High School Research Assistants
Stay tuned!
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More information will be available soon on how to apply to be a Research Assistant in our lab!
What we do
Are you an OSU undergrad interested in gaining research experience? Join us as an undergraduate research assistant in the TIDES Lab. Research in the TIDES Lab focuses on understanding what increases adolescents' risk for depression, self-harm, and suicide and developing and testing new treatments to reduce this risk. Find out more here. Interested in adolescent mental health? Want to gain experience designing engaging smartphone interventions for teens? Care about suicide prevention and reducing depression risk? Take a look at our application status below!
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Applications are closed!
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To apply, fill out the application below:
Honors College Students
We love to support honors college students in doing a thesis as part of the TIDES Lab. If you are interested in potentially doing a thesis in the lab, you must first work in the lab as a research assistant for at least 1 year (3 terms). After a year, you and Dr. Lawrence can determine whether or not the TIDES Lab is a good fit for your honors thesis. See above for whether there are currently openings for undergraduate research assistants in the lab.
Prospective Graduate Students
I will be reviewing applications for graduate students to begin in Fall 2024
I also want to provide some information to consider when deciding whether to apply to work in the TIDES Lab specifically. As you read through this Q & A and consider your options for graduate school (and next steps more broadly) I would encourage you to search for the right program that will support your goals. The goal is not to get into a PhD program. The goal is to find the training and mentorship that will help you thrive both in graduate school and beyond. That may be in the TIDES Lab and that may not and that is ok! Please only apply if your goals and values align with those of our lab and our graduate program. Here is a FAQ document our faculty put together on applying to our doctoral program in clinical psychology.
Are you reviewing applications for graduate students?
Yes! I am reviewing applications for a graduate student in our (brand new!) doctoral program in clinical psychology.
Can you tell me more about OSU’s new doctoral program in clinical psychology?
Yes! We are thrilled to be launching a brand new doctoral program in clinical psychology here at Oregon State. The clinical science program will combine rigorous research training, hands-on clinical experience delivering evidence-based assessment and intervention, and training in social justice and mental health advocacy. Goals of our program are to train graduates for careers in academia and industry, and to increase capacity and meet demand for high-quality evidence-based mental health care in the state of Oregon and U.S., with an emphasis on serving rural and minoritized populations. You may be wondering whether we are accredited and where our match rates are. APA does not accredit programs until their first cohort of students goes through the program. Because we are recruiting our very first cohort of graduate students we are not yet accredited and don’t yet have match rates. That said, our faculty, school, and university are highly motivated and excited to work with our first classes of students to shape our program and to ensure we are accredited and successful in matching students at stellar internship sites. A new website with more information is coming soon!
Why does “fit” matter?
I am invested in helping graduate students develop their own lines of research. By the time graduate students leave my lab, they should have their own research identities independent of my own or those of the lab. That said, many of the opportunities I can offer and training I can provide are tied to ongoing research projects in the lab. Put frankly, the data graduate students will have access to and the methods they learn (at least during the early years of graduate school) will largely depend on the ongoing research in the lab. For graduate students to be productive and happy in the TIDES Lab, it works best when their interests align well with the research focus of our lab.
What does “fit” look like in the TIDES Lab?
Research in the TIDES Lab focuses on depression, self-harm, and suicide in adolescents with a particular focus on the role mental imagery plays. That does not mean that graduate students need to be interested in these exact areas; in fact, I am very interested in welcoming graduate students to the lab who expand on this work and take it in new and exciting directions. Here are just a few ways that graduate student interests might “fit” with those of the lab.
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Interest in cognitive risk factors for depression, self-harm, and/or suicide other than mental imagery
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Interest in the role mental imagery plays in exacerbating risk for depression, self-harm, suicide, or some other mental health concern
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Interest in developing mental imagery-based interventions for depression, self-harm, suicide, or some other mental health concern
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Interest in developing scalable interventions for adolescents with depression, self-harm, and/or suicide even if they don’t include mental imagery
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Interest in a subpopulation that may be especially susceptible to maladaptive mental imagery or especially benefit from interventions incorporating mental imagery
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There are lots of other ways your interests may “fit” too!
I am best-suited to mentor students who are interested in pursuing careers that involve research. This could mean a faculty position at a university or a hospital, it could mean an industry position (e.g., at a tech company), it could mean conducting research as part of a position in a clinical setting or community mental health organization, or it could be working for the government or nonprofit (amongst many other career paths that incorporate research!).
How can I find out about what projects you’re currently working on?
Check out the “Current Projects” tab of our website.
Should I email you before applying?
To be as fair as possible to all applicants I do not discuss applying to my lab ahead of time. I also care deeply about supporting my current students and am very protective of my time devoted to mentoring them. This is all to say that you do not need to email me ahead of applying. Whether or not you email me will have no impact on whether you are invited to interview or offered a position in our program. If you do have a specific question that is not answered on my website, the School of Psychological Sciences website (https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sps/psychology), or the Oregon State Graduate School Website (https://gradschool.oregonstate.edu) you are welcome to email me and I will do my best to respond.
What resources are there to help me put together a strong application?
Project SHORT is an excellent program where you are paired with a mentor to help you through the process of applying to graduate school: https://www.project-short.com/
Help preparing different parts of the application:
Annotated personal statement examples
How do I actually apply to OSU’s program?
Link to our application coming soon!