About us

The Department of Psychology has the distinction of being the youngest of the University of Basle’s seven faculties. It was founded in 2003, 25 years after the creation of an Institute of Psychology in Basle on 1 January 1978. This young faculty has quickly developed into a thriving hub for psychological research. Its research program, emanating from nine labs, focuses on human development and mental health, social cognition and decision-making, and neuroscience.

Currently, the Department of Psychology has over 800 Bachelor and Master students, and additionally provides training for a growing number of postgraduates. The Faculty offers three Master of Science and four Master of Advanced Studies Programs. Further recognition of the Department of Psychology’s research status is evidenced by its hosting research programs under the aegis of the National Center for Competence in Research sesam, the Swiss Etiological Study of Adjustment and Mental Health.

Founded in 1459, the University of Basle is Switzerland’s oldest university and has been contributing to Basel’s urban and cultural history ever since. The historic city of Basle straddles the River Rhine, at the meeting point of Switzerland, France and Germany, in the heart of a region that has both a strong economy and a unique scientific potential. Over the centuries, many academic luminaries have been linked with the university, including Erasmus, Paracelsus, Daniel Bernoulli, Jacob Burckhardt, Leonhard Euler, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Karl Barth.

No fewer than four Nobel prizewinners have been associated with the University of Basle: Niels K. Jerne and George J. F. Köhler (1984), Werner Arber (1978), and Tadeus Reichstein (1950). The University of Basle was ranked 82nd in the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007 (25th in the Top 100 European Universities) [Source: Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jio Tong University, Shanghai, PR China].