Psychology
Undergraduate research experience
Undergraduate research opportunities
The Department of Psychology offers multiple ways undergraduate majors can engage in research opportunities. The first step most majors take to gain research experience is completing PSY 331: Research Methods.
- PSY 308: Research Apprenticeship. Do you want to try out research, but don't know where to start? As a research apprentice (RA), you are working in a faculty lab supporting their research goals. The Our People page can give you an idea of the faculty research interests and classes. You can reach out directly to faculty to discuss possible opportunities in their lab.
- PSY 481: Independent Project. Did you have an aha moment in class, and a question that hasn't been answered yet, or have a burning curiosity about something humans think or do? You can bring your ideas about a project to a faculty member to develop your own project.
- PSY 488: Research Capstone. When you finished 331 did you think, "I could have done this differently"? During this course, you have the opportunity revise and improve your PSY 331 project based on all you learned during that experience.
- PSY 489: Honors Seminar.The Honors Program is a nine-credit, multi-semester sequence that starts Spring semester designed to give accepted students the opportunity to design and conduct independent psychological research under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Students apply to the program during the fall of their junior year. Accepted students complete the PSY 489 Honors Seminar and PSY 420 Advanced Research Methods during the spring of their junior year. They conduct their research during the fall of their senior year, and analyze and present their research during the spring of their senior year. Check the link for more information on the process/requirements.
- McNair Scholars ProgramMcNair Scholars must either be low-income, first generation college students AND/OR be members of a traditionally underrepresented group in their field (usually African American, Latino/a, Native American and/or Asian Pacific Islander). Check the link for more information about this great opportunity.
Grant & research opportunities
Resources for external scholarships and research experiences for psychology undergraduates.
- Psi Chi Awards and Grant (for Psi Chi members)
- American Psychological Association (under "award recipient" type) - click on "Students, High School and Undergrad"
- American Psychological Association - summer research internships
- Association for Psychological Science- student grants
Presentation & publication opportunities
Presentation & publication opportunities
The most common conferences at which UWL psychology students present their work are listed below (UWL Celebration, MPA, & NCUR). Several other presentation options are available - please discuss with your faculty advisor. Each conference and journal has its own application processes and guidelines (one size does not fit all).
*As undergraduates, students may present the same poster at multiple events. However, job applications, graduate school essays and resumes should be clear that each presentation was regarding the same research project.
**All projects presented involving human participants must have received IRB approval.
UWL Celebration of Student Research and Creativity (Spring Semester)
The Annual UWL Celebration of Student Research & Creativity
Dates
- Abstract due - Late February
- Conference - Late April
Student details
- Psychology Students: Encouraged
- Psychology students who received research grants: required to submit and present (poster or oral)
- Psychology Honors Students: must present in a conference forum (UWL Celebration is a recommended forum - as a poster)
MPA - Midwestern Psychological Association (late April/early May)
Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) - Chicago, IL
INFORMATION for first-time attendees
Dates
- Abstract due - Early November
- Conference - Mid April
Student details
- Psychology Students: Optional
- Psychology students who received research grants: Optional
- Psychology Honors Students: Encouraged
NCUR - National Council on Undergraduate Research
NCUR UWL sponsors a set of students. NOTE: If multiple authors, only 1 student can be funded (no exceptions)
Dates
- Abstract due - Early December
- Conference - April
Student details
- Psychology Students: Optional
- Psychology students who received research grants: Optional
- Psychology Honors Students: Optional
Publication opportunities
Publication is an option for students who have completed strong research designs with interesting results. Follow the author instructions for whichever journal you choose exactly. You may not have the same article under review at more than one journal at a time.
Outlets
- Undergraduate research journals in psychology - the two most prominent are listed below:
Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research (indexed in PsychINFO)
List of undergraduate journals across multiple disciplines- Content appropriate academic journals (discuss options with your faculty advisor)
- UWL's Undergraduate Research Journal (not peer reviewed and limited audience)
Considerations
- Undergraduate research journals provide quicker turn-around time for reviews and are more accepting of design issues such as smaller samples. Turn around time is important to consider for graduate school applications deadlines.
- Academic content journals are more prestigious and have a larger audience.
- Authorship? Make sure that student author(s) and faculty advisors are comfortable with whatever authorship decisions are made. Link to helpful chart regarding authorship and a sample publication contract.
- Faculty members make better contact authors (need not be first author) as they tend to have more stable contact information.
Preparing and printing a poster
Posters are a visual medium - reduce text! Samples are hanging on the 3rd floor of Graff Main Hall.
Prepare a 2-minute oral "overview" for people who ask "What did you find?" or "Tell me about your study?" that involves you directing them visually to key components of your poster/study.
- Step 1: Confirm the appropriate size poster needed for your particular conference. If you are presenting at more than one conference, make your poster in the smallest size.
- NCUR - no larger than 46" x 40" (width X height)
- MPA - no larger than 5' X 3' (width X height)
- NASP - no larger than 5' X 3' (width X height)
- Step 2: Design your poster as a single PowerPoint slide AFTER setting the slide to be the ultimate size of the poster wanted. Video showing how to set a slide to your poster size.
- You can download examples of templates from one of several sites - make sure to download the correct size.
- Title lettering should be at least 1" tall. For the primary text no font should be smaller than 18 and we recommend 22-24.
- Please include UWL Logo on the poster - download
- Please include your faculty advisor's name and a reference to the psychology department: e.g., Faculty Sponsor - Alex O'Brien; Psychology
- To reduce text, we recommend reducing your abstract, intro, method, results, and discussion to one double-spaced page per section FIRST before placing cutting paste text to the poster template.
- Keep APA style for referencing and presenting statistical data - but for text presentation, tables and figures you are freed up to be more creative. You may use bullets and you may bold or highlight important components. In addition, for the format of the poster, you may want do center the results visually and place the other elements based on what makes sense and is easy to read.
- Grant recipients should include an acknowledgement phrase. Examples: This research was supported by an UWL Undergraduate Research Grant." OR "The authors gratefully acknowledge a grant from the UWL Undergraduate Research and Creativity Committee."
- Step 3: Have your advisor review your poster for typos/errors etc.
- Step 4: Printing your poster. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR POSTER FOR PRINTING A WEEK IN ADVANCE. We recommend against lamination - it makes the posters difficult to read.
- Grant recipients should work with Jane Fredrick (Psychology Academic Department Associate) to submit the order to DigiCopy electronically through the department's account - making sure to let her know if you have grant money to help pay for the cost.
- Graduate students should apply for funding through Graduate Education.
- If you do not have funding through the university, we recommend DigiCopy (mention UWL for a discount and have your student ID card). You can submit your file online.
- The cost will be ~$30.
- Check your final printing for errors before presenting.
The department would appreciate keeping your posters after you present (bring to 335 GMH).