Joining Our Lab
Research coordinator position open!
The Social Learning Lab (PI: Hyo Gweon) and Language and Cognition Lab (PI: Mike Frank) in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University welcome enthusiastic, motivated individuals to apply for a research coordinator position to start in Spring 2023 (Apr-May). This person will work closely with both labs to assist in various aspects of research, especially participant recruitment, scheduling, data collection, and outreach.
Job Description: In the Social Learning Lab (50%), the research coordinator will (1) support participant recruitment and outreach for in-person research projects, both on campus and our off-campus research site (public museum), (2) coordinate scheduling and maintain databases for our online research projects, and (3) develop opportunities for effective science outreach, especially for projects in collaboration with the CS department. In the Language and Cognition Lab (50%), the research coordinator will support family recruitment for the BabyView study, a new longitudinal study of children’s first person experience. The study is recruiting a set of several dozen families to have their young child (6 months - 3 years) wear our custom head-mounted camera. The research coordinator will be responsible for advertising the study, onboarding families, distributing the cameras, continuing to work closely with enrolled families, and helping to trouble-shoot issues with the study.
Requirements: A BA or BS degree in Psychology, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, or a related field is required. In the selection process, we will consider all aspects of the applicant’s qualifications, including (but not limited to): experience interacting with children and families, prior research experience, organizational and communicative skills, quantitative and technical skills (e.g., data analysis or programming using R or Python), as well as the ability to work independently. A valid Driver’s License and vehicle is necessary to fulfill job duties related to this position. We also expect the successful candidate to show initiative and demonstrate a clear motivation for engaging in cognitive development research. (Note: The applicant should be eligible to work in the US as a full-time employee). This position is a one-year term position with the possibility of renewal contingent on performance and funding availability. We encourage applications from candidates who are interested in a two-year term of employment.
How To Apply: Please submit a CV and a cover letter that addresses your qualifications through the application portal here. To ensure full consideration, please apply by March 27th. Send all inquiries to langcoglab [at] stanford [dot] edu and sociallearninglab [at] stanford [dot] edu.
Prospective PhD students: Please visit this page
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Our lab welcomes enthusiastic, motivated undergraduate students to work starting Spring 2023! Research assistants are usually involved in developing and making materials for studies, subject recruitment, and running experiments with children and adults. Our undergraduate researchers often stay with us for a year or longer to gain research experience and learn about how to use scientific methods to study how people--especially young children--learn from others and help others learn.
What’s involved? Minimal commitment is 9-10 hours/week (3 research credits) for at least two quarters, and we’d love you to stay longer! Federal work-study is also an option for students who are eligible for the program.
The exact nature of your work will depend on your level of prior experience and skills, and change as you gain more experience. You will most likely be paired with and mentored by a graduate student, post-doc, or our lab manager, and so your exact work will also depend on which projects they have going on! Many of our research assistants help with conducting studies with children, including creating stimuli, testing, and marking their responses.
At the least, we expect our researchers to be comfortable recruiting families in public settings and interacting with them. Previous research experience and/or working with children are not necessary but preferable. We welcome people with creative minds and artistic skills, as we often need to design booklets, animations, and videos that contain our experimental stimuli or even build our own “toys” that light up or play music. There are also opportunities in the lab to learn and apply various technical skills, including proficiency with R, Matlab, Qualtrics, Python, HTML, JavaScript, and video editing software, and we welcome students with these skills. However, these are not requirements for new research assistants; we just expect you to be open to learning them together with your mentor as research projects evolve.
See our People page to meet our undergraduate assistants, and feel free to reach out to them if you’d like to learn more about their experience!
To apply, please fill out this form. We will begin reviewing applications in early March. If you have any questions about the application, please contact Aneesa Conine-Nakano (lab manager) at sociallearninglab [at] stanford [dot] edu.
For opportunities in other labs, refer to Stanford Psychology website for research opportunities.
Post-bac Research Assistants
SLL currently has a few post-bac RAs. These are usually students who are planning to pursue a PhD in the field and working in a lab to gain more research experience. Some are full-time positions (e.g., lab manager) that are recruited nationally every 2-3 years. Others are >part-time positions, starting from 10-20 hours/week; these positions often start with a few weeks of volunteer trial period before transitioning to a paid position. Note that we can only hire people who are already authorized to work in the U.S., and cannot sponsor work visas (e.g., H1B).
Tip: To search for Post-bac RA or lab manager positions, consider signing up for the COGDEV and COGSCI mailing lists. Many labs/researchers (including us) post calls/ads for these positions using these lists.
Open Positions: We are recruiting a research coordinator to start Spring 2023. For more details about the position, please refer to the listing at the top of this page.
Summer Internship Opportunities
Stanford Undergraduates: We recruit summer interns through two programs -- PsychSummer and SymSys Summer Internship. Students also apply for UAR Major Grants to continue their research over the summer, including their work towards an Honors Thesis. Some apply for Work-Study. While it is not a requirement, students who pursue summer research in our lab typically have already worked with us for 1 or more quarters.
Non-Stanford Undergraduates: We typically recruit summer interns through the CSLI program and Early Identification Program. Both programs go through separate admissions process, so please contact program offices for more information.
Open Positions: N/A
High-School Students
We typically do not accept high-school students as research assistants, except for students who have been accepted to the RISE program. For other opportunities at Stanford, refer to Stanford's Outreach Programs.
Note that we can only accept students who were admitted through these programs. We are sorry but we cannot host volunteer summer interns.