Regardless of the type of employment and funding, students are expected to actively engage in lab activities for training purposes for 20 hours per week during the 12-month training year. Students receive academic credit for this level of research involvement, independent of any funding considerations. Funding may also be tied to lab activities. As students advance in their research training and experience, it is expected that students will increase in the independence of their research competencies. Furthermore, it is expected that mentors and students have at least weekly contact. The following activities are typically included for research training purposes.

  • One-on-one meetings. The purpose of these individual meetings is to review research progress and products and overall professional development.
  • Research team meetings. Ideally, students will actively participate in research team meetings. This provides students with exposure to the current research being conducted in the lab.
  • Involvement in research activities throughout the student’s JDP enrollment. The length of the doctoral program facilitates a student’s involvement through many phases of research including study development/grant applications, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination.In many cases, students have specific research duties tied to their employment. It is expected that students will increase in their independence and leadership in research activities as they progress through the program towards becoming independent researchers.
  • Research products (e.g. publications, conference abstracts, grant applications). Mentors are encouraged to provide their student opportunities for authorship on publications from the lab as key products of research training. Mentors are also encouraged to support opportunities for students to present their work at appropriate professional meetings. Many students also write NIH or other fellowships linked to their mentor’s research.
  • Second year project (program requirement). See Second Year Project page under Student Handbook.
  • Dissertation (program requirement). See Dissertation page under Student Handbook.

As important as the lab experience is, the research training needs to be coordinated with other essential and demanding components of the JDP—especially, intensive coursework during the first two years and substantial clinical activities after the first year. To succeed in all training components of the JDP, students and mentors need to have close, ongoing communication as to schedules and requirements within and outside of the lab.

  • Coursework. First- and second-year students are uniquely burdened by coursework. To facilitate blocks of time to engage in lab activities, most courses are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays. We encourage mentors to be as flexible as possible when scheduling lab activities that occur while classes are in session (mid-August to mid-December and end of January to mid-May), while ensuring that the overall average in lab activities is 20 hours per week. See Classes / Sample Curriculum page.
  • Clinical Practicum. Starting on July 1 of the second year, students begin their clinical practica. They are required to engage in a practicum during years 2 through 4. Although not required, most students also complete a practicum during their 5th year. The second-year initial practicum in the Psychology Clinic requires approximately 15 hours per week; advanced practica are approximately 10 hours per week. Often, the transition to clinical work in the second year takes more time than expected. We encourage mentors to provide guidance to their students on arranging their clinical and lab schedules to efficiently engage in these training activities simultaneously. Refer to Practicum Placements page.

Last updated 8/22/2024