Mission, Vision and Strategy
Mission
The mission of the Department of Clinical Psychology at UU is to promote scientific knowledge about the underlying mechanisms, prevention and treatment of common mental disorders, and to develop clinical psychological scientists whose knowledge and skills can help to alleviate the burden of these disorders worldwide.
Vision
1. Initiating, coordinating and conducting scientific research to improve the understanding of the development, maintenance, prevention and treatment of common mental disorders (in particular anxiety and stress related disorders);
2. Disseminating research output across various relevant target groups, including the scientific community, clinicians and society at large;
3. Using the results of scientific research to support initiatives aimed at improving preventive and curative care;
4. Training (future) clinical psychologists in applying scientific research and evidence-based interventions in an ethical way in clinical practice;
5. Developing "scientist practitioners" who will operate at the forefront of the study of psychopathology.
Strategy
1. The application of both fundamental (laboratory) and applied (population and practice-oriented) research;
2. Support initiatives in the field of "open science" to increase the openness, transparency and reproducibility of research activities; translating and disseminating research results to clinicians and a broader audience;
3. Supporting employee participation in advisory committees, postgraduate teaching functions and other societal bodies that focus on improving mental health policies and practices - and encouraging and enabling staff to combine education and research with clinical work;
4. Providing opportunities for students to develop their ethical and critical thinking skills in the practical, theoretical and methodological fields, and teaching evidence-based methods for psychological assessment, prevention and treatment;
5. Encourage junior staff to profile themselves in national and international collaborative education and research activities and spearhead key developments within their own research areas.