About the Department

Welcome to the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences (PBS) at Boston University. Our faculty are engaged in teaching and researching a broad range of topics focused on enhancing the understanding of mind, brain and behavior. Our faculty are leaders in their fields and we offer a vast array of training opportunities for students.

PBS faculty study a variety of topics including genetics, brain processes, animal learning, child development, psychopathology, cognition, perception, attention, memory, decision-making, cognitive control, addiction, anxiety, depression, autism, social interactions and behavioral interventions. Through our work, we attempt to discover principles and develop theory that increase our understanding of individuals and social groups and apply this knowledge to improving health and well being.

PBS offers undergraduate, Master’s and PhD degrees in Psychology that are organized around three programmatic areas: (1) Brain, Behavior & Cognition, (2) Clinical Psychology, and (3) Developmental Science. Our undergraduate program in Psychology is one of the most popular majors within BU’s College of Arts & Sciences. Admission to our PhD program is extremely selective (2-3% admission rate). Our department also supports undergraduate and PhD degrees in Neuroscience in cooperation with interdisciplinary programs.

PBS is highly active in research. Research and research training in the department is supported by a variety of grants including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and private foundations. PBS faculty lead several broad research and clinical centers at BU, including the Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders, the Center for Systems Neuroscience, the Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging, the Center for Autism Research Excellence, and the Center for Memory & Brain. These centers, along with robust activity in individual faculty laboratories, offer a broad range of research training opportunities for our undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.