Middle & High School Students
We are excited to be launching a Youth Advisory Board! This group of students will provide feedback on our current study findings and help us to identify what pressing issues we should study next. You can have your voice heard by attending a monthly one-hour zoom meeting with other middle and high school students during the school year. This is also an opportunity to get involved in the lab and learn about the research process in psychology. If interested, you can Health Equity in Youth Lab Advisory Board Application. If you would like to receive lab updates and join our listserv, you can complete this form for the Health Equity in Youth Lab Email List.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Please note that we are currently not actively recruiting for undergraduate research assistants and interested applicants will be added to our waitlist. Research assistants within the lab can expect to learn about collection and management of survey data, biological samples, and potentially interviews. Students must be open to learning and working independently, interested in the topics under study within the lab, and committed to promoting diversity and antiracism. Depending on the status of current projects, laboratory tasks can include in-person data collection, programming messages, and writing code. Undergraduate students who are interested in volunteering with the lab can complete this form and email drahal@ucsc.edu with their resume, transcript, and a paragraph regarding a) why they are interested in the lab and b) the tasks that they are interested in. Students should be able to contribute to the lab for at least two quarters. Students can be involved a) as a work study student through LAEP (pending slot availability), b) for research credit through PSYC194B (15 hours/week required), or c) through volunteering (variable hours required, pending availability).
If you want to get a head start, I recommend completing training for ethical research. This is one of the first things that I assign research assistants to work on. Before working in any psychology lab, you should have the Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research training completed for research in social sciences, which covers ethical research conduct with human data.
Here is a resource to help undergraduate students get involved in the psychology department at UCSC.
Graduate Recruitment
I am currently recruiting graduate students for the upcoming application cycle (no need to email me to confirm this). Students trained within the lab can expect to gain experience with psychobiological measures and repeated measures, including following individuals across hours, days, months, or years. Students do not need training in psychobiological systems but must be open to learning about the brain-body connection and internal pathways. An interest in learning advanced statistics is preferred. I suggest that potential applicants email me their CV with a brief description of their research interests, including any relevant projects in the lab. I am happy to answer questions about my lab’s research, and may suggest a video call if that is the best means of answering your question. These calls are for students to gain information and have their questions answered so that they can make an informed decision regarding whether to apply. However, I don’t privilege or prioritize applications from prospective students who have contacted me prior to applying or who have had a video call with me.
My goal as a mentor is to help students achieve their goals while advancing scientific knowledge. Students should graduate with the ability to conduct research, critically evaluate study designs, and contribute to scientific discourse. Interested students can reach out with questions and ideally specify the projects with which they would like to be involved.
Here is the link to apply for graduate school at UCSC.
I also recommend reviewing information about the program and the work of my colleagues prior to applying at this link: https://psychology.ucsc.edu/about/research/research-areas-developmental.html
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Postdoctoral opportunities are available, such as through the UC Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship program, the NIH F32 fellowship, and the SBE NSF Fellowship. Unfortunately, I am not currently able to fund postdoctoral fellows myself.
FAQs
If you’re interested in joining the lab as either an undergraduate or graduate student…
Q: What can I learn from this lab?
A: Students tends to learn about statistics, coding of qualitative data, and collecting and cleaning psychophysiological data. They also learn about collaboration and team science, and students involved in independent research projects tend to gain a lot of statistical knowledge. For undergraduate students, please keep in mind that we may be managing data and may not have active data collection occurring all quarters. When we have active data collection, you can learn about protocols for working with youth. Please be clear when applying if this is your goal.
Q: Great, but what methods can I learn from this lab?
A: We believe that methodologies should be determined by the research question, and that the use of multiple approaches can produce some of the richest results. Common approaches in the lab include psychophysiological and biological data collection, daily diary methods, surveys, longitudinal approaches, lab-based and quasi-experimental approaches, and interviews.
Q: Does this lab study clinical psychology?
A: Although we study mental health and employ theories from health psychology, the lab is not focused on clinical psychology. We can measure levels of depressive symptoms among youth, but we generally are not specifically recruiting people with diagnoses for our studies.
Q: Should I apply if I am interested in studying infants?
A: The lab specifically studies adolescence (ages 12-24), so this lab would not be a great fit. I strongly recommend that you look up my colleagues in developmental psychology at UCSC.
If you’re considering whether to apply to a graduate program…
Q: I want to go to graduate school but am unsure if I should pursue a master’s degree, a PsyD, or a PhD?
A: I found this guide very helpful when deciding what type of degree program to apply to.
Q: Do I need a Master’s degree? Do I need to have majored in psychology or public health?
A: No! There are no course requirements, although you need to have enough familiarity with psychology to know that this is the field that you want to pursue.
Q: Where do I get started!?
A: APA has some great resources:
Q: Is there a fee waiver available?
A: Please reach out to the department to inquire about fee waivers. Typically programs have these but don’t advertise them well.
Q: How do I choose who to apply to?
A: I recommend searching key terms in google scholar that are of interest to you and reading recent publications. If you already have universities of interest (due to geographic preference or institutional ranking) searching the faculty interests for universities that you are interested in. It’s fine to apply to different programs (e.g., developmental psychology, human development and family studies, social psychology). You should generally prioritize fit with the faculty member, but having a fit with the program is important since you will be taking courses in this topic area and have a cohort with shared interest in this area. I typically recommend applying to multiple programs and looking for programs where you can work with multiple faculty. Typically when applying you should have one primary adviser in mind, with a secondary adviser (potentially in the same or a different area) whom you can get advice from.
Q: Can you tell me more about your work before I apply?
A: Please start by reading the web site thoroughly and reading about recent projects and publications. You can then reach out to other people involved in the lab to hear about their day-to-day experience. You can also reach out to me at drahal@ucsc.edu if you have specific questions, but keep in mind that I will likely direct you back to the web site if you ask me to tell you generally about the lab.
If you’re interested in becoming a graduate student with this lab (or otherwise)…
Q: What does the graduate application process look like at UCSC?
A: You’ll submit a personal statement and a research statement. At the end of the research statement, it would be ideal for you to explain the mentors with whom you are potentially interested in working and why. We have informal interviews, so you might hear from me over the winter break after the application deadline. If the position is a good fit, you may be flown out to visit the campus and meet the rest of the department.
Q: Do you only accept students through the Developmental Psychology program?
A: Yes. I can serve as a secondary mentor to students applying in social psychology or cognitive psychology. We do not have a clinical psychology program.
Q: How can I know whether a PhD is a right fit for me?
A: They often say that deciding to apply is the hardest part of the application. Having a curiosity for research based on past experience in a lab is a great sign. Being admitted to a graduate program should give you the opportunity to pursue your interests–despite potentially long hours, you get to learn and complete work that you are passionate about. A lot of people default to applying to a PhD program right after their undergraduate degree because they want to have a next step already planned for them, but it’s important to remember this degree program specifically trains people to pursue a career in research. People who plan to ultimately work in industry or technology are welcome to apply, but should keep in mind that they may not need a PhD for that degree program. Students also often reach out inquiring about clinical psychology. I suggest that people who are considering a PhD in clinical psychology or other branches of psychology see this incredibly thorough and helpful resource: https://mitch.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4922/2017/02/MitchGradSchoolAdvice.pdf
Q: How will my application be evaluated?
A: I review all of an applicant’s materials, including academic record, research interests, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and diversity statement. It is not merely about checking a box or having a certain GPA. Your personal statement should convey why you have committed to a PhD in developmental psychology and pursue a career in academic research, with the goal of developing an independent program of research (i.e., becoming an expert in a topic relevant to my lab). It should be clear what has motivated you to apply to the program, including my lab specifically, and what you aim to get from the program. Fit between a mentor and a mentee is crucial for both mentee success and the health of the mentor’s lab. I only accept students whom I am confident that I can support, so it is important to clarify why you think this lab is an excellent place for you to begin your research career. We all have different obstacles and life experiences that shape our research, and the diversity statement provides an opportunity for you to clarify any life experiences that I should consider when evaluating your application, as well as communicate your sensitivity to issues of diversity and inclusion and commitment to promoting the development of youth from diverse backgrounds. The lab also assesses sensitive topics including the heterogeneous experiences of youth from marginalized backgrounds, so all of our work is centered on a passion for supporting these youth and critically considering the importance of diversity and inclusivity for all projects. If you are accepted to the program, I may use experiences mentioned in your diversity statement to advocate for the department to offer a diversity fellowship, depending on eligibility and departmental resources.
Q: What is the purpose of the interview?
A: A PhD is a big commitment for both of us, and I want to make sure that the program and my mentorship can meet your needs and help you to reach the next step of your career. The major goal of the interview is to assess whether this program is the right fit. Therefore I encourage you to be open and honest, but also prepared to describe your interests and express why you think the lab is a good fit. It would also help to have your own questions prepared in advance so that you can also make sure that the program is a good fit.
Q: What questions should I prepare for?
A: You should be able to express your potential research interests and imagine a study that you would like to complete. If you read an article and have a lot of questions come to mind (e.g., Would this apply during a different developmental period? For a different demographic? What if we used a different measure?), then that is a good sign that a graduate program might be good fit. Here is a list of questions that might help in any interview.
Q: Do you have more resources for interviewing?
A: This web site has several resources for interviewing.
Q: What are the different degree requirements?
A: We have course requirements including two proseminar courses with your cohort, two statistics courses, and electives in developmental psychology as well as the other areas. See the UCSC Graduate Student Handbook.
Q: Is this lab collaborative?
A: Yes, interdisciplinary research is the future! I strongly encourage students to work in my lab as well as other labs so that they have multiple concurrent projects. Having multiple perspectives improves the project and gives students a better sense of the very different approaches that people have for conducting research and leading a lab. Graduate students are not required to collaborate with other labs, although they are welcome to attend other faculty member’s lab meetings.
Q: What does funding look like?
A: Students are primarily funded through TA-ships, with one quarter (yes, we do quarters and not semesters) without TA-ship in the first year. Students will be funded to work as a graduate student researcher through grant support when funds are available. You can learn about funding from the UCSC Graduate Student Handbook.
Q: Should I apply for funding now?
A: There is no expectation for students to enter a program with funding. However, with your application a University of California graduate program, you can submit a diversity statement. This statement will enable us to gauge whether you might be eligible for the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship. See here for Graduate Student Financial Aid.
Another option for all graduate programs is the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). This highly competitive fellowship provides three years of funding. Students can submit once before applying to graduate school and once after admittance, in either their first or second year. This application involves a personal statement and a research proposal of a project you would consider conducting with your faculty mentor of interest. Students who are interested in this possibility should reach out, as this could be a great opportunity to practice writing together and learn whether our working styles are compatible. This podcast has great details about how applications are reviewed: Everything you want and need to know about the NSF. See details and examples of successful applications here: NSF fellowship
Q: How do I find housing in Santa Cruz?
A: Santa Cruz is an expensive place to live because of its proximity to the beach. Graduate student housing offers discounted housing near the university for graduate students. You can find information here: Graduate Housing
There’s also family housing available, as described here: Family Housing
If you cannot live within university housing, you can live within the community. Many students purchase a parking permit, but the city buses are free to all undergraduate and graduate students, so it may help to look at proximity to a bus route. We also have a community housing list specifically intended to assist faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff at UCSC in finding rental housing or posting a rental. Although not publicly available, you will have access to this resource as a student.
Q: What does campus look like?
Q: What does Santa Cruz look like?
Q: How do I apply?
A: The deadline is normally December 1. Click here to apply for graduate school at UCSC.