Applications are open for the PhD and MA programs in Psychology at Brandeis University.
Deadlines: Dec 1 for the PhD program; the MA program has rolling admissions until May 15, but first admission offers are made to applicants who have applied by February 1.
Located in the greater Boston area (Waltham, MA, just 10 miles from downtown Boston), we offer graduate training in a mentorship-based research program. The Master of Arts program provides students with an understanding of the scientific foundations of psychology and direct experience in research methods. Our doctoral program develops excellent researchers and teachers who will become leaders in psychological science. The PhD program offers a track in the integrated study of Brain, Body, and Behavior, funded by a NIGMS training grant.
Information on our programs is available here:
http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/psych/
Potential applicants are encouraged to contact faculty of interest, as not all will be mentoring MA and PhD students in any given year. Faculty are conducting research in the following areas:
Berry, Anne (PhD & MA mentor)
Assistant Professor of Psychology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: cognitive neuroscience, executive function, neuromodulator systems (dopamine, acetylcholine), aging
Cunningham, Joseph (MA mentor)
Professor of Psychology, Undergraduate Advising Head
Expertise: Clinical and developmental psychology, nonverbal communication, emotional development, and gender differences.
DiZio, Paul, (PhD & MA mentor)
Associate Professor of Psychology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: Human spatial orientation, posture and balance, movement control and coordination, sensory-motor adaptation, motor development, multi-sensory interactions, space perception, space flight physiology, human factors in virtual environments, motion sickness, and brain-computer interaction.
Gutchess, Angela (PhD & MA mentor)
Graduate Program Head, Professor of Psychology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: Neural and behavioral effects of age and culture on memory and social cognition.
Gutsell, Jennifer (PhD & MA mentor)
Associate Professor of Psychology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: Social and affective neuroscience, person perception, interpersonal sensitivity/empathy, intergroup interactions.
Howard, James (PhD & MA mentor)
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Expertise: reward, learning, and decision-making in humans, using neuroimaging, associative learning tasks, computational modeling, and non-invasive brain stimulation to understand how the human brain encodes information about upcoming rewards to guide decisions. Understanding how prefrontal circuits function in concert with sensory and thalamic networks to support behavior dependent on representations of specific rewarding outcomes
Jadhav, Shantanu (PhD & MA mentor)
Assistant Professor of Psychology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: systems neuroscience, neural mechanisms for learning, memory, and decision making, rodent models.
Katz, Donald, Department Chair (PhD & MA mentor)
Professor of Psychology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: Neural dynamics of gustatory perception and learning.
Knight, Raymond (PhD & MA mentor)
Expertise: Clinical psychology and experimental psychopathology, with specific expertise in psychopathy, sexual aggression, and bullying.
Lachman, Margie (PhD & MA mentor)
Minnie and Harold Fierman Professor of Psychology
Expertise: Life-span development, midlife, aging, sense of control, adult personality, memory, health-promoting behaviors, and intervention research to improve cognitive and physical functioning.
Lackner, James (PhD & MA mentor)
Meshulam and Judith Riklis Professor of Physiology and of the Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: Spatial orientation, human movement control, and adaptation to unusual force environments.
Liu, Xiaodong, Masters Program Coordinator (MA mentor)
Associate Professor of Psychology
Expertise: Applied statistics: linear and non-linear multi-level modeling / Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), General & Generalized Linear Modeling, and longitudinal data analysis. Child development: factors (at individual, familial, communal, & cultural levels) related to child psychological adjustment (internalizing & externalizing) and school performance.
Mitchell, Teresa Vann (MA mentor)
Lecturer in Psychology
Expertise: Effects of age and experience on development, deafness, autism spectrum disorder, eye tracking and EEG techniques.
Sekuler, Robert (PhD & MA mentor)
Louis and Frances Salvage Professor of Psychology and Professor of Neuroscience
Expertise: Visual perception, cognitive processes including visual memory, navigation of complex environments, imitation of seen actions, and age-related changes in cognitive function.
Snyder, Hannah R. (PhD & MA mentor)
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Expertise: Links between executive function, stress and psychopathology (especially anxiety and depression) in adolescents and young adults.
Wingfield, Arthur. (MA mentor)
Senior Scientist, Department of Psychology and Volen National Center for Complex Systems
Expertise: Effects of adult aging and auditory acuity on speech understanding and linguistic memory; cognitive factors in adaptation to cochlear implants and other novel perturbations of natural speech.
Wright, Ellen J. (MA mentor)
Associate Professor of Psychology
Expertise: Connections between developmental processes, aspects of gender, and emotion regulation as those processes impact depression, anxiety, and stress.