Research Experience Opportunities

Why do Research?

Collaborating with faculty members who are conducting research can be a rich and rewarding experience.

Research experience is an important step for students seeking to apply to graduate programs in psychology or neuroscience. By gaining research experience, students can develop transferable skills for any profession, such as data processing, critical thinking, critical analysis, communication, and much more. Research experience can also help students work directly with faculty, leading to better recommendations for any postgraduate pursuits.

Gaining research experience is also often a first step towards joining the Honors Program.

Research experience targets the following learning goals of getting a major or minor in Psychology.

Goal 1 – Foundational Knowledge – by developing knowledge in the area of scientific inquiry in which you are participating.
Goal 2 – Epistemological Foundations – by learning firsthand about the methods psychologists use for generating knowledge.
Goal 3 – Applications of Psychology – by fostering the skills and perspectives necessary to apply the knowledge to everyday life.
Goal 4 – Values in Psychology – by cultivating the ethical and scientific pursuit of knowledge about human behavior.

Can I Earn Class Credit for Doing Research?

Many students gain research experience simply by volunteering in a research lab. There are, however, three main ways for students to receive academic credit for research engagement: enrolling in REBL (PSYC 4950-4952), completing a Research Tutorial, or completing a Reading Tutorial.

REBL, or Research Experience-Based Learning (PSYC 4950–4952), is the most common option and typically occurs after joining an active research lab in the Psychology Department. REBL is a structured, formal research engagement within a research lab, supervised by a Georgetown Psychology faculty member. Students typically contribute to the ongoing projects and research in each lab. Students may take the course for 1, 2, or 3 credits depending on their level of involvement. For more detailed information on REBL, please read the syllabus.

A Research Tutorial, by contrast, is always a three-credit course and does not require joining a lab. Instead, students work directly with a Georgetown Psychology faculty member on a small empirical or theoretical research project, making this option ideal for students who want individualized research experience even when lab membership is not possible or necessary.

A Reading Tutorial is also a three-credit course but focuses solely on synthesizing and critically analyzing professional literature rather than collecting data or conducting empirical research. Tutorial registration forms can be obtained here: https://registrar.georgetown.edu/tutorial-information/. Forms must be completed before registration in the preceding semester. To explore this option, talk to a faculty member well in advance.

How to Enroll?

Identify a faculty member you want to work with and talk to them well in advance of any deadlines.
- Some faculty may have additional requirements (e.g., volunteering in their lab for a semester before being eligible for REBL credit).
To enroll in REBL, students should:
- Read the REBL syllabus and discuss possible projects and the number of REBL credits with the faculty. Work with the mentoring faculty to write a project description needed to enroll. Ask the mentoring faculty to initiate this online form to enroll no later than the beginning of each semester. Sign the online form, which will be sent to the students’ email via DocuSign.
- Wait for the form to be signed by Prof. Deborah Stearns and for REBL to be added to the classes available to the student by their dean.
- Enroll in the REBL class no later than the end of the Add/Drop period. This last step needs to be completed by the student.
To enroll in Reading or Research Tutorials, students should
- Discuss possible projects with faculty well in advance of regular class registration.
- Complete the Undergraduate Tutorial Registration Form available through the Registrar’s Office: https://registrar.georgetown.edu/tutorial-information/.
- Gather all the appropriate approvals and signatures (faculty mentor and Department chair)
- Bring the completed form to their academic dean/advisor or Undergraduate Deans’ Office before registration in the preceding semester.

What Else Do You Need to Know?

Research Tutorials, Reading Tutorials, and REBL can count as electives but cannot fulfill other distribution requirements for the major or minor.
Across REBL and Tutorials, students may count up to six credits total toward the Psychology major or minor AND towards graduation.
To be counted as electives towards the major, students must be supervised or co-supervised by a faculty member affiliated with the Department of Psychology.
Students are encouraged to pursue their interests and discuss ideas with faculty, but students need NOT have their own research ideas before approaching a faculty or joining a research lab.
Faculty are not obligated to supervise a student in REBL or tutorials. Faculty may have additional eligibility requirements. Contact the faculty well in advance.
Students accepted in the Honors Program can earn an additional three class credits over their senior year (3 credits for the entire year). This is not affected by the number of REBL or tutorial credits already received.
Students may not double-dip (e.g., receive REBL credit and Honors credit for the same project at the same time).
Students can also enroll in GUROP (Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program), which provides them witha transcript notation for conducting research (but no class credit).
Students can gain research experience by volunteering in labs without getting class credit.

How to Join a Research Lab in the Psychology Department?

The first step in gaining research experience, including for REBL and GUROP, is often to join a research lab. Here is how to get started.

Check Lab Availability and Fit (Highly Recommended)
1. Check lab availability and lab details on the Psych Department Lab Info.
2. If a lab you are interested in is currently full, please check back again in the future.
3. Read announcements in the Psychology Majors and Minors Canvas course.
Submit Your Application
1. After confirming availability, complete and submit a Research Assistant Application to the lab you are most interested in.
Reapply As Needed
1. If your application does not lead to a position, apply again!
2. You can apply to a different lab or to the same lab again in the next cycle.
3. The success of an application often has more to do with timing and openings.

Download the Research Experience Info Sheet for more information.

Who Can I Talk To?

For any questions about research opportunities and how to get involved, please contact the Undergraduate Research Liaison — a classmate who is here to help you get started.

You are encouraged to talk directly to faculty members about tutorials, REBL, or joining their labs as a volunteer. You do not need to have your own research idea before approaching the faculty. You can find relevant details and contact information in the Psychology Lab Info Spreadsheet.

You can also talk to your academic advisor and Prof. Deborah Stearns, Director of Undergraduate Studies, stearndc@georgetown.edu.

Key Resources & Links

Additional Resources

Can I Get Paid for Doing Research?

Most of the research positions are volunteer and not paid. Limited funding for conducting research may be available to students through the opportunities listed below.

The Psychology Department’s Summer Research Fellowships

These fellowships are intended to (1) increase access to research for students who may otherwise face barriers to obtaining research training; (2) remove common barriers to gaining research experience (e.g., lack of previous experience); (3) foster diversity in research settings. Click HERE for more information.

See the Following Resources for Other Funded Research Opportunities at Georgetown

The Center for Research & Fellowships for information on CRF-administered summer research awards.
Georgetown’s College of Arts & Sciences for information on the summer Davis Fellowship for students enrolled in the College.
The Office of the Provost for information on the fall, spring, and summer Penner Awards program for students in the undergraduate schools.
CRF for information on the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Presentation Awards.
The Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching, & Service (CSJ) for information on the David F. Andretta Summer Research Fellowship.
The CSJ and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs for information on the Educational and Social Justice Project.
The Center for Research and Fellowship for
- The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholarship Programme
- Other opportunities.

See the Following Resources for Other Funded Research Opportunities Outside of Georgetown

The American Psychological Association for a list of psychology programs seeking summer research assistants from outside institutions

Sample Scenarios

The following examples illustrate two typical pathways students might take when pursuing research opportunities in the Psychology Department. These scenarios are meant only as samples; individual experiences will vary depending on faculty availability, timing, and student interests.

REBL Scenario (with Lab Membership First + Honors in Senior Year)
Maya begins her sophomore year with an interest in gaining research experience, so early in the fall semester she reads through the Psychology Department Lab Info and submits a Research Assistant Application to Dr. Rivera’s lab. She is accepted as a volunteer, and for the first several weeks of the semester she begins onboarding and training, attending weekly lab meetings, practicing data entry, running small tasks, and learning the ongoing study protocols. After discussing with Dr. Rivera, Maya enrolls in GUROP about a month into her role as a volunteer. By mid-semester, after she has demonstrated reliability and engagement, Maya asks Dr. Rivera if she might be eligible to enroll in REBL for the upcoming spring semester. Because she has now spent time becoming familiar with the lab’s workflow, Dr. Rivera agrees and they talk about the kind of project that would make sense for a first REBL experience, such as taking responsibility for coding interviews or assisting with a recruitment pipeline. Maya then fills out the REBL syllabus form, writes up a short project description, and returns the documentation to her mentor.

As the spring semester approaches, Dr. Rivera initiates the DocuSign REBL form near the start of the term, which is when REBL paperwork must be submitted. Maya signs the form electronically, and after the Director of Undergraduate Studies and her dean complete their approvals, REBL appears on Maya’s schedule by Add/Drop period in the first two weeks of the semester. Throughout the spring, she completes her REBL for one credit while continuing regular lab involvement. By the following fall semester, Maya is ready for a deeper role in the lab. She asks Dr. Rivera if she can enroll in REBL again, this time for two credits, and takes on more responsibility by helping to run participants and mentoring a new RA. The process repeats: they finalize her new REBL plan around the middle of the semester preceding the course, and her mentor initiates the form at the beginning of the next term.

By the subsequent spring of her junior year, Maya has progressed even further and enrolls in REBL for three credits. At this point she is contributing to broader aspects of the research, helping oversee data synthesis, preparing summary reports, and possibly working on early manuscript drafts. It is during this spring semester, as her project becomes more substantial and independent, that Maya and Dr. Rivera talk seriously about the Honors Program. Because she now has a well-developed research trajectory and strong mentorship within the lab, Dr. Rivera encourages her to apply to Honors for her senior year, when she would complete a full-year, three-credit thesis project under close supervision.

When senior year begins, Maya transitions into the Honors project, building directly on the work she developed through REBL. Her experience as a volunteer, then as a student completing REBL 1, REBL 2, and REBL 3, has given her the foundation needed to design, conduct, and write up an independent honors thesis. By graduation, she has progressed from a novice research assistant into a student researcher with layered, increasingly independent, faculty-mentored scientific experience.

Research Tutorial Scenario
Alex’s pathway into a Research Tutorial begins when he takes a class with Dr. Chen during the spring of his sophomore year. He finds himself especially drawn to the term project for the course, which focuses on stress, sleep, and well-being—topics closely connected to Dr. Chen’s own research program. After submitting his final project, Alex stays after class to talk with her about how much he enjoyed the work, and she encourages him to keep exploring these ideas if he is interested in developing them further.

During the summer before his junior year, Alex continues thinking about the project and eventually emails Dr. Chen to ask whether she might consider supervising a Research Tutorial in the spring semester of the coming academic year. They meet in August to discuss preliminary ideas, talk through the scope of a possible tutorial, and determine whether the project is appropriate for a three-credit intensive research experience. Because Tutorials must be arranged before the regular registration period of the preceding semester, Alex and Dr. Chen return to the project early in the fall to refine the approach. By mid-fall semester, just before registration opens, Alex completes the Undergraduate Tutorial Registration Form from the Registrar’s website, secures Dr. Chen’s signature and the Department Chair’s approval, and submits the form to his academic dean. The dean processes the paperwork in time for registration, and Alex is officially enrolled in the spring Research Tutorial well before the new semester begins.

When the spring semester starts, Alex begins meeting weekly with Dr. Chen. Because he is not entering a lab as a research assistant, his tutorial work focuses directly on the individualized project they designed together. Some weeks he concentrates on structuring a literature review; in others he conducts exploratory analyses or drafts sections of a final written report. By the end of the spring, he has produced a substantial independent project that reflects a focused, sustained collaboration with a faculty member—one that grew naturally out of a compelling classroom experience.