News in the School of Behavioural Science

2008

Melbourne University launches joint Master of Clinical Psychology degree programme with the National University of Singapore - 22 May 2008

Photo 1: Left to Right: Prof Peter Rathjen (UoM) and Prof Seeram Ramakrishna (NUS) sealing the agreement. Photo 2: Signatories: Prof Philip Smith, Prof Peter Rathjen, Prof Seeram Ramakrishna (NUS), Prof Lesleyanne Hawthorne, A/P Tan Tai Yong (NUS) and Prof George Bishop (NUS)

Starting in January 2009 the University of Melbourne (UoM) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) will offer a joint degree programme in clinical psychology, providing students with more options for further studies in the field. Students will take courses in Melbourne during their first year of study and return to NUS in their second year to complete the remaining modules and clinical placements.  The program has been designed to help boost the manpower needs for psychologists in Singapore.

Professor Catherine So-kum Tang, Director of Clinical Psychology explained the objective and structure of the curriculum for the joint degree program; ”The objective of the collaboration with the University of Melbourne is to benchmark the new programme with international standards of training. The curriculum for the joint degree programme is founded on a scientist-practitioner approach and reflects the curricula of the Master of Psychology (Clinical) programme offered at UoM and the new Master of Psychology (Clinical) programme at NUS. Students will also receive extensive supervised clinical experience in hospitals and clinics in Singapore and are expected to develop research skills relevant to evidence-based practice.”

The clinical psychology programme at the University of Melbourne began in the early 1970s. The programme enjoys an excellent reputation and is one of the premier clinical psychology programmes in the region.

Professor Philip Smith, Head, School of Behavioural Science at the University of Melbourne, said this strategic link between the NUS and UoM, two of the Asia-Pacific region’s research leaders, reflects the increased globalisation of higher education. “Not only does it respond to Singapore’s workforce need for more professional psychologists, but it will also establish a relationship between the two universities that is likely to lead to future collaborative research.”

Professor George Bishop, Head of the Department of Psychology at NUS said, “It is beneficial for NUS to capitalize on a ready pool of expertise within an internationally renowned department. The Master of Psychology (Clinical) programme offered by UoM is a first class programme and has been accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council since its inception more than 30 years ago.  As such we’re proud to be teaming up with them in this joint degree.  Students of the joint degree programme will benefit from the strengths of both departments as they pursue their clinical psychology training.”

Professor James Angus, Dean of the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences said this partnership builds on the long-standing ties  - at many levels - between Melbourne and NUS, both of which are highly-respected internationally for the quality of their staff and students; their teaching and research. “In our faculty, growing numbers of Melbourne medical students are undertaking their Advanced Medical Science year in Singapore, and are taking units in paediatric, clinical, toxicology and venom research, radiology and molecular research at NUS.”

Professor Tan Tai Yong, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences said “We are very excited about this new joint degree programme as it will offer our students even more choices in terms of their studies and career. The fact that University of Melbourne like NUS is also one of the leading Universities in the world means that this is a prestigious programme that will prove to be extremely attractive to potential students. This programme will also afford the opportunity for faculty members from both universities to work closely together, further fostering academic and research links between NUS and University of Melbourne. We look forward to having more such collaboration with University of Melbourne in the near future.”

Applications for the joint degree programme will commence on 2 June 2008 and be due by 31 July 2008. An information session of the programme will be held on 23 June 2008 in NUS. For more information, please refer to the following website http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/psytsk/internet/clinical_psych_web/

New Edition of Book
Associate Professor John Gleeson and Dr. Eoin Killackey, along with Helen Krstev, have edited a book on psychological treatments of psychosis. Psychotherapies for the psychoses: Theoretical, cultural and clinical integration offers a broad and global perspective on these effective treatments, which are often inaccessible to people diagnosed with psychotic disorders. The book also contains contributions from the departments' Professor Henry Jackson and Dr. Lisa Phillips. See the Routledge website for more details and ordering information.

Professor Martin E.P. Seligman

Internationally renowned psychologist, Professor Martin E. P. Seligman, joins the department for the first half of 2008 as a Visiting Professorial Fellow. He is the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the Positive Psychology Center, and past-president of the American Psychological Association. A founder of the positive psychology movement, Professor Seligman's work has been influential in basic and applied psychology. His many publications include the books Learned Optimism , The Optimistic Child , Helplessness , and most recently Authentic Happiness . He is currently working with the Geelong Grammar School to create a positive psychology curriculum for secondary and primary education, and will be delivering an International Public Lecture on “Positive Psychology and the New Prosperity”.

Outstanding Achievements 2008

Students and Alumni

• Congratulation to Graham Gee, Master of Psychology student, who is the recipient of the 2008 APS Bendi Lango Foundation Bursary.

• Congratulations to Angela Jackman, one of our Masters/ PhD students, who has won a faculty travel grant to attend the International Student Forum on Medical Research in Omaha, USA, in June. As there were only two such grants awarded for the whole of the faculty, Angela's success is noteworthy! Angela's research is in the area of sleep medicine and is supervised by Professor John Trinder.

• Congratulations to Rashika Perera, Masters/PhD (Clinical) student, who was awarded a scholarship (of $10,000 per year for the next two years) by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) under the Mental Health Scholarship Scheme (MHPSS).
  

Grants & Awards (awarded in 2008)

Congratulations to all the following staff for their success in obtaining research grants in 2008:

• Congratulations to Assoc Prof Richard Bell and Assoc Prof Jenny Boldero who have won a $187,000 gambling research grant from the Department of Justice for a project titled "Factors affecting youth gambling: A comprehensive model of the antecedents and consequences of gambling in younger people."
• Dr Eoin Killackey & Professor Henry Jackson from the Psychology Department, University of Melbourne; Dr Rosanna Scutella & Dr Yi-Ping Tseng from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and Prof. Jeff Borland from the Department of Economics, who have been awarded a grant of $380,283 from the Australian Research Council (ARC) for their project, “Improving Employment Outcomes in Early Psychosis: Social and Economic Benefits of Early Intervention”. (2008-2011).
• Associate Professor David Andrewes and PhD student Margaret Turner have been awarded a grant of $47,844 from Beyond Blue for The beyondblue Victorian Centre of Excellence (bbVCoE) in Depression and Related Disorders for the project, “Improving Inter-Personal Communication as a means of Reducing Post-Stroke Depression in patients living in the Community”. (2008-2009).

News in 2007

Outstanding Achievements 2007

Grants & Awards (awarded in 2007)