The Institute of Psychology (IP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was established in 1951 in Beijing. Its predecessor was the Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica, which was founded in 1929.

The institute strives to understand the human mind by exploring both the biological and environmental factors underlying the mind and behavior. It also aims to become a world-renowned research center that promotes scientific innovation and socioeconomic development.

The institute comprises the Division of Mental Health and Behavior Genetics, the Division of Cognitive and Developmental Psychology and the Division of Social and Engineering Psychology. In addition, the institute is home to the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health and the Institutional Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science. IP’s main research areas include early identification and intervention for mental disorders; social prediction and decision making; disaster and trauma psychology; cyber psychology and virtual behavior; and development, education, and the cultivation of creativity.

Up to April 2023, the institute has a staff of almost 217, including 156 researchers (89 doctoral supervisors, 49 master supervisors), 61administrative and technical staff. Among the institute’s staff are 2 Academicians of The World Academy of Sciences—a UNESCO-funded program; 1 representatives of the 18thCPC (Communist Party of China) National Congress; 1 representatives of the 19thCPC (Communist Party of China) National Congress; 1 member of the 12th CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) National Committee.

The institute offers master’s and Ph.D. programs in fundamental psychology, developmental and educational psychology, applied psychology, health psychology and cognitive neuroscience. It also offers postdoctoral programs. Currently, the institute has 422 enrolled students.

Since the inception of the 14th Five-Year Plan, IPCAS has made remarkable progress in research and development. With 367 new research projects, the total contract amount reached approximately 360 million Yuan.

“Study on Neural Circuit Mechanism of Attention” was approved as part of the key project of “the Science and Technology Innovation 2030- Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence Technology”; “Brain Imaging Study of Depression”,” The Cognitive Neuroscience of Pain” was approved for the Outstanding Youth Science Fund（National Science Foundation）. “Research on Public Emotion and Social Mentality Based on Social Media Information” was approved for the National Social Science Fund China; “Research on the specific processing of biological motor information and its genetic association with individual autism traits ", "Default Network Mechanism of Depression Based on Brain Image Big Data", "Cross-species Pain Modeling and Specific Markers Based on Brain Electrophysiological Signals" won the Second Prize of Beijing Science and Technology Award.

Our research activities have carried out meeting the national strategic needs. The institute have published a series of " Blue Book of Mental Health “. Our researchers are actively involved in various consultation and submit government reports, playing a key role in government policymaking, fulfilling the responsibilities as the national team for strategic development.

The institute has facilities for research in the areas of cognitive and experimental psychology, physiological psychology, behavior, and behavioral genetics. The institute is also affiliated with the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Network and the Service System of the China Information Center for Psychological Science. The institute has the largest psychology library in China, with more than 50,000 books and more than 50 psychology-related databases.

The institute publishes three academic journals. PsyCh Journal, China’s first international psychology journal, published jointly with Wiley-Blackwell, is the institute’s flagship journal and features cutting-edge research articles, reports and reviews spanning the entire spectrum of scientific research in psychology and its applications, both within and outside China. Acta Psychologica Sinica and Advances in Psychological Science are among the leading psychology journals in China.

The institute has established long-term and regular exchange programs with many world-renowned universities and institutes such as the University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Rutgers University, Miami University of Ohio, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse in the United States; Nijmegen University and VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands; the University of Adelaide in Australia; the University of Munich and Saarland University in Germany; and Sweden’s University of Stockholm.