and part-time modes. One module (20 contact hours) provides 15 credits. You will be required to complete two compulsory taught content modules, five compulsory research-oriented modules and one optional module, and to present a dissertation comprising a piece of empirical research within the area of environmental psychology. 

You will also be required to present a dissertation comprising an original piece of empirical research within any area of applied psychology, approved and supervised by one of the Department’s academic staff. 

Module Overview 

Quantitative Research Methods

This module focuses on different quantitative research methods such as factor analysis, multiple regression and multidimensional scaling.

Qualitative Research Methods

This module focuses on different qualitative research methods such as discourse analysis and multiple sorting tasks.

Key Questions in Environmental Psychology

This module introduces you to the major theoretical formulations and models in the area of environmental psychology related to people and places, such as privacy, personal space, place attachment and environmental restoration.

Inquiry and Design

This module attempts to integrate research training with the theories and findings of environmental psychology. The module will be organised around a series of case studies based on research that has been undertaken in the Department such as: ‘Assessing the visual impact of buildings’, ‘Crime and design’, ‘Conflict between different countryside user groups’ and ‘Learning in museums’.

The Psychology of Sustainable Development

This module aims to provide you with an advanced knowledge and understanding of the methods, theory and practice of environment behaviour research as related to sustainability and quality of life issues. It includes factors such as environmental values and attitudes, consumer behaviour, attitude change and environmental education.

Critical Reflections on Social Psychological Research

This module aims to provide you with methodological expertise to conduct social and environmental psychological research. The module will centre around the critical analyses of a series of papers. The module will expose you to a range of methods including conversational analysis, action research, behaviour mapping, experimental psychology and survey research.

Self and Identity in Context

This module provides you with an advanced understanding of current advances in theories of identity and self-concept from a social psychological perspective. It explores topics such as self, self-concept and identity, identity process theory, place identity and place attachment and impression management and attachment to possessions.

Social Change and Influence

This module aims to provide you with an advanced understanding of current theories of social change and influence in social psychology. It focuses on a range of topics including conformity, obedience, persuasion, and social norms and social influence.

Optional Module 

One module from the Department of Psychology MSc modular programme, which offers a choice of over 30 modules.

Subject information

Environmental Psychology at Surrey 

The Department of Psychology at the University of Surrey was the first in the world to establish an MSc in Environmental Psychology, in 1973. Since then there have been well over 250 graduates of the programme from over 25 countries worldwide. It remains one of few such postgraduate programmes in the world and the only one in the UK. 

The MSc Environmental Psychology programme is part of a larger modular programme, thereby providing a flexible teaching and learning structure. The Department of Psychology has a reputation for developing professional and innovative programmes reflecting contemporary societal concerns and employment opportunities. 

Environmental Psychology at Surrey has always sought to be a multidisciplinary research activity. We are driven by psychological theories and methodologies, but draw on other social sciences, as well as the environmental and design disciplines. We investigate environment behaviour relationships at every spatial scale and environment, from personal space and office design, through neighbourhood renewal to the public understanding of global climate change.

MSc Environmental Psychology - entry standards

Entry standards

A UK First or Upper Second class honours degree or equivalent in a social or design science discipline, understanding, experience or a passion for environmental, planning or architectural issues. We also accept students with a background in design disciplines, architecture or planning, as well as environmental engineering. Applicants without a degree who have significant relevant experience will also be considered.

English language requirements

Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (or equivalent).

Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.

Application procedure

Start date

Programme director

• Dr Birgitta Gatersleben

MSc Environmental Psychology - fees and funding

Fees

Environmental Psychology (full time):

UK/EU - £6,400 
Overseas - £14,830

Environmental Psychology (part time):

UK/EU - £3,200 
Overseas - £7,415

www.surrey.ac.uk/pgfees/2012

Funding opportunities

Funding Opportunities

Funding is now linked to continuation funding for a PhD – that is, successful applicants to the Economic and Social Research Council will be given a grant for the MSc year and then further support (subject to satisfactory progress) to enable them to undertake a PhD. 

Occasionally students receive financial support from industry through sponsorship. This would involve students undertaking a piece of research for their dissertation which would be of interest and value to industry or commerce, in return for which they will be given a grant by the commissioning company. In the past this sponsorship has ranged from £500 to £6000. This is mutually beneficial to both the student and sponsor, and allows the student to undertake a ‘real’ piece of research that has practical or policy implications, whilst receiving a sum of money to assist with fees and subsistence costs.

MSc Environmental Psychology - professional context

Professional recognition

Recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for research training.

Careers

Recent graduates have progressed into careers in central and local government, undertaking policy-oriented research on a variety of environment behaviour (E-B) issues. Many of our graduates have become practice consultants, using their E-B research skills. This could be a specialist E-B practice or an architecture, planning, design or engineering practice where graduates with a sensitivity to people-environment issues and a training in E-B research can provide an important and unique set of skills and expertise. 

Those who have a background in architecture, landscape architecture, planning or design often return to their profession but with an enhanced range of skills. 

Some examples of careers that our students have progressed to include:

• Building Research Establishment, Watford – Environmental Psychologist 
• Scottish Centre for Environmental Design and Research, Aberdeen – Researcher 
• Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey – PhD student 
• Andersen Consulting, London – Client Services – Analyst 
• Kingston University, Colour Design Research Centre – Research Officer 
• Woods Bagot International architectural firm, Sydney – Analyst 
• JMP Consultants – Transport Planning Consultant 
• Transport Research Laboratory – Transport Planning Consultant

MSc Environmental Psychology - teaching

Teaching hours

Lectures/forums: 12–14 hours per week in term time
Outside speaker seminars: between six and ten hours per term over the duration of the course
Supervision: up to nine hours per term over the duration of the course

Staff perspective

Dr Birgitta Gatersleben

The MSc in Environmental Psychology at Surrey is the only such programme in the UK and one of the few programmes in the
world. We accept students with a background in design disciplines, architecture, planning and environmental engineering, as well as those with a background in psychology. 

It’s exciting and fascinating to teach such a group of international and multidisciplinary students. In my view, the range of cultural and scientific backgrounds of the students and the mix of younger and more mature students provides a very exciting learning environment.

Our students conduct the most amazing pieces of work for their final dissertations which have both strong academic as well as practical value. This ranges from work that examines how children interact with new school furniture, to research that aims to promote recycling in households and research that explores the effect of outdoor experiences on the wellbeing of adults and children.

The job prospects of our students are very good and they end up in a range of places in the UK and abroad where they can take their work further. In recent years students have found work in other universities, architectural and planning firms, local authorities, environmental organisations and local and national government.

MSc Environmental Psychology - learning

Self study hours

Approximately 130 hours per module across eight compulsory modules

MSc Environmental Psychology - graduate profile

Graduate Profile: Jose Meijer

MSc Environmental Psychology

I would definitely recommend prospective students who have any interest in environmental psychology to come to the University of Surrey. It is the longest-running
programme of its kind in the UK and it will prove to be an amazingly inspiring subject for psychologists, architects and landscape architects.

The programme gives you a broad overview of the subject area, ranging from emotional responses to physical environments, to the effects of transport. The class discussions, wide range of assignments and subjects encourage you to develop your own interests and adapt the course to your needs. Close contact with professors and the range of backgrounds and nationalities of students served to make the programme rewarding. 

The programme content and the teaching staff really inspire the students to think critically about research topics. The assessments, mostly in essay format, help you develop analytical thinking tremendously. Group discussions in class help you define your own opinion about the field of work. My improved research skills, both qualitative and
quantitative, along with scientific writing are really important and will continue to be useful after graduation as well. 

I absolutely enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Guildford: I am an outdoor person and love to go hiking and running in the Surrey Hills. I use the Surrey Sports Park quite often as it is only a two-minute walk from Manor Park, where I live. The student membership is a convenient and inexpensive way to play squash or go swimming.

MSc Environmental Psychology - more

Psychology at Surrey 

The Department of Psychology at the University of Surrey is one of the most active and highly regarded psychology departments in the country. We specialise in applied and policy-oriented teaching and research within a strong theoretical context. The international, interdisciplinary, policy and applied strengths of the Department mean that students’ theoretical and methodological research puts them at the cutting edge of the discipline. 

We are one of the highest ranked departments in the country for graduates entering employment, and also one of the largest providers of postgraduate training in the UK. 

The University of Surrey Department of Psychology has been the centre for many cross-national studies and has attracted funding from research councils and local and national government departments, such as ESF, Defra, the MoD, the Home Office, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency, Surrey County Council and the EU. 

If you choose to study psychology at the University of Surrey, you will be provided with a combination of opportunities that would be hard to match elsewhere. We offer you a degree that provides a thorough grounding in the theories, methods and practice of contemporary psychology. Our programmes lay particular emphasis on the application of psychology to real-world problems, and also consider issues related to professional practice in preparation for your career as a professional psychologist. 

The basis of good postgraduate programmes is the research activity of staff, the incorporation of current research programmes in teaching material and a reciprocal relationship between theory development and applied research in everyday contemporary issues. We believe in involving all postgraduate students in the research life of the Department through active participation in one of the research groups, by attendance at research seminars and, where possible, an attachment to ongoing research projects. As a student of the Department of Psychology, you will also have access to a number of conferences, seminars and workshops hosted throughout the year. 

Collaborations 

Environmental psychology researchers have always enjoyed collaboration with other disciplines. Currently we are involved in a major ESRC-funded research programme RESOLVE (research on lifestyles, values and the environment) working collaboratively with researchers from sociology, economics and environmental sciences. 

We have long-established links with national and international academic institutions including the Department of Architecture at the University of Strathclyde, the Centre for Transport Studies at the University of West England, and the Department of Psychology in Bath University. The environmental psychology community is strongly international and this is reflected in the long-term active teaching and research collaboration we enjoy with the universities of Groningen, Madrid, La Coruña, Umeå and Rome. Students on the MSc programme are encouraged to take advantage of these links during their dissertations. 

MSc students are actively encouraged to participate in ongoing research projects. Our recent research clients include: 

• Building Research Establishment 
• Surrey County Council 
• EDEN Project 
• Defra 
• Environment Agency 
• Forestry Commission 
• European Commission 
• Rentokil Initial 
• King Sturge 

Environmental Psychology Research 

The Environmental Psychology Research Group (EPRG), of which students on the MSc in Environmental Psychology are automatically members, has been undertaking research for more than 30 years and has gained an international reputation, recognised in the Department’s 5 rating in the most recent Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Research Assessment Exercise. 

Research undertaken by the EPRG is both ‘fundamental’ (that is, contributing to the development of the discipline and our understanding of psychological processes) and ‘applied and policy-oriented’. Both government and business are concerned with effective policy development and delivery, and it is increasingly recognised that these can only be successfully achieved by informed evidence. Students on the MSc Environmental Psychology programme are encouraged to make their research not only useful, but useable.

MSc Environmental Psychology - apply

• MSc Environmental Psychology - Full-time - starting September 2012
• MSc Environmental Psychology - Part-time - starting September 2012