Join the team
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Research assistants are required to work for 9 hours a week, for at least two semesters, as well as taking the class Infant and Child Development.
Research assistants’ responsibilities include: recruiting and scheduling infant and child participants and their families, assisting lab researchers in testing infants and children, reaching out to and interacting with families, coding infant looking time responses and toddler behavioral responses, assisting stimuli design for studies, coding adult verbal or behavioral responses, managing lab social media activities, and attending lab meetings.
All research assistants will start as trainees, working with a more senior member of the lab. Seniority in the lab is defined by expertise working in the lab, instead of age or position. As time goes by, usually after a few semesters, you may be ready to develop your own research projects. This is the time when you become a PI. All the skills acquired as a trainee will come in handy. In addition, PIs will be more involved in developing research ideas and presenting ideas to scientific audiences. These may include presenting at conferences and preparing manuscripts.
Please note that we do not make exceptions for thesis projects. If you are interested in completing your thesis project at CALC, you’d also need at least one semester’s worth of experience working in a cognitive development lab (exceptions can occasionally be made for the research discipline, but not for the amount of experience).
Positions are only offered to individuals with the following traits:
- Excited about cognition and learning, in children, adults, or both
- Always try your best
- Honest, ethical, and a team player
- Able to communicate with team members effectively
- Independent and ready for challenges
- Open to feedback and willing to learn
- Motivated to conduct independent research and generate high quality work
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All of our research assistant positions have been filled for Spring 2020. Please check again in the Fall!
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Dr. Wang is a faculty member in the Cognitive Area of the Psychology Department: https://psych.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate/co
Dr. Wang is also a member of the Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS): https://ruccs.rutgers.edu/
If you work with Dr. Wang as a Ph.D. student, you will be a graduate student in the Psychology Department. Here are the learning goals and assessments for the Ph.D. program at Rutgers Psychology: https://psych.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate/phd-degree-learning-goals-and-assessment
You can find out more about funding and teaching opportunities here: https://psych.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate/graduate-program-overview#financial-aid
Usually, Ph.D. studies in Psychology are fully funded for five years. Department funding sources usually come with teaching and/or additional research responsibilities. You are also encouraged to seek external funding, such as applying for federal grants for graduate studies.
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Where does knowledge come from? What structures and algorithms exist, such that a mind can acquire complex symbolic knowledge? A central line of my work focuses on numerical cognition as a window into this ancient puzzle. I ask questions such as how do experiences impact infants’ innate sensitivity to numerosity? Can these impacts extend to later symbolic mathematical thinking? A second line of my work examines people’s intuitive beliefs about knowledge. I take a developmental and cross-cultural approach to characterize people’s knowledge origin beliefs and how these beliefs respond to experience. The third line of my work is inspired by information theories, asking how children and adult explore and learn about the world around them based on what is available.
I have had amazing mentors that filled me with curiosity and excitement about science, and I want to do the same for my students. I will try my best to provide you with resources for learning, research, and teaching. You should also expect mentorship from me, offering you suggestions and advice every step along your way to become an independent researcher. We will establish career plans and goals for each semester, and we will meet on a regular basis. I am excited to learn and grow with you.
You can find out more about my past research through Google Scholar. You are advised to begin your graduate training by pursuing research projects well within my expertise. This way, you can learn more efficiently from me, and we will have the best chance of producing publishable results. After you have learned all the basic research tools, you are encouraged to branch out and bring new research ideas to our collaboration.
Graduate school is one long and difficult journey. To succeed, you not only need passion, determination, and endurance, but also teammates that root for you and support you. The best way to keep people on your side is to be warm and open, and try your best to keep the communication flowing. Additionally, to be a good citizen of science, being ethical and honest are the basics. It is okay to make mistakes, and it’s always better to try to fix them earlier! We are constantly interacting with families with young children: keep in mind that they have a lot going on, and they are doing us a huge favor – be grateful and courteous. Remember that you are not just representing yourself, but also the lab, the university, and even the scientific community!
There will be times when something goes wrong. And there will even be times when you feel that there is no hope left. Talk to your friends and your mentors, and then try your best, over and over again.
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if you are reading this, you are on the right track! The first step to becoming a graduate student, is to learn about the graduate program and advisor you are interested in.
After you have learned about the psychology program at Rutgers, and you have read about Dr. Wang’s work, please fill out the researcher interest form. If you want to be more impressive, come up with a question or two about her research, and send her an email!
To apply to the graduate program at Rutgers Psychology, follow the instructions here: https://psych.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate/graduate-program-overview#how-to-apply
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Please fill out the researcher interest form if you are interested in working as a lab manager or post doc with Dr. Wang.