Want to come work for the lab? Possibly even get paid? You can learn how to conduct behavioral research, use tools for speech and gesture transcription and analysis, and many other skills. This kind of research experience is highly valued by employers in a variety of fields and by graduate programs in cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, communications, computer science…etc. Here’s what one former RA had to say about the lab:

“The best experience of my undergraduate career has been working in the lab. I love the fact that the assistants have a hand in the entire process of running the lab. In particular, data manipulation and analysis is extremely interesting from both an academic perspective and a practical perspective.”

How can you find a position? Review the faculty members in the lab, and contact the person who’s work seems most relevant. SOURCE has a great page about how to approach faculty members when trying to find research experience.

Participate in studies

We also encourage you to be participant in a study. Participation in research studies in the Department of Cognitive Science is managed via an online system. Participants can create an account, view available studies, and enroll in studies for which they are eligible. Users can unsubscribe from the system at any time! All studies have been approved by the Institutional Review Board, and may be behavioral, brain imaging, or may simply involve filling out an online survey. Participants are compensated for their time. Click here to go to the Department of Cognitive Science Experiment Management System.