Undergraduate Opportunities
There are several ways to gain research experience as an undergraduate in our lab!
Be sure to complete the contact form below to inquire about available opportunities.
Volunteer
We rely on our dedicated volunteers to complete our research. We try to assign volunteers tasks that most reflect our lab needs and the personal interests of the volunteer. Volunteer duties may include:
-
Working directly with infants, children, and their families conducting EEG, cardiac physiological assessment, and cognitive tasks as part of research visits
-
Programming computer tasks, working on statistical analyses and/or data visualization
-
Processing neurophysiological research data
-
Data entry, data cleaning, and other administrative duties
Due to the level of training and responsibility required, we ask our volunteers to commit 8-10 hours per week for a minimum period of one year.
PSY 390 for Credit
Are you a student looking to get hands-on experience in a research lab? Dr. Karalunas takes a handful of students each year to train and mentor under the PSY 390 course. Students can earn up to 3 credits per semester with a commitment of 9 hours per week. Due to intense training and responsibility requirements, we need a two-semester commitment. Research tasks will be commensurate with experience and ability. Students in the lab will be trained in various tasks ranging from recruitment and screening of children and families; data entry; cognitive and neurophysiological data collection procedures; and data cleaning and processing. Outstanding students may have the opportunity to be mentored in an independent research project or honors thesis.
Honors Thesis
If you are a psychology major in the Research Focused Honors Program (RFHP) and are interested in conducting your independent, empirical project under Dr. Karalunas’ advisement, please see the Psychological Sciences website to learn more about applying.
Summer Stay Scholar Program
Our lab participates in the Summer Stay Scholar program at Purdue University. Students must take 9 credit hours of regular coursework in addition to approximately 140 hours of internship experience in our lab.
Graduate Opportunities
Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program
Dr. Karalunas is an Associate Professor of the Clinical Program at Purdue University. This doctorate program nurtures the Practitioner-Researcher Model with an emphasis on research. It is credited by the APA CoA (Commission on Accreditation, American Psychological Association) and by PCSAS (Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System).
Paid Opportunities
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Clinical Psychology
The iCAN Lab at Purdue University is always looking for great postdocs to support NIH-funded research under the supervision of Principal Investigator, Dr. Sarah Karalunas. Research in the iCAN Lab focuses on the cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological mechanisms that contribute to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in infancy through adulthood. Work in the lab emphasizes individual differences among children with ADHD and integration of multiple data types (e.g., trait ratings, computerized cognitive tasks, EEG, eye tracking, and ecological momentary assessment). Our postdocs assume a major leadership role for the NIH-funded Neurophysiology of Emotions (NEMO) Study and have opportunities to be involved with and use data from several other large, longitudinal studies of childhood development and clinical outcomes. If you are interested in joining our lab as a postdoc, now or in the near future, please reach out to Sarah!