university of adelaide phd psychology

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Psychologists support people’s health and wellbeing by helping them understand the way they think, behave, feel and learn.

Be part of a remarkable health culture

The University of Adelaide has a reputation for excellence in health education dating back more than 135 years.

Our School of Psychology has strong connections to industry with expertise in the areas of health, disability and the lifespan; brain and cognition; social and organisational psychology. And all our teaching is informed by our research, which is universally rated 'above world standard'^.

Give yourself multiple career options

Our psychology and psychology-related degrees can get you started on countless rewarding career paths.

Your highly developed critical thinking skills—and your unique understanding of human behaviour—will be valuable to a huge range of jobs and sectors, including human resource management, advertising, marketing and research. Or, you might work in community services and provide mental health services to children or adults.

And if you complete one of our masters-level psychology programs, you can become a practising clinical, health or organisational psychologist.

Career prospects

Employment growth for the majority of psychology-related roles range from strong to very strong † .

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Make History in Psychology

Have a passion for helping others? Interested in the connection between the brain and behaviour? Hear from students Nicola and Jaclyn on embarking their rewarding Psychology careers with Adelaide.

• Ranked top 125 globally for Psychology*
• Producing ‘above world standard’ research in Psychology ^
• Strong career growth predicted (13% by 2026) †

* Times Higher Education University Rankings by Subject, 2024. ^ Excellence in Research for Australia, 2018 † Australian Government, Labour Market Insights, 2023.

15 matching degrees found

Bachelor of Psychological Science

• Bachelor of Psychology (Advanced)(Honours)
• Bachelor of Sociology

Honours Bachelor

• Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)

Masters by Coursework

• Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy
• Master of Psychology (Clinical)
• Master of Psychology (Health)
• Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors)

Graduate Diploma

• Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
• Graduate Diploma in Psychology - Online
• Graduate Diploma in Psychology (Advanced) - Online

Graduate Certificate

• Graduate Certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy

Masters by Research

• Master of Clinical Science
• Master of Philosophy

Doctorate by Research

• Doctor of Philosophy

The balance between academic and social life has been well emphasised by the University, and the engagement of staff with students is incredible. This university is perfect for anyone seeking to achieve a high academic standing in a fun, supportive environment.

Joel Keh Keat Ng

LLB, B Arts, GDLP

Study at Adelaide

Further enquiries

Researcher Profiles

Professor Rachel Roberts

School of Psychology

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I am a Professor and Registered Psychologist (endorsed by the Psychology Board of Australia as a Clinical Psychologist, Health Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychologist). My research and teaching is in the areas of child, adolescent and peri-natal clinical, health and neuropsychology, including issues of stigma and chronic illness. Of particular interest are psychological aspects of acquired brain injury and craniofacial conditions.

• My Research
• Publications
• Grants and Funding
• Supervision
• Professional Activities

PhD and Master of Psychology research project opportunities

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a metabolic condition resulting from a genetic defect in the phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme.  This condition results in very elevated phenylalanine levels, which cause brain damage if not treated adequately by a medically prescribed diet consisting of medically prescribed nutritional supplements and a low protein diet.  This condition has been screened for by newborn screening for almost 60 years in Australia.  We know that implementation of the diet in the neonatal period has improved the cognitive outcomes for adults with PKU identified by newborn screening, but we know very little about the quality of life and lived experience of adults with PKU in Australia.

Initially children identified with PKU were followed in a centre and discharged when they were felt to not be at risk of further adverse cognitive outcomes.  There was recognition subsequently that elevated phenylalanine levels were teratogenic and care pathways were developed to support women pre-pregnancy to return to diet.  Despite initial studies that reported no difference in quality of life, it has become much clearer over time that elevated phenylalanine levels do have an effect on cognitive functioning and mental health.

We are interested in exploring the lived experience of adults with PKU to better understand their perspective on their medical condition, the challenges that they experience with lifelong dietary therapy and also their views on new or emerging treatments. 

This project has a qualitative component that will separately explore:

• Views and attitudes of adult men with PKU as this is a population who have not previously been well captured in the qualitative PKU research.
• Views and attitudes of adults who have spent some time off diet to return back to diet again.
• Views and attitudes of women with PKU who have experienced a pregnancy. 

The quantitative arm of this project would include capturing quality of life and life experience data for a broad range of topics using qualtrix.

This project would be conducted with co-design with the PKU community and represents an opportunity for a significant and impactful body of work with access to experienced supervisors (Co-supervision by Dr Sarah Donoghue, Metabolic Unit, Women's and Children's Hospital) and experts within this field of research.  There would be opportunities to use this work for research translation.  Ideally this project would be offered as an entire body of work to a PhD student, but individual components of the project could be offered as Masters projects.

Appointments

Awards and achievements, research interests, book chapters, conference papers, conference items, report for external bodies.

Nationally competitive grants

Grants prior to 2017

Roberts R , Proeve M 2016-2017 Risk Aware Project: Identifying Adverse Health Events During Psychology Clinical Placements   Office for Learning and Teaching - OLT Grants  $ 5,000

Dorstyn, D., Roberts, R., Murphy, G., Craig, A., Kneebone, I., Migliorini, C. & Field, D. (2014-15) Development and evaluation of an online vocational program for an Australian sample with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.  Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia Incubator Grant. $20,985.

Roberts, R.M ., Strohm, K., Jureidini, J., Giallo, R., & Robb, J. (2013-14) Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation Grant Evaluation of a group program for siblings. $70,000

Roberts, R. Travel grant to attend the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association’s 68th Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico, Ian Potter Foundation (2011), $2,504.

Roberts, R. Travel grant to attend the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association’s 68th Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico, Healthy Development Adelaide (2011), $1,000.

Ratcliff, J., Flynn, T., Brazier, J.E., Stevens, K., Sawyer, M., (AI: Roberts, R .) (2011-12) Adolescent health: application of Best Worst Scaling Discrete Choice Experiments to value multi-attribute health states for use in economic evaluation, NHMRC. $174,313

University of Adelaide competitive grants

Roberts, R.M . & Mathias, J.L. (2012) Relationship between cognitive functioning and DTI findings following traumatic brain injury in children: A meta-analysis. RIGB Small Grant, School of Psychology, University of Adelaide.  $11,000

Dorstyn, D. (Associate Investigator Roberts, R ) (2012) The effectiveness of leisure interventions in maximising functional outcomes in stroke rehabilitation: a meta-analytic review. RIGB Small Grant, School of Psychology, University of Adelaide. $11,172

I currently teach and coordinate our Psychology Research internship course in semester 2. I teach and co-coordinate our Honours course; Interviewing and Interpersonal skills. I also teach into our postgraduate course in Neuropsychology and Disability, and coordinate the Research Project in Clinical Psychology 1 and 2. I supervise psychology honours, Master of Psychology (Clinical) and Master of Psychology (Health) research projects, as well as PhD students. I also supervise Master of Psychology students on external placements.

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Past higher degree by research supervision (university of adelaide), other supervision activities, memberships, editorial boards.

• Position: Professor
• Phone: 83135228
• Email: [email protected]
• Fax: 83133770
• Campus: North Terrace
• Building: Hughes, floor 5
• Org Unit: Psychology

Connect With Me

External Profiles