Join Us

An important facet of the MEL training experience is to mentor undergraduate students at the University of South Florida so that they can better understand research in clinical psychology. The MEL is designed to provide direct one-on-one mentoring regarding graduate school training and professional development.

Typically, undergraduate students are paired with a doctoral level student and work with that doctoral student under the overall supervision of Dr. Rottenberg. Responsibilities often include attending weekly research meetings and gaining formal introduction and training into the ethical conduct of research. During the research meetings, we take care of administrative tasks, talk about conceptual and methodological issues related to work in progress, and check-in with various projects. Activities in the MEL may include running psychological experiments, being trained in clinical interviews, scheduling and running participants, entering data, helping with data reduction using customized physiological data reduction software, data analysis, behavioral coding, preparing stimuli for projects, doing literature searches, designing studies, maintaining lab equipment, screening potential study participants over the phone, and contacting recruitment sites.

Undergraduates in the MEL have conducted independent senior honor's projects, attended professional conferences to present projects that have been run in the laboratory, and published their scholarly contributions. Importantly, students who work in our laboratory have been successful in ultimately pursing advanced training in graduate school.

Commitment

Research assistant positions are typically volunteer rather than paid (though paid positions are possible in the future). Because of the extensive training involved in becoming an RA in our laboratory, we ask for a minimum of a 9 hour commitment per week for at least two consecutive semesters, but many RAs end up working in our laboratory for several years. Applications from sophomores and juniors are especially welcome. Past USF research assistants have found it useful to register for directed study credit (3 units). Students from other home institutions are also welcome

Application Process

Students must apply to work in the MEL.

These RA positions can be quite competitive and only mature, reliable, and hard working persons should consider applying. For example, most students who are successful in working in our laboratory typically maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher and have a specific interest in pursuing graduate education in clinical psychology or related fields. Previous research experience is also desirable but is not necessary. It is advisable to submit your application one semester ahead of the time that you want to actually start work ( e.g., in the Spring prior to the fall you want to work).

If you are interested in applying to be an undergraduate research assistant in the lab, please fill out this online application and send to Dr. Rottenberg and Bingjie Tong. Download Application Please note, that you will also have to include with your application the following: a copy of your transcript (unofficial is fine), a copy of your CV or resume, and a writing sample (e.g., research paper written for a class). The writing sample is optional. For additional questions about the application process please contact MEL graduate student Bingjie Tong at {bingjietong@mail.usf.edu}

For a list of recent publications and presentations authored or co-authored by MEL Undergraduates, please see our Publications page here