Psychology welcomes two new clinical faculty members!

Renowned scholar and scientist, Dr. Zindel Segal joins us as a Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders and Director of Clinical Training for the UTSC field of the joint OISE/UTSC Graduate Program in Counseling and Clinical Psychology. He is widely known for his work on mindfulness based cognitive therapy.

Clinical psychologist, Dr. Jessica Dere joins us as a Clinical Lecturer, slated to teach core course offerings in the mental health studies program. Dr. Dere has extensive schoalrship in the areas of acculturation and the experience and expression of emotional distress.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Segal and Dr. Dere!

Professor Page-Gould named Rising Star of Research by APS!

The Association for Psychological Science recongizes the influence Professor Liz Page-Gould has had on the field of psychology at such an early point in her research career. Visit the April 2013 issue of the Observer to learn more about Professor Page-Gould's research interests along with those of her cohort of Rising Stars.

Introduction of Admission Requirements

Effective Winter 2013, the Specialist and Major programs in Mental Health Studies and Psychology will become limited enrolment programs. Students will be required to have a minimum average of 70% in Introductory Psychology courses PSYA01H3 and PSYA02H3 to apply to Specialist programs and a minimum average of 60% in Introductory Psychology courses PSYA01H3 and PSYA02H3 to apply to Major programs. With the support of Governing Council, the Department of Psychology felt it necessary to introduce admission requirements to these very popular programs for many reasons, the primary one being the enhancement of the student experience. Over the next few years, a reduction in class sizes will result in easier access to required courses, increased faculty-student interaction in the classroom and an enhancement of methods of assessments; thereby allowing programs to better achieve their learning outcomes. Furthermore, these changes bring us more inline with the requirements of our sister programs at the other University of Toronto campuses.

Steve Joordens wins "Professor of the Year" award

Professor Steve Joordens, along with three other UTSC faculty members have been named Professor of the Year 2012-13 by the student run publication, The Underground.

http://www.the-underground.ca/news/2013/03/professors-of-the-year-2012-2013/

In loving memory of John N. Bassili

It is with great sadness that we let you know that Professor John Bassili, our
Department's first Chair, passed away peacefully on Sunday, March 3rd,
2013. He will be dearly missed.

http://ose.utsc.utoronto.ca/ose/story.php?id=4658&sectid=67

Announcing the new Graduate Department of Psychological Clinical Science!

The University of Toronto Scarborough is pleased to announce that it is now offering an MA/PhD in clinical psychology. The new Graduate Department of Psychological Clinical Science will soon be accepting applications to this program from students wishing to enter at the MA level in the Fall of 2013. Visit the website for more information:

http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~psych/clinical/

Apply to be a part of the Budding Scholars program!

Budding Scholars are a cohort of aspiring students from our Introductory Psychology classes who are interested in exploring the various facets of psychology and neuroscience, building their professional network and becoming engaged in the scientific community here at UTSC. For more information, please view details on the Undergraduates page.

Upcoming opportunities for undergraduate students

UTSC Academic and Advising Centre is recruiting senior students for Employment and Study Skills Peer Coaches. The application is due March 22, 2013.

The third annual NeuroXchange Conference (NXC) is being hosted by the BioPsych Society at McMaster University. This is an undergraduate Neuroscience conference that provides students the opportunity to present, network, and learn about this growing research field.

For more information on these and other opportunities, please check our recently updated Undergraduates page.

UTSC Psychology to join Coursera

Steve Joordens has successfully secured a Gates Foundation grant which will help bring the study of psychology to thousands of people around the world via Coursera. Read more.

Recognizing research excellence

Post-doctoral Fellow, Lisa-Marie Collimore, received a Mitacs award for her research on Cogneeto, the online educational tool and brainchild of UTSC professor Steve Joordens and graduate student Dwayne Pare. Mitacs is a Canadian research network that aims to bridge partnerships between companies, government and academia. Lisa's work is currently featured on the UTSC homepage and the Mitacs website.

The department is also pleased to recognize PhD student, Marta Wnuckzo, who is the first UofT graduate student selected for the 2012 American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award.  This award program assists doctoral students with funding and promotes research excellence in psychological science.

Teaching Awards in the Department of Psychology

Congratulations to Steve Joordens for winning the 2011-12 OCUFA Teaching Award which recognizes exceptional contributions to the quality of higher education in Ontario. Read more.

Neuroscience and Psychology Student Wins CIHR Synapse Award

Merujah Sivalingam, 4th year student and volunteer with Let's Talk Science, was recognized for her creativity and hard work in the development of the Neuron Board Game. This "Cranium" inspired board game teaches students about the nervous system by taking them on a progressive journey through the dendrites to the receptor sites of a neuronal cell! Congratulations Merujah!

New Course, WikiScholar, featured in The Star

Originally conceived by John Bassili, WikiScholar is a new course that promotes learning by doing. Rather than being lectured to, students choose topics from within Psychology, research them, then produce Wikipedia articles describing what they have learned to the world. Some of their articles were read over 10,000 times within weeks of them going live! Read more.

Welcome Interim Psychology Chair, Professor George Cree!

Please join us in welcoming George Cree to the role of Interim Chair of the Department of Psychology! George will serve a one-year term, from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013.  A respected colleague, researcher and instructor, George has served the Department extremely well since joining UTSC in 2003. He has a strong record of service in his role as Associate Chair and we look forward to his leadership as Chair over the coming year.

UTSC Teaching Awards

Janelle LeBoutillier has been honoured with the 2012 UTSC Faculty Teaching Award to recognize her excellence in teaching.  Janelle is a Departmental treasure and an extraordinary resource in the University’s quest for teaching excellence. There is no greater testament to the quality of Janelle’s contribution to the student experience at the University of Toronto Scarborough than all the grateful embraces she receives at Convocation from her students. Over the years, she has mentored many students, published many high quality papers, and provided substantial administrative service to the department, the university and the community.

The Department is also proud to announce that Sarah Johnson, graduate student with Suzanne Erb has won the 2012 UTSC Teaching Assistant Award. Since joining the Department in 2007, Sarah has been an effective Teaching Assistant in demanding neuroscience courses such as Neuroanatomy Laboratory, Drugs and the Brain, and Advanced Neuroanatomy Laboratory. She is continuously praised by instructors, colleagues and students for being very approachable, available, organized and innovative. It is clear that Sarah takes a genuine interest in her students and cares about the quality of her instruction.

Janelle and Sarah are highly deserving of their awards, and we would like to both congratulate and thank them for their contributions to the Department. They will be honoured in front of colleagues and students at the annual Celebration of Distinguished Services on June 26th.

Congratulations Timour Al-Khindi

Tim Al-Khindi won the 2011 Governor General's Silver Medal for science, earning the highest marks among all science students graduating from U of T in 2011. Tim has also won the Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award, which recognizes graduating students for outstanding contributions to improving the world around them and inspiring others to do the same. A student in the neuroscience specialist co-op program and a major in psychology, Al-Khindi is well known to many professors in the Department, having worked on research under their supervision and having assisted the Department at recruitment and student academic events. Tim will be attending Johns Hopkins University for their combined MD/PhD program.

The Office of the Dean Presents a Special Evening with Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, one of America’s leading scholars, intellectuals, lecturer, and activist will be presenting a lecture titled "Academic Freedom and the Corporatization of Universities" on Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm, Arts and Administration Building, AA112, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto. For more details visit www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~vpdean

Laura-Ann Petitto's research given broad coverage in Toronto Star

The Toronto Star, which is publishing a series on the brain, provided extensive coverage of Laura-Ann Petitto's research in its Saturday July 17, 2010 edition. You can read the article here.

Social Psychology students selected for Rising Stars of Research Conference

Jennifer Khoury and Tim Al-Khindi, two senior undergraduate students who worked, respectively, under the supervision of Liz Page-Gould and of Mickey Inzlicht, have been selected for participation in the Rising Stars of Research Conference. They will present a poster at the conference, which is held at UBC, and will contend for a first-prize award in one of the seven theme areas (Psychology being under Social Sciences). http://www.risingstars.ubc.ca

Steve Joordens Receives President's Teaching Award

Steve Joordens is one of five winners of this year's President's Teaching Award. The President's Teaching Award, which is the highest teaching honour awarded by the University, recognizes sustained excellence in teaching, research on teaching, and the integration of teaching and research. provost.utoronto.ca/Awards/presidentaward.htm

Gerry Cupchik Honoured with Rudolf Arnheim Award

Gerry Cupchik has received the Rudolf Arnheim Award from Division 10 (Psychology and the Arts) for distinguished research over the years (apa.org/divisions/div10/awards.html). To mark the award, Gerry has been invited to deliver an address at APA next August in San Diego.

Mickey Inzlicht wins Ontario Government's Early Researcher Award

Mickey Inzlicht will receive $140,000 to further his research in social neuroscience, stigma and self-control. The funds will help him take his fascinating research in new and exciting directions.

Dr. Laura-Ann Petitto's pioneering fNIRS work featured in JoVE

The Petitto Brain Imaging Team describes in detail for the first time its new
fNIRS brain scanning analysis system that can be used to advance higher
cognitive experimentation in laboratories around the world. The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is a peer reviewed, PubMed indexed journal devoted to the publication of biological research in a video format. You can watch a video about this ground breaking research approach at jove.com

John Kennedy named University Professor

John Kennedy has been named University Professor. This is a prestigious honour that the University bestows on its most distinguished faculty in recognition of their exceptional scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in a particular field of knowledge.

Steve Joordens, Dwayne Paré and Ada Le honoured

Steve Joordens punctuated his promotion to Full Professor by winning, in collaboration with Dwayne Paré, a National Technology Innovation Award for the creation of peerScholar. This web-based program, now published by Pearson, allows students in large courses to engage in writing and critical analysis in the context of peer evaluation exercises.

Ada Le, an undergraduate student who has contributed to the creation of the Psychology and Neuroscience Departmental Association (PNDA) and to coordinating the webOption team in recent years, has been named UTAA Scholar.