On the one hand, science is embedded in social contexts, and on the other hand, it shapes these contexts by addressing social challenges and influencing developments through (new) findings. The interaction between researchers, practitioners, those affected, political decision-makers and many others offers very special opportunities to break new ground and at the same time assume social responsibility through the diversity of perspectives in research and teaching.
The Department of Psychology in Landau has therefore set itself the task of taking advantage of these diverse opportunities, making research results visible and seeking and maintaining an exchange with other social actors.
As an institution, RPTU has been a member of the "Hochschulnetzwerk Bildung durch Verantwortung" (HBdV) since 2025 in order to promote exchange between civil society organizations and universities and thus promote the transfer of knowledge. More about membership and the HBdV.
Transfer price
In 2017, the department (Psychology in Landau) decided to visibly recognize activities from its own ranks that actively promote the networking of science and society and to use them as a source of inspiration. Shortly afterwards, the Science Council also reminded "... academic psychology of the great social need for psychological knowledge and of its special responsibility in this regard..."
(Science Council in its working paper on perspectives for psychology in Germany, Drs. 6825-18 of 26.01.2018).
The department's transfer prize is intended to encourage young scientists in particular to contribute to dialogues between actors from scientific and non-scientific fields and to promote the involvement of social actors in scientific activities (for example in the context of citizen science or service learning). The award procedure is based on a structured application and assessment process using defined criteria.
Descriptions of the eligible transfer activities can be found here. (Note: Due to organizational changes, transfer prizes have not been awarded every year). In addition, there are of course many other activities that were not submitted for the award process. The social references are as diverse as the research.
Transfer scenarios in studies and teaching
The transfer of knowledge, skills and experience often also takes place in academic studies and teaching contexts. A well-known keyword here is "Service Learning", a teaching-learning format that is used at many universities to give students the opportunity to work on socially relevant problems together with non-university partners. Information on the Service Learning @RPTU project can be found here.
Final theses or project work are also often carried out with partners outside the university, e.g. with companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or schools. And last but not least, transfer in the broader sense also takes place during work placements during the course of study, and valuable contacts are often established. Since 2025, RPTU has also been a member of the university network Bildung durch Verantwortung e.V., which promotes partnerships between civil society organizations and universities.
The Psychology Student Council organizes "Psychotage" every semester, to which external speakers are invited to give an insight into their professional activities as psychologists or psychotherapists. This gives students a week-long opportunity to gain exciting insights into professional practice and stay informed about current academic topics. In addition, regular lectures are also held during the current semester, which are also organized by the Psychology Student Council under the name "Impulsring".
Psychology in the media
Psychology is of interest to many people and individual topics repeatedly find their way beyond the scientific communities into the public media world. Here you will find articles that offer insights into our research activities.
Interesting articles on psychology research projects are also regularly published in the RPTU Research Magazine. Please feel free to browse the pages of the RPTU Research Magazine to gain an insight into the research activities of the Department of Psychology.
Note: Much of the media content is only available in German.
Psychology in healthcare
In Landau, we have set up two psychotherapeutic outpatient clinics that interlink research, training and healthcare. In this way, research findings can flow directly into psychotherapeutic treatment and training, and contact with patients in turn enables practical questions to be incorporated into research without detours. Take a look at our outpatient clinics for adults and for children and adolescents.
If you are particularly interested in research topics on clinical psychology and psychotherapy of adulthood, you can visit the working group's own pages.