How to Get Involved

Student Investigator

This is where the magic happens. This is where you make a meaningful and intellectual contribution to the lab (which is not a physical place; distance students are welcome). A meaningful, intellectual contribution realistically takes a minimum of a one-year commitment. The first step to becoming a student investigator is to look over the Student Investigator Contract and see if you would be interested in committing to it. If so, contact us for a chat to get started. Also, student investigators are required to have completed Research Methods (Psy 3500). 

Good research takes a lot of time. Studies often take more than one year to finish unless is an extraordinary team working together. Even with this one-year commitment, note that even with the best feet to the ground, even with the hardest work...research is just a slow and hard process! (And worth it! Or at least we think so...) 

Student investigators who meet their commitments and work well with the lab can expect a letter of recommendation for graduate school - this is how one should plan to get such letters. Student investigators should still consider signing up for research credits, as that's what the University would like you to do to keep you protected (credits between 4950 and 4910). We can discuss it privately if you would prefer not to sign up for credit. The vast majority of student investigators will start by working with what last semester's RAs have prepared. We will aim to submit an IRB in one semester or less, and by the next semester have participants gathered. While waiting for the IRB or the participants, we will aim to apply for poster presentations at regional conferences in most situations. This has happened in one-year timelines, however more often this takes about 1.5 years for most groups of student investigators. 

If you're interested in becoming a student investigator, first look through the current projects to see which project you will likely be assigned to. Next, review all of the content on the lab's What to Expect page. Finally, determine whether the project is interesting to you, be sure to review the Student Investigator Contract, and then contact us to set up a meeting to get started. 

Research Assistant

To become a research assistant, you'll need to commit to a minimum of one semester working with the lab. Research assistants sign a contract with their commitment (most RAs would work with a Lit Review contract, but some students may want to apply to work with on a Study Development contract, which may not be available every semester). You will likely want to sign up for credits, either through 4950 (3 credits), or 4910 (1-3 credits - your choice, but you'll likely want to chat with us to decide. Remember that each credit is about 3 hours of work per week).

As a research assistant, although you'll be involved in the lab (which is held virtually to be more inclusive), and doing essential work to keep the projects going, it will be the "assistant" work that is more on par with an extension of your Research Methods class. We will appreciate and depend on you, but this is not generally the stand-out work that graduate schools are looking for when reviewing letters of recommendation. We may not know your work well enough to write the letters of recommendation that graduate schools are looking for. You will not get to choose which project you work on - you will be doing the lit review for the "new" project of the semester (and that project may not be listed at the beginning of any given semester on the current projects page). If you're interested in becoming a research assistant, first it might be useful to look through our current projects to get a sense of what we generally work on, even if these won't be your projects. Next, review all of the content on the lab's What to Expect page. Finally, if you're interested, contact us.

Dabbler

If you're just now getting interested, this is probably a good place to start. There's no commitment here and no need to sign up for credits. Just start showing up to lab meetings! We won't call you out, won't make you feel uncomfortable. You can be a shadow on the wall, or you start asking questions right in the first meeting! We often will meet with our more committed members right after the full lab meeting. If you have more detailed questions, you can set up a time to meet with us or come early to the next scheduled lab meeting. If you like what you see while you're dabbling, consider a commitment to becoming a research assistant or a full student investigator! However, do not expect a letter of recommendation or anything similar at this level of commitment (we don't know dabblers well enough to speak to their abilities). If you're interested in becoming a dabbler, you're welcome to show up to a meeting, but it's probably best if you chat with us first to let us know to expect you or have a quick chat with us first - either is fine, but contacting us is recommended.