Undergraduate Research Opportunities

With over 35 faculty in the Department of Psychology with diverse research interests, undergraduates have a unique opportunity to get involved and assist in the innovation and discovery happening at UW-Madison.

Research labs in Psychology include studies of animal behavior, human, and child behavior. We have faculty researching neuroscience, biological psychology, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, and cognition and perception.

To learn more about our faculty research interests, please visit the Research Overview page. The Research Overview provides detailed information about Psychology’s six areas of concentration and allows students to see which faculty members conduct research in each area. Students can click on faculty to learn more about their research area(s) and access their lab websites. After students have identified faculty they are interested in working with, they can view these Undergraduate Research Opportunities – Tips then click the following link for contact information for research labs within the Psychology Department, and Psychology-affiliated faculty members. The labs listed on the contact information page typically hire undergraduate research assistants each semester. Please note, listing of a lab’s contact information does not guarantee or indicate current openings in the lab. It is up to the students to contact the labs to see if and when there are openings available.

Opportunities to earn course credit: Psychology faculty members and affiliated faculty typically have opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research in their labs each semester. Follow the links to find out more about the positions that may be available and follow the application instructions or reach out to  the lab’s contact person for more information.

Notes regarding course credit: For each credit a student is enrolled in they are required to work approximately 3 hours a week. So, if a student enrolls in 3 credits, they are  expected to work approximately 9-10 hours a week. Different labs have different policies on meeting times and work hours so it is important to discuss this with the lab manager or faculty member.

Prerequisites: Enrollment in all undergraduate independent study/research courses requires consent of the instructor. Individual labs may have additional course or GPA pre-requisites to apply to their labs, check the contact information for research labs page for more information.

Important Note: Undergraduate research positions are exclusively for students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You must be a current UW-Madison student to apply to work in a Psychology research lab.