Course summary
Change and diversity are essential characteristics of the cognition, behaviour, and brains of children, adolescents, and adults. This MSc course will take neurodiversity as a framework for understanding development across the whole human lifespan and how development varies between people. The course will provide a unique opportunity to gain advanced training in how to characterise diversity and development, and how to study them with the latest research designs and statistical methods. Neurodiversity refers to variation in brain and cognitive functions including learning, attention, social ability, mood, and sleep. It provides a framework for understanding the factors that influence brain and behaviour across the whole population and the whole lifespan; for understanding conditions such as autism and ADHD as a part of that variation; and for addressing the need for variation to be recognised, valued, understood, and accommodated. You will have opportunities to interact with a wide range of researchers from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Developmental Science, practitioners, and people with lived experience of neurodivergence. Optional modules let you combine your interest in development and diversity with training in advanced data analysis, neuroscience methods, and mental health.
Modules
You will take a mixture of compulsory and optional modules totalling 180 credits, including a 60-credit supervised research project, leading to a 6,000-word research dissertation. See some of the recent projects undertaken by students on similar courses in the School of Psychology. Compulsory modules Neurodiversity Modelling Change and Diversity Research methods and skills Proposing research in psychology MSc Research Project Optional modules (two from this indicative list): Clinical psychology and developmental diversity. Data science for behaviour and brain I Data science for behaviour and brain II Translational Neuroscience Youth Mental Health Fundamentals in Magnetic Brain Imaging Applications of Electrophysiological Approaches Please note: The modules listed on the website for this programme are regularly reviewed to ensure they are up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods. Unless indicated otherwise, the modules listed for this programme are for students starting in 2024. On rare occasions, we may need to make unexpected changes to compulsory modules after that date; in this event we will contact offer holders as soon as possible to inform or consult them as appropriate.
Assessment method
You will be assessed by a variety of methods including essays and reports, oral and poster presentations, and peer assessments.
Entry requirements
Applicants should have obtained a good Honours degree (at least 2:1 or equivalent) in Psychology or a related discipline and have gained at least a 2:1 (or equivalent) in the research dissertation (i.e., experience of planning and conducting research and analysing data). Applicants who do not meet our requirement for a 2(i) in their final-year research project, but who have gained significant research experience in a relevant research setting will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
£10,530 FT (UK students)
£26,280 FT (International students)
Provider information
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT