The unveiling ceremony was attended by distinguished guests.
Qiu Yong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University, expressed that the establishment of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science aims to promote interdisciplinary integration, strengthen fundamental research on consciousness origins and the essence of intelligence, construct and improve the theoretical system of mental health, actively contribute to the construction of Healthy China, and strive to advance the development of human mental health. The establishment of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science once again demonstrates the determination and responsibility of Tsinghua University to actively serve the strategic needs of the country.
It is reported that the Department of Psychology at Tsinghua University was founded in 1926, making it one of the earliest schools in China to establish a psychology major. During the nationwide restructuring of university departments in 1952, the Department of Psychology at Tsinghua University was merged with other schools. After the reform and opening up, Tsinghua University gradually resumed research and teaching in psychology, and in 2008, the university established the Department of Psychology within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
In recent years, the Department of Psychology at Tsinghua University has continuously improved its level of discipline construction and social service capabilities, cultivating a group of high-level talents in psychology. It has produced a series of high-level research achievements in the study of the essential characteristics of human and machine intelligence, the development of psychological measurement methods based on brain-computer interface technology, and has been deeply involved in psychological crisis interventions in various public emergencies.
It is reported that the newly established Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Tsinghua University will be based on the disciplinary positioning of "psychology as the foundation, promoting the integration of arts and sciences; cognition as the feature, strengthening the integration of science and technology." According to this positioning, the department will focus on two major research directions: cognition and intelligence, and society and health. By integrating psychology with cognitive science, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other disciplines, the department will mainly develop sub-disciplines such as general psychology and cognitive psychology, creating new frontiers in cognitive science research with the goal of understanding the essence of intelligence. It will provide new research paradigms and experimental techniques for the study of cognitive neural mechanisms, and answer fundamental psychological questions such as the origins of consciousness and the nature of intelligence using "new technologies". Through the integration of psychology with Chinese traditional culture, the department will mainly develop sub-disciplines such as social psychology and clinical and counseling psychology, establish a theoretical system of mental health that contributes to Chinese culture and thought, develop psychological disorder diagnosis and intervention programs based on intelligence and brain cognitive technology, improve the mental health of the population, cultivate a positive social mentality, and undertake the social responsibility of serving major national needs.
