It is our pleasure to welcome you to the Department of Psychology of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. Our Department, with a history of 25 years, is characterized by scientific ampleness and innovation. We, the faculty members, decided long ago to adopt the scientist-practitioner model, which, as reflected on our program of studies, is based on three pillars: Theory, research, and practice.  

The first pillar (theory) refers to the teaching of the basic concepts and theories of the scientific fields of Psychology. During your studies, you will learn how individuals develop through lifespan, how they form groups, and how groups influence societies and vice versa. You will acquire knowledge about mental health and illness, education and schooling, the learning processes, motivation, societal influences, and the neurological basis of our psychological existence. 

The second pillar (research) focuses on a holistic and critical understanding of research methods. You will get familiarized with statistical methods (quantitative and qualitative) and research designs, currently applied in Psychology. Psychological research aims at revealing the truth pertaining human behavior, as well as the understanding of human actions, thoughts, and motives. The goal is to provide answers about human nature. Through relevant courses, as well as during the development of your BA thesis, you will learn how to design and apply research protocols and experiments.   

The third pillar (practice) concerns the applications of our science in real life. Through the course “Practicum in Psychology” you will be placed in various Institutions, providing psychological services in clinical, counseling, social, educational, or organizational settings. Our program of studies, which includes obligatory and elective courses on theorical issues, courses on research methods, writing a research BA thesis and attending Practicum, ensures that our graduates will acquire a complete knowledge of the scientific field of Psychology. 

 We welcome you with four wishes!

Our first wish is that you will grow a profound interest in the science of Psychology. That you will work hard, with passion and perseverance, acquiring knowledge which will eventually become part of your identity. We wish that you will gain a solid fundamental knowledge of the subject of Psychology, immerse yourself into science and gain the maximum knowledge from our undergraduate courses. We hope that our program will motivate you to study hard, investing time and effort, gradually building self-reliance. There are a lot of scientific studies showing that active knowledge acquisition is directly related to and affect both our professional success and our life satisfaction. We wish you to experience a demanding, yet challenging and fruitful, path to learning. We, your teachers, will be present to support your personal search.

Being an undergraduate student does not only involve hard studying and effort. It is also an opportunity to empower your social skills. This is our second wish: We hope that during your undergraduate years at Panteion University, you will form long-lasting friendships and relationships with your co-students. Through your interactions with your fellow students, we hope that you will self-evolve, discover your true interests, experience moments that will help you lead a self-fulling and meaningful life. It is a common research finding that meaningful relationships are essential to our well-being, as well as to our physical and mental health. Thus, we wish you to build strong friendships with your fellow students, supporting each other, thus finding future collaborators. We wish that the social network that you will create while studying at Panteion University, will help you build your personal and scientific identity, as you grow together.

Our third wish is that you discover your values and ideals and lay the foundations for a meaningful life. Emerging adulthood, which is the phase of life that you are now going through, is a period where ideas, ideologies and values are reexamined and crystallized. Conversing with peers has proven to be a valuable tool, facilitating introspection. We wish that your undergraduate years will be a journey of self-knowledge, a journey of self-discovery, a journey through which you will discover, establish, and develop the core values and principles that will hopefully accompany you for the rest of your life. Psychological research has shown that people who have clear principles and values and who live their lives according to them, are not only successful, but also happier.

Finally, we wish that in the years to follow, while you are undergraduate students, will also be the years that will inspire you to become active citizens. We wish you to become interested in the public life and the various issues, problems, and challenges of our society today. The concept of “active citizenship” has been thoroughly examined by researchers and the findings suggest that engaging with the public issues is associated with living a meaningful life, resulting in higher levels of subjective happiness. So, we wish you to develop your critical thinking and, through your involvement with the public life, to challenge the current status quo and to personally contribute so that our university, our community, and our country improves, as much as possible.

With these four wishes, on behalf of all the members of the Department of Psychology, we welcome you!

 

                                                                       

             Anastasios Stalikas                                                                                      Smaragda Kazi
            Chairman of the Department                                                                          Deputy Chairman