Undergraduate students at the University of Arizona are welcome to apply for a position in my lab. We offer a competitive, 1-year placement (which involves 2 semesters of independent study). Students from the Psychology and Neuroscience programs are welcome to apply, as well as students in other disciplines, with the approval of your advisor.
During this placement, you will assist with data collection and processing. You will also put together a major project over the course of the year. In the Fall semester, this will include choosing a topic, generating a brief literature review paper, and assisting in the preparation of a research abstract. This abstract will be submitted for a scientific conference and will be published, with you as first author. In the Spring semester, you will generate a full research paper, using your literature review as the basis for the Introduction and your research abstract as the basis for the Methods and Results sections. The goal is to have a paper ready to submit for publication, with you as first author. In addition, you will put together a presentation (poster or talk, based on the status of your abstract) that you will present to the group. The goal will be for you to present this at a local and national/international scientific conference (with you as lead presenter). At the end of this 1-year placement, you should have gotten quite a bit of research experience, as well as experience generating an original idea, testing it, and writing up the results. You should have a first-authored published abstract, a first-authored paper ready for submission, and a conference presentation under your belt. Other activities will include mentored journal article reviews and other opportunities to help build your CV for graduate school or medical school.
This is a much more intensive placement than most undergraduate research programs, but you should have, at the end of the year, a much better grasp on academic research.
To learn more about the program, read more at our lab website.
