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Contracts must be submitted to email listed below BEFORE 4pm on Last Day of ADD/DROP Week August 28th
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Fall Term 2026 RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
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Contracts can be located on our PBSI 491 Research Oppportunities website COMPLETED contracts are emailed as a PDF to psycadvising@tamu.edu MAKE SURE to review the Work Hours Per Week chart before committing how many Credit Hours you will earn NOTE: maximum credit hours to register for Fall Term is 19hrs, additional hours must be approved BEFORE contract is submitted to psycadvising@tamu.edu
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All AREAS on the Contract(s) Must Be Filled and have the Professor's Signature; Contracts will be rejected if information is missing and will delay being added to course
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Area Professor Student Recruitment OpeningsAccepting or FullTopicsTasks RequiredPreferred Contact Method (e.g. person to contact, online application)
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Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscience
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Yifeng Chen2FULLlaunching computational and engineering projects, with animal behavioral research planned for future semesters.We are seeking undergraduate students with a strong interest in learning theory, animal behavior, and decision-making, as well as relevant coding or engineering experience. Applicants should be willing to contribute approximately 10 hours per week, commit for at least two semesters, and have a GPA above 3.4.yifeng.cheng@tamu.edu
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James Grau1 to 3FULLLearning; Spinal Cord Plasticity; Recovery after spinal injuryWork is conducted using animal subjects (rats). Tasks include surgery, behavioral testing, history, cellular analysis and data entry. We are particularly interested in students seeking careers in medicine and neuroscience. Students must have a strong GPA (>3.5) and SAT, GRE or MCAT scores; because intensive training is required. We seek students who can make at least one-year commitment. j-grau@tamu.edu
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Rachel Smith1 to 2FULLNeuroscience of drug addiction and reward learningLab work involves behavioral experiments with self-administration in rats, and histology on brain tissue. Due to the technical training needed for these tasks, requirements include: 10 hrs/week, 2-semester commitmen, and a GPA >3.2. Can receive either PSYC or NRSC creditrachelsmithlab.sites.tamu.edu
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Clinical Psychology
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Brian Albanese1 - 2FULLUsing event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral tasks to better understand risk factors for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and related forms of psychopathology.Undergraduate research assistants will be involved in a variety of tasks, including setting up participants with an EEG cap, running lab-based sessions with participants, processing EEG data, coding/entering data, and attending weekly lab meetings where we discuss ongoing projects and research.Application Form
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Angeline Bottera2 - 4FULLImprove the assessment and treatment of eating disorders by identifying the mechanisms that maintain symptoms and translating that knowledge into accessible, effective interventions. A central focus of our work is understanding how daily rhythms in eating, sleep, and related behaviors influence eating disorder symptoms, particularly binge eating. Undergraduate research assistants in the RESET lab gain hands-on experience with a variety of research activities. Training opportunities may include administering self-report measures and clinical interviews, assisting with ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data collection, building mobile-health treatment tools, and supporting day-to-day research and lab operations. To apply, please email Dr. Bottera with: (1) your resume or CV (including GPA), and (2) a short statement (~250 words) describing your interests in psychology, career goals, and availability.abottera@tamu.edu
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Leland Fleming2FULLEffects of stress and environmental factors on development and aging. The lab is also interested in how these factors influence biology across generations in mother-infant pairs.Assist with literature reviews on stress, epigenetics, and brain aging; prepare IRB and study documentation; contributing to research article writing; opportunity to learn about using MRI and epigenetics to study agingComplete Application Form
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AnnMarie MacNamara15FULLEmotion and anxiety in the brainRun neuroscience experiments, in which you will collect EEG and/or fMRI data from human participants.Complete Application Form
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Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience
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Brian Anderson12 to 15FULLCognitive neuroscience. The lab does behavioral and neuroimaging studies examining how learning influences what people pay attention to.Assist with lab operations, including data collection, management, and analysis. Students will also have the opportunity to attend lab meetings and contribute to discussions of research.Email: brian.anderson@tamu.edu Lab Website: https://andersonlab.sites.tamu.edu/
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Joseph Orr3 to 4FULLCognitive neuroscience of how reward guides decision making. Current studies involve candy.Prefers people available 2 to 3 credits and are available 2 or more semesters. RA's will run behavioral regard tasks, some of which also involve setting up EEG and/or eye tracking. RAs will also assist with literature reviews of cognitive neuroscience journal articles and perform EEG and MRI data quality reviews. Complete Application Form
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Rongxiang (Catherine) Tang10FULLCognitive and brain aging in middle-aged adults, current and early life experiences, and risk factors in shaping differential aging trajectories; Healthy vs Pathological (i.e.: Alzheimer's Disease); Methodologies include multimodal neuroimaging, blood biomarkers, and behavioral assessmentsAssist with recruitment, data collection, monitoring, entry, coding, and scoring; Assist with literature review, meta-analysis; Gain an understanding of neuroimaging and other techniques used to cognitive neuroscience researchComplete Application Form
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Andres Viana3 - 4FULLExploring the temperament and cognitive-affective mechanisms underlying anxiety, trauma, and substance use comorbidity in both children and adults. Integrating culturally relevant frameworks, aimed to enhance understanding how individual differences in emotional and behavioral tendencies interact with sociocultural factors to shape mental health outcomes. Data Collection & Entry; Conducting Literature Reviews; Participate in Lab Meetings; Assisting with Study Coordination; Preparing Study Materials; Manuscript Preparation Support; Administrative Tasks. Seeking students who can make at least 1-year commitment and at least 9hrs per week. Please sent the following to careslab@tamu.edu CV or Resume & Breif statement of interest
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Takashi Yamauchi15 to 20FULLComputer Game, Brain Computer Interface, Machine Learning and AI, Mental DisordersHelp design, develop, and administer computer game (experiments) that assess mental disorderstakashi-yamauchi@tamu.edu
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Industrial/Organizational Psychology
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Ian Hughs2 - 4FULLWork Behavior (e.g. Mistreatment, Helping), Occupational Health Psychology, and the Work-Nonwork Interface. [PAWW Lab]Conducting literature searches, analyzing and interpreting data, presenting research at SRW.ihughes@tamu.edu
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Ze (Mia) Zhu7 to 10FULLEmployee well-being, work stress, and recovery from work stressAssist with the design and execution of research projects; Collect, organize, and analyze data using appropriate software and tools; Conduct literature reviews and summarize relevant findings; Prepare and maintain accurate records, logs, and documentation; Assist in the preparation of research reports, presentations, and publications; Participate in team meetings and provide updates on project progress; Ensure compliance with research protocol and ethical standards; Handle administrative tasks related to research activities, such as scheduling and correspondenceComplete Application Form
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Social and Personality Psychology
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Megan Edwards2 - 4FULLPositive Emotions, Well-being Science, & Existential Psychology, with focus on Hope and Awe.Data collection, data mangagement, coding of qualitative data, survey building, assist in literature reviews, recruitment for studies, participate in lab meetingsComplete Application Form Email: megan.edwards@tamu.edu
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Heather Lench2FULLHow emotions shape thinking, decision-making and expectations about the future. Work with students revolving around emotions and contribute to human subject data collection, as well as coding and data entry. (Does ask for at least 2 semester commitment)Emotion Science Lab Application
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Allegra Midgette4 to 5FULLGendering, gender inequality; family labor (housework & childcare); moral development, culture, belonging, negotiationsCoding, interviewing, experimental tasks, recruiting participants/eventsComplete Application Form (applications are open until March 31st at 11:59pm)
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Rebecca Schlegel8 to 10 FULLSelf & Identity, Existential PsychologyData collection via interviews with adults and children, data management, coding, recruitment for studies, lab meetings to discuss researchComplete Application Form
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Rebecca Schlegel (Human Computer Interaction of the Lab)4FULLSelf & Identity, Motivation, Childhood Education; Focus on how middle and high school students learn and develop in STEM-focused hands-on classes, the impact of telepresence robotics on the educational experiences of instructors in the scenarios.Data collection, data management, coding, manuscript preparation, conducting experiments with human subjects, assist in literature reviewsComplete Application Form
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Brandon Schmeichel20FULLSocial psychology, self-control, motivation, emotionConducting experiments with human subjects; data entry and data processingschmeichel@tamu.edu
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 Rachel Smallman6FULLSocial cognition, broadly construed. Projects typically focus on counterfactual thinking (and related concepts) in both basic and applied contexts, such as health-related behavior.Running experimental sessions; coding/entering data; participating in discussions about ongoing lab projects;
attend weekly lab meetings
Complete Application Form

rsmallman@tamu.edu

smallmanlab@gmail.com
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Sebastian Speer1-2FULLWe study how people explore ideas, align opinions, and resolve conflict through conversation. Our work integrates fMRI hyperscanning, natural language processing, and computational modeling to understand how human (or artifical) minds become coupled in naturalistic interactions.The students can become involved in literature reviews, collecting conversation data, analysing behavioral conversation data and potentially getting some experience with fMRI data.sebastianspeer@tamu.edu
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Matt Vess5-10FULLSocial Psychology, Moral Psychology; existential Psychology; Polictical PsychologyRunning experiments; interacting with human subjects; learning laboratory proceduresComplete Application Form
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Zachary Witkower5FULLWhat do smiles reveal? Smiles are ubiquitously posed in photographs that are used for social networking (e.g., Instagram, Facebook), professional development (e.g., LinkedIn, professional headshots), and virtual dating (e.g., Tinder, Bumble). Yet not all smiles are the same: Subtle variations can be observed in the specific facial muscles people use to configure their smile, and the intensity of each facial muscle activation. We are seeking undergraduate research assistants to help us deploy cutting-edge methods to test whether subtle variations in how people form their smile reveals mental health, personality, and future behavior. Posed smiles—such as those commonly deployed across the internet—may therefore serve as a valid and readily accessible tools for understanding people. If you would like to learn more about our research, visit www.ZakWitkower.com.Students will help with data collection, data cleaning, and setting up the lab facilities.Students can apply by emailing me at ZakWitkower@tamu.edu with a copy of their CV and a brief statement (maximum 250 words) describing their research interests, relevant experience, and how their goals align with the lab’s work.
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AmandaWright2 ro 4FULLLifespan personality development, mechanisms and patterns of personality change, prospective outcome prediction using personality and other individual differences.Students will help conduct literature reviews on topics related to personality, identify county-specific information for finanical costs related to healthcare/medical services (to link to personality),and participate in lab meetings.
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