Introduction

The objective of the Ph.D. program is to prepare students to become colleagues in research and teaching in psychology. To accomplish this goal, the department takes a mentoring approach whereby the graduate students are apprentices in faculty laboratories, working closely with their advisers throughout their time in the program.

The department admits only a few students each year in order to maintain this intense educational model. In the laboratory, responsibility for collaboration in research gradually shifts from the faculty member to the student, culminating in the student’s doctoral dissertation.

The basic apprenticeship relation is supplemented by other activities: required courses (concentrated in the first and second years), advanced seminars and/or course work in this as well as other departments or universities, a colloquium series, the master’s project, teaching assignments and the dissertation and its oral defense. Graduate students also develop their teaching and research skills through close mentoring of undergraduate research assistants.

• See faculty research

The Program

The psychology department admits students only into the Ph.D. program. Students earn a master’s degree at the end of their second year in the course of progressing toward the Ph.D.

Requirements for the Ph.D. degree are:

• 4 proseminars

• 2 quantitative methods courses

• 1 research methods course

• 1 ethics and professional issues course

• At least 3 elective courses/seminars

Other requirements are:

• First-year paper

• Master’s project (including proposal, oral presentation and write-up)

• Ph.D. research (including proposal, dissertation and defense)

• Fifty semester hours

Admissions Requirements

A baccalaureate degree is required. Desirable experience includes laboratory courses in psychology and allied sciences, as well as courses in mathematics.

In preparing the application, it is essential that a student indicates why he/she is applying to this department, and students should identify the faculty member(s) whose research holds the greatest interest for them. Students are admitted to work with a particular faculty member.

Inquiries made directly to potential faculty mentors via e-mail are welcome, as this aids greatly in establishing the suitability of the student’s background and the match between faculty and student interests. After applications have been reviewed, the department hosts an Interview Weekend to which the most promising applicants are invited, and admissions decisions are made shortly afterwards.

Applications should be submitted by Jan. 1, complete with transcripts, letters of recommendation and Graduate Record Examination scores (General Test). For information about online application see Graduate Admissions.

Financial Aid

A 12-month stipend is offered to all admitted graduate students. For this year (September 2007 through September 2008), the stipend is $22,920. In addition, all tuition charges are waived. All students serve both as research and teaching assistants. Acceptance of this support implies that students will spend the summer in residence, engaged in research.