Department of Psychology
January, 2011
List of Faculty members who can supervise students are located on our Faculty Website
Information for students who are looking
for a supervisor/research project in the Department of Psychology
What is psychology
research?
Research is the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions (from the Oxford American Dictionary). Psychology research seeks to understand the mind and behaviour. This can range from exploring how the human auditory system perceives sounds, to how hormones influence memory.
Who can do research?
You!
What does doing a
research project involve?
A research project involves generating a hypothesis or research question, and then testing that hypothesis or research question by doing an experiment. Your experience will be very different from lab to lab. You will work under the supervision of a professor, post-doc, or graduate student. Your degree of supervision, independence, and interaction with other students will vary with the lab. You could work on a project that is already going on in the lab or you could come up with your own project. Your role might involve any or all of the following: doing literature reviews, designing a study or experiment, creating stimuli, recruiting participants, collecting data, entering and/or coding data, analyzing data. You will need to write a paper at the end of your experience.
How do I get involved
in research?
The most common way to get research experience is to take a research course. Alternatively, students can volunteer or be hired as a research assistant in a laboratory. If you want a more structured research experience you should consider one of the department’s laboratory courses: PSYC 351 (Research Methods in Social Psychology); PSYC 352 (Cognitive Psychology Laboratory), PSYC 353 (Laboratory in Human Perception, not offered in 2007-2008).
What courses can I
take?
There are many ways to work on independent research within the Psychology Department, honours is only one of those ways. Research classes include:
300-level classes
PSYC 395 (1-semester research project, 6 credits, offered Fall or Winter)
PSYC 380D1/D2, the U2 honours course (1 year research project with seminar, 9 credits)
400-level classes
PSYC 495 (1-semester research project, 6 credits, PSYC 395 is a prerequisite, offered Fall or Winter)
PSYC 494D1/D2 (1-year research project, 9 credits)
PSYC 450D1/D2 (1-year research
project with seminar, 9 credits)
PSYC 496 or PSYC 497 (U3 honours course, 1 term research, 6 credits)
PSYC 498D1/D2, the U3 honours course (1-year research project, 9 credits).
PSYC 450, and Honours: There is a GPA requirement (which varies by year) and a formal application process for PSYC 450 and honours (see the undergraduate advising office). These courses generally require students to attend a weekly seminar in addition to working on a research project. The content and format of the seminar varies with the seminar instructor.
Other research courses: For the other research classes you need to find a supervisor, but otherwise the application requirements are minimal. Non-450 and non-honours research classes have no seminar.
For Non-Psychology-Major Students: PSYC 396 (1-semester research project, 3 credits).
This course is intended for students not majoring in Psychology, who wish to conduct a research project under the supervision of a Psychology professor.
For more information about PSYC 396 please see http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/courses/396.htm.
For 396 courses in other departments please see http://www.mcgill.ca/science/ours/396/.
For more specifics on the differences
between research courses, or information about the requirements and
pre-requisites for individual research classes consult the undergraduate
advising office and the online course descriptions: http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/courses/courses.htm.
Note that each credit is roughly equivalent to 3 hours of work per week, so a 9 credit, 1-year course is about 13.5 hours/week commitment.
Ok, I signed up for a
research class, now what?
All research project classes require a research supervisor. Only faculty listed on this page http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/faculty.html are authorized to supervise research class in the department of psychology. You should look for a supervisor as soon as possible. Supervisors have many applicants and at the start of each semester are inundated with applications. It would be better to contact the professor before the start of the semester, perhaps even during the previous semester, if you have any ideas about with whom you might be interested in working.
To find a supervisor, look on the department web page, look at the publications of individual faculty members, and talk with students who have worked with various professors. Find professors who are doing work that seems interesting to you. Email the professor and ask if they are taking research undergraduates for the upcoming semester/year and say something specific about why you might be interested in working with that professor. Different supervisors will have different application processes.
When you meet potential supervisors, you should be prepared to say why you want to work in that particular lab and be ready to provide a CV (academic resume) and your unofficial transcripts. Find out how many hours will be expected of you, what tasks you will be asked to carry out, and who will be providing most of your supervision. Demonstrating that you are organized, can think ahead, are interested in particular aspects of a professor's research program and know what class you're registered for, would all be advantages from the supervisor's point of view. As long as you have the time, it is possible to participate in many different labs to gain experience.
(Click here) for advice about emailing and/or meeting professors.
Are there research
opportunities that don’t involve taking a class?
Most labs also accept volunteers or have positions, regular or
work study, for students not enrolled in research classes. Contact individual
labs for volunteer opportunities, and the student aid office for work study
opportunities (http://www.is.mcgill.ca/studentaid/workstudy/).
Other faculty may be taking students. Please see the list of Faculty http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/faculty.html and contact them directly.
Updated: January 1, 2011