This is what your Psychology degree looks like
In the first two years of your Psychology bachelor's programme, you will lay a solid foundation. You will take courses on brain and behaviour, developmental psychology, social interaction and mental health. You will learn how to conduct scientific research, observe and analyse behaviour, and explore topics such as stress, motivation, emotions and personality.
Besides theory, you will also practice practical skills that are indispensable for a future psychologist. In the subject Conversation Techniques, for example, you will learn how to conduct a confidential conversation, how to listen actively and how to ask the right questions - skills that you will later need in any field of psychology.
Choose direction
Do you want to become a psychologist later on and help people with mental problems? Then Clinical Psychology or Psychopathology, Health, and Prevention will suit you well. Are you curious about how behaviour works within organisations or society? Then choose Social and Organisational Psychology. Or delve deeper into the brain and thought processes with Biological and Cognitive Psychology. After the first two years, you choose a specialisation. More information in the three tabs.
Brain & Behavioural Lab
From the third year onwards, you will also have access to the Brain & Behavioural Lab: a modern research environment where you can measure brain activity, emotions and behaviour using state-of-the-art equipment. Here you can set up experiments, collect data and experience how psychological research works in practice. Already in the first year, you get a glimpse of that world: as a participant in various research projects, you learn at first hand how studies are carried out.
This is how you build your future step by step - whether in healthcare, education, policy or research. And the great thing is: at VU Amsterdam, you learn psychology not just from books, but mainly by doing.