The mission of the Psychology advance studies programs is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and intellectual habits required for successful careers in research, teaching, and professional service. Post Graduate students may specialize in Behavioral Neuroscience, Lifespan Developmental Psychology, or Clinical Psychology. All students study core substantive areas of psychological science as well as more specific areas in their specialization. All students conduct independent research under the supervision of faculty members. Students also may provide psychological services and teach, under faculty supervision, as appropriate for their specialization and career goals. The Psychology postgraduate program has the fundamental mission of providing highly qualified graduate students with excellent preparation for career opportunities in academia, research institutions, professional practice, and private industry in order to serve their profession and the community at large. 

As the premier behavioral science, the Psychology postgraduate program makes a major contribution to the department mission of examining human behavior in context. Faculty and graduate students in this program conduct research, teach, provide professional service, seek and receive extramural grant funding, publish in highly respected journals, participate in national and international professional conferences, and actively participate in the professional activities of national psychological organizations. The advance studies program is integral to the Department's mission of furthering its status as a premier psychology department. Faculty and graduate students in the said program conduct research, teach, provide professional service, seek and receive extramural grant funding, publish in highly respected journals, participate in national and international professional conferences.

Advance Studies Programme Objectives

Our overarching goal is to prepare students to be competent professionals in different fields of psychology who may function in a variety of professional settings including academic, research, clinical and community. The program’s orientation is that of understanding of the processes underlying adaptation and maladaptation within a cultural and biopsychosocial frame, thus throughout all aspects of training the program encourages an awareness of and respect for diversity. Our faculty approach intervention and psychotherapy from a variety of perspectives including developmental, psychodynamic, systemic, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic and integrative. Our intent is to enable students to take a creative, empirical, and ethical approach to diagnostic and psychological problems among diverse populations; to critically evaluate and contribute to the evolving body of scholarly literature in the science and practice of psychology; and to integrate the clinical, theoretical, and scientific foundations of psychology. Our specific objectives are to:

Provide students with didactic instruction and supervised training in the practice of clinical psychology. Students will develop the skills needed to:

• Evaluate, administer and interpret psychological assessments with an understanding of the psychometric and empirical underpinnings of assessment.
• Formulate and apply psychological diagnoses with an appreciation of the conceptual strengths and limitations of current diagnostic approaches and an understanding of the role of etiological and risk processes.
• Develop, evaluate, and implement treatment plans that reflect both knowledge of empirically-based principles and an appreciation of individual client characteristics and contextual factors.

Provide students with didactic instruction and mentored supervision in the conduct and evaluation of research. Students will develop the skills needed to:

• Understand the strengths and limitations of different research methods.
• Understand, utilize and interpret basic descriptive and inferential statistics.
• Develop and conduct conceptually-driven and empirically sound research.

Cultivate an understanding of and appreciation for individual and cultural diversity across content areas of science and practice. Students will develop the skills needed to:

• Consider the nature and impact of diversity on the administration and interpretation of assessments, the validity of diagnostic formulations, and the appropriateness of a particular treatment plan.
• Conduct and evaluate research with an understanding of the influence of cultural diversity on all aspects of the research process.

Prepare students to make ethically and legally informed decisions about research, and other professional issues. Students will develop the skills needed to:

• Comprehensive knowledge of and skill in implementing the ethical/professional codes, standards and guidelines related to psychological work.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the ethical/professional codes, standards and guidelines related to research.
• Comprehensive knowledge of and skill in implementing ethical/professional codes, standards and guidelines related to teaching.

Admission Requirements

• M.Phil/M.Phil leading to Ph.D : 
• Minimum CGPA should be 3.0 (Semester System) or 1st Division (Annual System) from a recognized University or Relevant Masters’ Degree or 4-year education after intermediate (130 Credit Hours).
• NTS GAT (General) with 50% marks.
• Ph.D : 

• For admission into the Ph.D minimum CGPA 3.0 (out of 4.0 in the Semester System) or First Division (in the Annual System) in M.Phil/M.S/Equivalent is required.
• NTS GAT (Subject) 60% marks.
• Departmental Test with 70% marks.

M.Phil Credit Requirements : For award of M.Phil/Equivalent degree, candidates will either need to complete 30 credit hours of course work or complete 24 credit hours of course work along with a minimum of 6 credit hours for research work/thesis.

Ph.D Requirements :

• Course work of 18 credit hours preferably in the first year is required to be completed and followed by a comprehensive examination for granting candidacy as Ph.D researcher.
• The Ph.D. Dissertation must be evaluated by at least two Ph.D experts from technologically/academically advanced foreign countries in addition to local Committee members.
• An open defense of Dissertation is essential part of Ph.D Program after positive evaluation.
• Acceptance/publication of at least one research paper in an HEC approved “X” category journal is a requirement for the award of Ph.D. degree (“Y” in case of Social Sciences only).
• The Plagiarism Test must be conducted on the Dissertation before its submission to the two foreign experts.