Psychology PhD studentship

Psychology Doctoral Research Studentship - Cognitive benefits of viewing natural scenes (2023)

What you get

• A stipend for 3 years (rising in line with UKRI studentship rates, currently £17,668 p.a.) to cover living costs.
• Home fees or International fees and research/training costs are also covered for 3 years.
• You will also be expected to take up Doctoral Tutoring during your 6 semesters (3 years) of funding. This work is paid at Grade 5.1 (currently £13.88 per hour), and covers contact time, preparation and marking. You will be expected to work approximately 165 hours per year, dependent on modules selected and availability.

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

What are the cognitive and neurophysiological effects of looking at nature? What mechanisms are behind these effects?

 The human visual system is sensitive to the statistics of natural scenes, and statistics of colour (e.g. Maule & Franklin, 2015; 2020). There is also evidence linking image statistics with visual discomfort and brain activity (e.g. O’Hare et al., 2021), suggesting that pleasant scenes are processed more easily, and therefore consume less energy. Simply viewing images of nature has been associated with cognitive benefits in working memory and attention, compared to viewing urban images (e.g. Berman et al., 2008). However, it is not clear what role visual processing plays in delivering these benefits, or how they might interact with visual discomfort.

 This PhD will focus on understanding whether and how the visual properties of natural scenes influence cognitive function. It will be particularly suited to candidates with a strong background in vision, colour science, neuroscience and/or cognition. Potential methods include behavioural tasks and visual psychophysics, eye-tracking, fMRI and EEG. Prior experience or an interest to learn programming (especially MATLAB) will be required.

 There is a thriving vision science community at the University of Sussex studying vision and colour perception at all levels from retinal processes in animals (e.g. Professor Tom Baden and Professor Daniel Osorio), human colour perception (Dr. John Maule, Dr. Jenny Bosten and Professor Anna Franklin), to high level cognition and consciousness (e.g. Professor Jamie Ward and Professor Anil Seth).

 Selected relevant literature:

• Berman, et al. (2008). The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1207-1212. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02225.x
• Maule & Franklin (2015). Effects of ensemble complexity and perceptual similarity on rapid averaging of hue. Journal of Vision, 15(4):6, 1–18. doi: 10.1167/15.4.6
• Maule & Franklin (2020). Adaptation to variance generalizes across visual domains. Journal of Experimental Psychology:General, 149(4), 662–675. doi: 10.1037/xge0000678
• O’Hare, et al. (2021). Steady-state visual evoked potential responses predict visual discomfort judgements. European Journal of Neuroscience, 54(10), 7575–7598. doi: 10.1111/ejn.15492

Eligibility

• This award will pay fees at the Home or International rate (as required by the applicant's fee status). International students must move to Sussex for the duration of the PhD and will not be permitted to register as Distance Learners. The studentship does not include additional funding towards the costs of visas or travel to the UK for international students.
• Candidates must have, or expect to obtain, a First or a high Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate degree, or equivalent qualification, and/or a  Merit (an average of 60% overall) in a Master’s degree in Psychology or other relevant discipline.
• The University of Sussex believes that the diversity of its staff and student community is fundamental to creative thinking, pedagogic innovation, intellectual challenge, and the interdisciplinary approach to research and learning. We celebrate and promote diversity, equality and inclusion amongst our staff and students. As such, we welcome applications from all, regardless of personal characteristics or background. 

Deadline

9 March 2023 23:45

How to apply

• Please read our Psychology PhD FAQS and our Prospectus before you start your application.
• Please submit your application online for 'PhD in Psychology' for entry in September 2023.

• In the 'Supervisor suggested by applicant' section of your application, put 'John Maule'.
• In the 'Proposed source of funding' section of your application, please put 'Psychology Doctoral Research Studentship - Maule'. 

Candidates should provide: 

• A research proposal that outlines your knowledge of the research area, hypotheses that could be addressed in your PhD, and an outline of potential methods. The research proposal should be approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words in length and not exceed 3 pages, including references. It should be set at a minimum of 10 font type with margins a minimum of 1cm. Applicants are encouraged to contact the supervisor for more information about the project before writing their proposal.
• Current degree transcript(s) with full details of performance on all completed courses. 
• Two academic references.
• An up-to-date CV.
• A document summarising any teaching experience you have and illustrating your suitability for a Doctoral Tutor role. 

Contact us

For queries with respect to the application process: psychologyphd-enquiries@sussex.ac.uk 

To discuss the details of your research interests further, please contact Dr John Maule.