Completing a First Year Project to Demonstrate Research Readiness

A First Year Project is an empirical research project that serves both to facilitate and evaluate skills and knowledge in the students chosen area of study. Students who enter into the CCP PhD Program of Study, but who did not complete an empirical Master's Thesis must complete a First Year Project to satisfy the Demonstration of Research Readiness requirement. Students in the PhD Program of Study who did not complete an empirical Master's Thesis must complete the First Year Project by the end of their second year. Students who fail to complete the First Year Project by the end of the second year may be limited in the CCP courses and other training experiences they can participate in until the First Year Project is completed. Any CCP student who entered into the PhD Program of Study who did not previously complete an approved Master's Thesis and has not completed their First Year Project at the end of the third year in the CCP Program will not be allowed to take any other coursework or engage in other training activities until the First Year Project is completed. 

The First Year Project requires students to develop and complete an empirical research project under the mentorship of their primary CCP faculty mentor. The research project must represent a relatively independent effort on the student's part and conform to the Criteria for Research Projects Satisfying CCP Program Milestones. First year projects must be approved by a committee consisting of the Primary Mentor and a second reader who is a CCP Core or Affiliate Faculty. 

The First Year Project is comprised of two parts: the Written Document and an Oral Presentation. 

1. The Written Document describes the completed project including an introduction, literature review, a statement of research questions and hypotheses, methodology, analyses, and interpretation in sufficient detail such that the committee can judge the quality of the completed project. The Written Document must conform to the formatting and standards of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual. The CCP faculty mentor and the second reader evaluate the First Year Project using the Demonstration of Research Readiness Review Form to determine its suitability as a Demonstration of Research Readiness. 

2. The Oral Presentation will be delivered during the CCP Lunch & Learn series to the CCP Faculty and Students. The date of the presentations will be scheduled prior to the beginning of the semester and multiple Demonstration of Research Readiness project presentations will be grouped together during the same Lunch & Learn meeting. This presentation will conform to the standards of a research paper presentation at a professional conference. The  presentation should last approximately 15 minutes, leaving five minutes for questions and discussion. Though there is no formal review of the oral presentation, the presentation is required to have completed the Demonstration of Research Readiness to move on to the dissertation.