The legal predecessor of our university is the University of Kolozsvár which was founded five years after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, in 1872 by Franz Joseph I. In the aftermath of World War I, the Romanian forces began to occupy  Hungarian territories and took control of Kolozsvár (now Cluj Napoca) on 24 December 1918, therefore the university had to move from its founding location. In 1921, the Hungarian National Assembly designated Szeged as its new seat. Psychology-oriented studies existed from the earliest days but were taught by professors of Philosophy and Pedagogy.

On 18 December 1929, Dezső Hildebrand Várkonyi was appointed as the Head of the Independent Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology. Várkonyi (1888-1972) was a Benedictine monk, philosopher, psychologist and teacher all-in-one person. This significant event meant that from this date the School of Psychology had an individual image at the University of Szeged. Várkonyi was a state scholarship holder at Sorbonne in 1928-29. The scientist, who knew the results of contemporary psychology in-depth, popularized the most modern psychological trends (Piaget, Janet, Freud, Jung, and Adler) in Hungary, specifically in the training in Szeged. He educated many students and doctoral students. During his career, he was among other things; the co-president of the Hungarian Psychological Society and the vice-president of the Philosophical Society and the Hungarian Pedagogical Society. In Szeged, the Institute of Pedagogical Psychology merged with the former Institute of Pedagogy in 1934.

The university was moved back to Kolozsvár after the northern part of Transylvania was returned to Hungary in 1940. Most of the instructors left Szeged, Várkonyi also moved there. The part of the university, which remained in Szeged, was reorganized. In the 1950s, the role of psychology declined as it was considered „bourgeois science”: it was taught two hours a week, and only general psychology studies could be advertised. The institute became independent again in 1970.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the departments at the Faculty of Arts were integrated into an institute framework; as a result, pedagogy and psychology were again organized into one institute. Preparations for the start of the psychology major began in the 90s. Since September 1, 1999, independent psychologist training has been taking place at the Department of Psychology of the University of Szeged.

In July 2007, an independent Institute of Psychology was established again at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Szeged.

To read more about the Departments of the Institute, click here.