Join Us!

The Stress and Development Lab values diversity of all kinds.

We strive to provide enriching opportunities for all trainees (volunteer research assistants, study staff, graduate students, and post-doctoral trainees), including those from marginalized and historically disadvantaged backgrounds. We are committed to increasing the representation of trainees from diverse backgrounds into clinical science settings and ensuring that our field represents the values, perspectives, and experiences of a wider range of students and trainees. As such, we welcome and encourage applications from trainees who identify as members of marginalized or historically disadvantaged groups and work to provide a training environment that supports the needs of all students.

As a scientific community, the Stress and Development Lab aims to provide supportive space for scientific dialogue and development. To this end, we are committed to fostering a safe and supportive community in which all members are able to contribute fully regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, or any other applicable basis. We expect all of our members to behave in ways that promote the supportive and productive exchange of ideas, treating all individuals equitably and with respect.

The review process for graduate student admissions for 2023 is now complete.  Any further inquires will be dismissed. 

 

Lab Director Katie McLaughlin is not accepting graduate students for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle.

 

Thank you for your interest in the Stress and Development Lab!

 

FULL-TIME RESEARCH COORDINATOR POSITION

An experienced, independent, and highly organized individual is sought for a full-time Research Assistant position in the Stress and Development Laboratory at the Harvard University Psychology Department, run by Katie McLaughlin, PhD. The position will begin in June 2024. Our research examines the impact of environmental experience on children’s development. Our research focuses on identifying developmental mechanisms linking adverse environmental experiences to the onset of psychopathology.Under the supervision of Dr. McLaughlin, the individual in this position will be involved in an active research lab with several large grants and participate in many aspects of the research process, including recruitment of children and adolescents into research, preparation of IRB applications, data collection from children and caregivers, data management, programming behavioral tasks, and maintenance of a database for participant recruitment and tracking. These duties will primarily focus on either an intensive repeated-measures fMRI study examining dynamic changes in emotion, behavior, and brain function following exposure to stress in adolescents. Data collection for this study involves acquisition of psychophysiology and MRI data in addition to assessments of mental health and exposure to stress and adversity. The online application form is linked here.
(Please see the research coordinator ad PDF at the bottow of this page to view the full position advertisement including qualifications and employer benefits).

**Required to be able to work in person on Harvard’s campus**
**Applications are due by April 15, 2024**

VOLUNTEER WITH THE STRESS AND DEVELOPMENT LAB!

Why Volunteer?

 
The SDL is an excellent place to be a part-time research assistant because our undergraduates and volunteers are directly involved with all aspect of our research, including running children and adolescents in studies. This means that you get to to be directly involved in the clinical research process in a very hands-on environment. Research assistants may have the opportunity to pursue their own projects by collaborating with graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in the lab. Previous undergraduate research assistants have taken on coding projects, designed and carried out original studies, and presented research in university as well as professional conferences. You will also gain valuable skills and experience that will prepare you for graduate school or whatever your next career steps might be. 
 
For most of the studies in the SDL, we rely on undergraduate research assistants to help us with all research-related processes. Research assistants help administer tasks and questionnaires to participants, organize, enter, and check data, recruit study participants, and process psychophysiological and neuroimaging data. Most of our participants attend school, so we typically run studies in the late afternoon/early evenings on weekdays (2-7 pm) and as needed on Saturday afternoons.  Saturday availability is strongly preferred. We prefer that research assistants have experience working with children and adolescents and have taken relevant courses such as Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Psychological Statistics, or Fundamentals of Psychological Research. You may receive class credit for working at the SDL (PSY 2442R) if you are a Harvard College or Harvard cross-registration graduate student.
 
Our application remains open year-round, but we typically only take new part-time volunteer RAs during at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, with occasional openings for the summer. We hire approximately one month in advance of the start of each semester.  If you are interested in working with us, you may submit an application at any time during the year. Please note that your application will be reviewed in the next upcoming cycle unless otherwise designated. We typically expect a minimum 2-semester commitment from volunteer RAs. In recent cycles, we have only accepted RAs who can work in-person and are Harvard College undergraduates. The application has a question regarding whether you can work in-person or remotely-only, in the event remote work becomes available.
 

We are currently not hiring any Research Assistants (Undergraduate or Post Graduate) at this time

stress_development_lab_ra_ad_-_2024.pdf118 KB