Research themes

Our research

The Psychology in Education Research Centre (PERC) conducts innovative and applied psychological research relevant to education and educational settings. Our goal is to explore these factors in a manner that is both rigorous and broadly accessible to the psychology and educational communities.

We employ a range of methodologies to explore six related themes underlying psychology in education.

Interested PhD students and potential collaborators may wish to contact researcher indicated in parentheses after each sub-theme.

Supporting teachers and teaching

Predicting teacher effectiveness (Dr Lisa Kim)

Teacher retention and valuing the teaching profession (Dr Lisa Kim)

Mental health and wellbeing in education

Child and adolescent mental health (Dr Umar Toseeb)

Digital technologies in relation to youth wellbeing and mental health (Dr Beth Bell)

Body image and appearance satisfaction (Dr Beth Bell)

Bullying and mental health (Dr Nathalie Noret)

Positive youth development (Dr Nadia Jessop)

Positive mental health (Dr Dusana Dorjee)

Teacher mental health and wellbeing (Dr Lisa Kim)

Innovative methods in educational research

Neuroscience: static eye-tracking; EEG/ERP; fMRI (Dr Elpida Pavlidou)

Developing tools for selection in education (Dr Lisa Kim)

Latent class analysis and longitudinal modelling (Dr Umar Toseeb)

Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling (Dr Lisa Kim)

Special educational needs and disabilities

Specific learning difficulties (including dyslexia): understanding and developing interventions (Dr Elpida Pavlidou)

Implicit / statistical learning and reading: development and individual differences (Dr Elpida Pavlidou)

Developmental language disorder (DLD) (Dr Umar Toseeb)

Neurodiversity and autism (Professor Kathryn Asbury,Dr Umar Toseeb)

Motivation, emotions, and personality in education

Individual differences in student and teacher personalities (Dr Lisa Kim)

Personality and individual differences in students and teachers (Dr Lisa Kim)

Genetics in education

Teacher beliefs about genetics (Dr Kathryn Asbury)

Genetic and environmental influences on achievement and behaviour (Dr Kathryn Asbury)

GenOmics And Life Stories (GOALS)

Gene-environment interplay in education and development (Professor Sophie von Stumm, Dr Umar Toseeb)