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Undergraduate Research Opportunities
PSYCH 290, Research Experience in Psychology, and PSYCH 494, Advanced Research in Psychology, provide research opportunities to undergraduate students. Credit hours are granted based on the scope of the work provided.
PSYCH 290s tend to be "entry-level" experiences. You may be doing data entry, transcribing tapes, or photo-copying. Some PSYCH 290s are more extensive and allow you to participate in lab meetings, for example. PSYCH 290 credit is graded as S/U. Your work in the lab will be determined "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory". 290 hours count toward your overall credits in Psychology and UIUC. They do not effect your GPA and cannot satisfy any specific requirements. Consider PSYCH 290 credit as elective hours.
PSYCH 494s allow students the opportunity to study a topic in greater depth. This may include continuing a PSYCH 290 in more detail/responsibility or just the desire to challenge yourself in a laboratory setting. PSYCH 494 credit is letter graded. Your work in the lab will be graded "A-F". 494 hours count as "advanced hours" in LAS. These hours can be used toward your Psychology and LAS requirements.
Research Fair: Each semester, the department sponsors an informational fair that allows research labs the opportunity to showcase their work. Students are invited to attend this informal fair, ask questions, apply for positions, etc.
Labs can also post research opportunities on this web page. These may be positions available for PSYCH 290/494 credit or paid positions. If you don't see an enticing opportunity now, check back next semester.
Current Research Opportunity Listings:
- The Social Cognition lab is currently looking for one research assistant on a voluntary basis. This is ideal for someone who would like to obtain some extra research experience and is on campus for the remainder of the summer. Time commitment would be around 6 hours per week.
Contact: Florian Fessel [Email] - The Human Ecology of Caregiving Lab is looking for students interested in:
* Cross-cultural aspects of coping with family conflict
* Latino adolescent mental health
* Family caregiving for adults with serious mental illness
Training opportunities include data-entry, coding family conflict, and conducting interviews with parents and adolescents. Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred but not required. Volunteers needed during the summer. If interested e-mail: ecocare@cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu
Contact: Jorge Ramirez [Email] - Curious about the impact of immigrant cultures/communities on 2nd-generation mental health? Want to learn about working with focus group data and qualitative inquiry? The Culture & Emotion Lab is looking for energetic, highly motivated, creative research assistants for the summer (and fall) for our Chicagoland South Asian American Emerging Adulthood project. You will assist with running focus groups, transcribing data, conducting lit reviews, developing surveys and analyzing data, as interested.
Contact: Nausheen Masood [Email | Lab Website & 290 Application] - Interested in learning more about research investigating community collaborations on complex social problems such as domestic violence? Nicole Allen's lab is seeking motivated students for the summer! Our goals are to learn more about 1) what characterizes successful collaborative efforts and 2) what facilitates and impedes collaboration. Research tasks include, for example, database management and data entry, project coordination, conducting interviews, and literature review.
Contact: Shabnam Javdani [217-244-4066 | Email] - The Language & Brain Lab needs motivated, responsible students who are native speakers of Mandarin Chinese and want research experience for Psych or Ling 290 credit (2-4 credit hours).
Join our lab at the Beckman Institute & gain experience in creating stimuli, analyzing data, & running participants in both behavioral and brainwave studies of English and Mandarin.
You must be able to work at least 6 hours/week & come to lab meetings.
Contact: Yowyu (Brian) Lin [Email] - The Language & Brain Lab needs motivated, responsible students who are native speakers of Korean and want research experience for Psych or Ling 290 credit (2-4 credit hours).
Join our lab at the Beckman Institute & gain experience in creating stimuli, analyzing data, & running participants in both behavioral and brainwave studies of English and Korean.
You must be able to work at least 6 hours/week & come to lab meetings.
Contact: Jinhee Choo [Email] - The Language and Brain Lab needs motivated, responsible students who want research experience for Psyc or Ling 290 credit.
Join our lab at the Beckman Institute and gain experience in creating stimuli, analyzing data, and running participants in behavioral and brainwave studies of language
You must be able to work at least 6 hr/week and come to lab meetings.
Contact: Susan Garnsey [244-1120 | Email] - HPP lab at the Beckman Institute has a research assistant position available starting this summer. You will get experience running participants through the fMRI protocol; analyzing fMRI data and help with running a video-game training study. There are also possibilities open for independent research projects. Preference will be given to students with some sort of a programming experience. If you are interested, please email Ruchika Prakash at rprakash@uiuc.edu
Contact: Ruchika Prakash [244-4461 | Email] - The Childrearing Lab is recruiting research assistants for the Summer/Fall ’08 semesters. We explore intra and inter cultural variability in parental beliefs and practices concerning childrearing. One project examines how children are socialized into a culture's belief/value system. Another investigates racial socialization in African American children. Three hours in the lab equals one credit hour. Student duties include transcribing and coding data from home observations and interviews
Contact: Ben Boldt [8152286063 | Email] - The Emotion and Behavior Lab has volunteer research assistant or Psych 290 openings for Summer ’08 and Fall ‘08. You must be motivated and responsible and have a flexible schedule. The 290 students help run participants in studies on aggression, antisocial and psychopathic personality, and criminal behavior. Visit our web site for more information and for an application. Return applications to the binder hanging from room 679 or email us.
Contact: Edelyn Verona [Email | Emotion and Behavior Lab: **PLEASE VIEW WEBPAGE FOR REQUIREMENTS] - The culture and group process lab is looking for creative and motivated students for the Spring and Summer semesters. Our ongoing research projects examine intercultural communication, cultural processes, biculturalism, intergroup relations, romantic relationship, and self-schema. Duties of the position include designing and conducting experiments, generating research ideas, and other administrative work. If you are interested, please contact Melody Chao.
Contact: Melody Chao [Email] - The After School Library Program at B.T. Washington School is looking for enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers who want to work with children. Volunteers will help children from different backgrounds and cultures with their homework and reading; and develop close mentor relationships with children.
The program operates from 3:00 to 5:00 every Tuesday through Thursday at B.T. Washington School, located in Champaign. Volunteers are asked to tutor regularly at least one day a week.
Contact: Laura Lowe [Email | Web Link] - The Communication and Language Lab (CaLL) is recruiting 290 research assistants for the Spring 2008 term. CaLL studies how people use information in the speech signal to facilitate communication. Job duties include data coding, transcription, running experiments, and design of experimental materials. If interested, please fill out an application at:
http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~dgwatson/prospective.html
and send the application to Tuan Lam at the listed email address.
Contact: Tuan Lam [Email | Applications can be found at the web link] - The Culture, Family and Mental Health Lab is looking for bilingual (English/Spanish) students who are interested in research pertaining to Latino Youth and Families.
Individuals will gain experience conducting interviews with parents and adolescents, doing qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and building collaborative relationships with schools and communities.
Interested individuals should contact Michelle Cruz-Santiago at cruz3@uiuc.edu
Contact: Michelle Cruz-Santiago [Email] - The language processing in conversation lab has openings for 290 positions for the Spring and Summer semesters of 2008. We are particularly interested in students who would be interested in working for more than 1 semester. A 6-10 hour/week commitment is required. The position would involve running subjects in studies of eye-movements during conversations as well as data analysis.
Contact: Sarah Brown-Schmidt [Email] - Are you interested in learning how to live a healthier, happier life while helping others do the same? Join the Social Action Lab as a 290 this semester. The Social Action Lab does work on communication, persuasion, and attitude change, with applications to goals and HIV-prevention. We are looking for highly motivated and conscientious students who are interested in learning about social psychology and the research process.
Contact: Casey McCulloch [Email | Social Action Lab] - The BTW After-School Program is looking for interns who are interested in community-based action research with Latino and African-American children and families. 290/494 Interns will gain experience working with K-8 students, conducting interviews, doing qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and building collaborative relationships with schools and communities. In addition, interns will learn a great deal about community-based action research.
Contact: Michelle Cruz-Santiago [Email] - The Neuroeconomics Lab is looking for students to participate in independent study. Research credits are available in Psychology , Neuroscience, or Economics. Responsibilities will be tailored to your skills and interests. Examples of projects include financial decision-making, aging, and moral decision-making.
Contact: Ming Hsu [217-244-1122 | Email | Neuroeconomics Laboratory] - ACTION-RESEARCH ON HOMELESSNESS:
••Interested in working directly with men who are homeless around such issues as mental health, substance abuse, poverty, prejudice, and more?
••Interested in gaining experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods?
••Interested in engaging directly in community change around homeless issues?
••Interested learning about homelessness through readings and research analysis?
•• Can you commit to 10-12 hours a week for a full academic year?
Contact: Ben Hidalgo [217-244-8349 | Email] - The Center for Parent-Child Studies is looking for highly competent 290 students who enjoy working with families for the 2007-2008 school year. We are interested in how children’s daily interactions with their parents influence their motivation in school, and how this varies by culture and ethnicity. Duties include participant recruitment, interviewing participants, and data work. About 3 hours a week required per credit. Please contact Sarah Klein for more information.
Contact: Sarah Klein [217-244-9342 | Email] - The Language & Brain Lab needs motivated, responsible students who are native speakers of Mandarin Chinese and want research experience for Psych or Ling 290 credit (2-4 credit hours).
Join our lab at the Beckman Institute & gain experience in creating stimuli, analyzing data, & running participants in both behavioral and brainwave studies of English and Mandarin.
You must be able to work at least 6 hours/week & come to lab meetings.
Contact: Hsin Yi Lu [Email] - The Language Acquisition Lab has openings for undergraduate research assistants in the Spring & Fall semesters, and Summer Session II. Our research explores how 1- to 3-year-olds identify words, learn word meanings, and comprehend sentences. If you are interested, please go to our web site to fill out an application form. For Fall 2007 we need people who can help out on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, 9-12.
Contact: Amy Marsili [244-6098 | Email | Web Link] - Are you interested in the mental processes that allow people to have conversations? Ever notice that how someone says something can be as important as what they say? Do a 290 in the Communication and Language Lab and help with studies of conversation and speech by: 1)designing stimuli, 2)using an eye-tracker, 3)running experiment sessions, or 4)coding data. A 6-8 hour/wk commitment is required. Interested students should fill out the application at the website below.
Contact: Angie Isaacs [333-0280 | Email | Communications and Language Lab website] - he Language Acquisition Lab has openings for undergraduate research assistants in the Spring & Fall semesters, and Summer Session II. Our research explores how 1- to 3-year-olds identify words, learn word meanings, and comprehend sentences. We need reliable, energetic students, with an interest in language and cognition. If you are interested, please go to our web site to fill out an application form.
Contact: Amy Marsili [244-6098 | Email | Web Link] - The culture and group process lab is looking for creative and motivated students for the Summer, Fall and Spring semesters. Our ongoing research projects examine intercultural communication, cultural processes, biculturalism, intergroup relations, romantic relationship, and self-schema. Duties of the position include designing and conducting experiments, generating research ideas, and other administrative work. If you are interested, please contact Melody Chao.
Contact: Melody Chao [217-721-5098 | Email] - The Children’s Social Development Project is seeking students to assist with child research visits, code observations of parent-child and child-child interaction, and enter data. These experiences provide excellent preparation for graduate school. We are looking for students who enjoy working with preschool-aged children, have good interpersonal and communication skills, are well-organized and responsible, and have a strong interest in child development.
Contact: Nancy McElwain [217-244-7168 | Email] - The Cognition and Brain Lab is looking for highly motivated research assistants for the current semester, with the opportunity to continue working in future semesters. Our research examines the neural basis of memory and language, by recording brainwave data and eye movements. 290s primarily assist with running subjects, and can also help prepare new experiments and analyze data if interested. More information can be found at our website, which contains a 290 application form.
Contact: Karen Evans [244-7334 | Email | Cognition and Brain Lab] - The Culture, Family and Mental Health Lab is looking for bilingual (English/Spanish) students who are interested in research pertaining to Latino Youth and Families. Individuals will gain experience conducting interviews with parents and adolescents, doing qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and building collaborative relationships with schools and communities.
Contact: Michelle Cruz-Santiago [Email] - The Cultural Heritage and Race Lab is seeking undergraduate students who are eager to gain valuable experiences in literature review, data collection, data entry, transcribing, and participant recruitment. Research projects explore (1) cultural beliefs and perceptions of racial discrimination, (2) the mental health implications of holding particular cultural beliefs, and (3) relations between cultural and racial ideologies. Please email for an application.
Contact: Heritage Lab [(217) 244-0671 | Email] - The Culture and Emotion Lab has 290 openings for Fall '06. Current projects range from understanding family impact on Asian American career choices to studying the effects of parental emotional socialization, racialization, colonial mentality and family narratives on psychological functioning. You'll gain experience in coding and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data, transcribing interviews, and/or running online studies. Click on the link for an application!
Contact: E.J. David [Email | Application & Lab Website] - The Early Emotion Lab is looking for responsible, self-motivated research assistants for the Fall and Spring semesters who will assist in working with families, infants, and preschoolers; conducting interviews and collecting data; coding video tapes of experimental sessions; entering data on computer; and performing tasks related to developmental research. If you are interested, please pick up and fill out an application form in room 361 (Psychology building).
Contact: Kathy Anderson or Geoffrey Brown [244-0716 | Email | Early Emotion Lab Website] - The Cognition and Brain Lab is looking for highly motivated research assistants for Fall 2006, with the opportunity to continue working in future semesters. Our research examines the neural basis of memory and language, by recording brainwave data and eye movements. 290s primarily assist with running subjects, and can also help prepare new experiments and analyze data if interested. More information can be found at our website, which contains a 290 application form.
Contact: Karen Evans [244-7334 | Email | Cognition and Brain Lab] - The language Production Lab has openings for undergraduate research assistants in the spring and fall semesters. Our research examines the way adults produce speech. Research assistants will assist in running studies, transcribing the produced speech, coding the transcriptions, and participate in reading group meetings. Please email the contact person for an application.
Contact: Matt Rambert [217.244.5494 | Email | Language Production] - The Visual Cognition Lab in the Beckman Institute is looking for 290s for the Fall 06 (and potentially the Spring 07) semester. Our research focuses on studies of attention capture, visual short-term memory, and change blindness. RAs will assist in preparing and running experiments and will be given the opportunity to design their own studies and to help with data analysis if they so desire. If you would like to gain research experience in visual cognition, please contact us.
Contact: Mike Ambinder [244-4461 | Email] - The vision lab is looking for a 290 to help with subject running and experimental design during the summer. If you are interested in visual cognition research and would like a summer 290, please contact us. We are looking for motivated students willing to put in 6-10 hours a week.
Contact: Mike Ambinder [244-4461 | Email | Vision Lab] - Nicole Allen's research lab has 290 openings for Summer 06. Research projects investigate community collaborations on complex social problems such as domestic violence. Our goals are to learn more about 1) what characterizes successful collaborative efforts and 2) what facilitates and impedes collaboration. Research tasks include, for example, database management and data entry, project coordination, conducting interviews, and creating an annotated bibliography on domestic violence issues.
Contact: Amy Lehrner [365-9425 | Email] - The Vision Lab is looking for an undergraduate research assistant (Psych 290) for the Spring '06 semester and beyond. Our research involves scene perception and visual attention, and takes place both in computer labs as well as virtual environments (e.g. the CUBE). RAs in this lab will help design and run experiments, and will be given the opportunity to gain valuable experience in computer programming. If you are interested and are able to commit 6 or more hours per week, please contact us.
Contact: Brian Levinthal [Email | Vision Lab] - We are looking for undergraduate research assistants (Psych 290) for the spring semester to help run psychology experiments in the Beckman CUBE. The CUBE is an immersive virtual reality environment, and research assistants will mainly be responsible for running subjects in experiments. If you are interested in gaining more experience in psychological research as well as playing with a pretty cool piece of technology, please let us know.
Contact: Mike Ambinder [Email | CUBE Description] - The Visual Cognition Lab has openings for 290 research assistants for spring 2008 with possible continuation through the summer and next year. RAs will help with ongoing studies of change blindness, attention capture, and scene perception. Responsibilities include stimulus creation, subject testing, etc. A 6-10 hour/week commitment is required. We are particularly interested in freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who could continue working in the lab for more than one semester.
Contact: Daniel Simons [Email | Visual Cognition Laboratory]