Individual Research

Individual Research or Study courses are a great way for students to gain research experience while completing requirements for their undergraduate degrees. These courses are a component of the Research Certificate in Psychology and can be completed by students not working towards the certificate. These courses provide research experience under the mentorship of faculty members. Students in their second year can complete PSYCH 299 (Research Opportunity), a 1.5 credit course. Students in their third or fourth year can complete Independent Research courses, such as PSYCH 396, PSYCH 398, PSYCH 496, and PSYCH 498. These courses require a faculty supervisor and additional components to the research experience, such as a term paper. For more information about these courses and prerequisites click on the course links.

Finding a Supervisor

Students wishing to enroll in an Individual Research course must find a Department of Psychology faculty member to serve as their supervisor. Students should consider an area of psychology that interests them and visit the Research Labs page to find more information about the current research conducted in Department of Psychology. Students should contact the faculty member in charge of the lab they are interested in to discuss the possibility of completing an Individual Research course under their supervision. In the correspondence the student should include:

• their name and student information, including degree program and year in program;
• what intrigues them about the research conducted in that lab, and
• any additional information listed on the faculty website, such as CV or unofficial transcripts.

It is recommended that students select more than one lab to contact when hoping to enroll, as space is limited and their first choice may not be available.

External Supervisor

Occasionally, a student may wish to complete a research course with a faculty member from a different department. While this is possible, the student must also have a Department of Psychology faculty member sponsor the research. The student must first receive supervision approval from the external faculty member and then request sponsor approval from a Department of Psychology faculty member. In the latter request, the student should include the name and contact information of the external supervisor and the lab they will complete their independent research or study project.

Guidelines for External Supervisors & Internal Sponsors

Course Registration

Once supervisor approval (and sponsor approval, if necessary) has been granted, the student must complete the Research Course Registration Form.

For any further questions about the individual research/study courses, please contact psyarts@ualberta.ca