Dr. Himmelstein does not plan to take a graduate student in Fall 2025. If you are interested in research related to weight stigma or health effects of masculinity consider waiting to apply until the 2026 cycle (applications due December 2025) to become a graduate student in the SWAG lab.  GREs are optional in the Kent State Psychological Sciences application, and students can upload an unofficial score report if they wish.  We do not consider GREs in graduate admissions to SWAG lab.   

Dr. Himmelstein approaches graduate mentoring using a scaffolding approach.  Depending on their experience, incoming graduate students may start by collaborating on existing research projects or developing their own. The ultimate goal is for students to progress toward independence in a supportive and collaborative environment as they move through the program toward their PhD. 

Applicants should have previous experience in research, statistics, and strong analytical skills.  Please contact Dr. Himmelstein via email with questions

 Information about the Ph.D. Psychology program at Kent State University can be found here, and application materials are here.

Are you thinking about a postdoctoral fellowship and you think SWAG lab would be a great fit?  Contact Dr. Himmelstein.  

I'm nearly always writing a large grant, and I am happy to include prospective postdocs in applications where they may fit well.  I am also happy to serve as a mentor for a fellowship application to NSF or a similar agency. The best rule of the thumb if you want a federally funded post-doc is to start early! Work on your application about 1.5 years before you expect to finish and submit it about 1 year prior to finishing. This way you'll know you have a position secured before needing to respond to other potential job offers.  

What skills would you gain working with Dr. H?  I'm a recognized expert in both weight stigma and masculinity, and we can work toward mastery in either area.  You can learn to conduct research on physiological indicators of stress or arousal (galvanic skin response, heart-rate reactivity, blood pressure, cardiac impedance, pro-inflammatory cytokines, salivary cortisol, hair cortisol). 

The best part about a post-doc with Dr. Himmelstein is that we have rich and deep sources of data all ready for you. You can crank out as many first-author papers as you like.  Our policy on secondary data analysis is that you create research and theory informed  hypotheses BEFORE diving into the data.  I prefer students and post-docs either pre-register hypotheses before examining the data OR use the secondary analysis as a pilot and replicate it in a second sample. We have an active subject pool and a number of small funding sources to collect nationally representative data. 

What about Kent State?  The department is amazing and supportive. It's also CHEAP to live here, especially if you've been hanging out on in the Northeast Corridor, New England, or the West Coast. There are ample opportunities for  camping, hiking, biking, and kayaking locally. If you're a parent or a potential parent, I'll help you navigate daycare and school enrollment, and activities for your kiddo(s).

Please contact Dr. Himmelstein via email to discuss possibilities. 

Gaining research experience is a valuable asset to students wishing to pursue graduate careers in allied health, medicine, and psychology. Undergraduate students in the SWAG lab gain experience doing some of the following:

• Helping with data collection using a variety of research methods (e.g., administering a survey; participating in a lab-controlled social interaction; collecting physiological data like heart rate, blood pressure, and saliva)

• Coding open-ended or observational data

• Entering and/ or analyzing or transcribing data 

• Contributing to literature reviews on topics of study in the lab

• Attending regular lab meetings

• Professional development information on preparing graduate applications 

• Advanced students may have the opportunity to help design and conduct an independent or co-investigative study or honors thesis. This provides the opportunity to present this research at academic conferences or the Kent State Undergraduate Research Symposium

As with graduate mentoring, Dr. Himmelstein mentors undergraduates who participate in the lab for more than one year using a scaffolded approach. Undergraduates might begin by helping to collect, code and analyze data. Interested students may progress to conduct an independent study or honors thesis and attend a national psychology conference. 

Students will receive course credit Psychology 31498 / 41498 for their positions, though students may choose to volunteer.  Given the time needed to invest in training research assistants (particularly in physiological methods), we ask students to commit to 6-9 hours per week for a full academic year. 

To apply to become an undergraduate research assistant please complete this form and send it to Dr. Himmelstein via email to schedule an appointment.