Origins and growth
What started as a collaboration between the fields of Experimental Psychology and Comparative and Physiological Psychology turned into a specialised department with innovative research. This in-between field experienced a great growth in the nineties and research into the relationship between brain, cognition, and behaviour got a boost in Nijmegen in general at the same time. For instance, the F.C. Donders centre (today’s Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging) was founded in 2002. Partially as a consequence of this, Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology become a full-fledged field of study with its own department within the Faculty of Social Sciences. The field was eventually integrated into the new Master’s Healthcare Psychology, where other fields of study came together, in order to create a stronger connection to the BIG programme for healthcare psychologists.
A glimpse into the future
The department of Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology plays an important role in the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Donders Centre for Cognition, and the Psychology programme in 2024. Education is firmly rooted in the master’s specialisation Healthcare Psychology and the bachelor’s programme’s domain Brain & Cogntion, even as in the nation-wide BIG specialisation programmes for clinical neuropsychologists. The programme is completely ready for the future with its four professors, five accredited research groups within the Donders Institute, six specialised clinical neuropsychologists (with BIG registrations), and dozens of PhD students.
The department is known for its comprehensive approach and its collaborations with healthcare institutions such as the Radboudumc, Klimmendaal Rehabilitation Specialists, the Pompe foundation, Kempenhaeghe, and Vincent van Gogh for Mental Wellbeing. Research into ageing, neuropsychiatry, and cognitive rehabilitation has led to many publications, handbooks, diagnostic tests, and innovative treatments. Onto the next forty years of impact and innovation!