"I really have to say thank you. I am reminded almost on a daily basis how well prepared I was for a Ph.D. program after graduating from Parkside. The kinds of experiences I had doing research and interacting with professors directly have helped me immensely in my program. Anyway, I am not trying to write a commercial for UW-P, I just wanted to let you know that you and the rest of the faculty did a great job and I am thankful."

Jacob Burmeister, currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology



Two facets of the Psychology department at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside make us very special (in addition to an emphasis on excellence in teaching). They are our focus on undergraduate research and the availability of an externship program

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduates can participate in research by enrolling in an Independent Study (PSYC 499). Students can choose between contributing to an ongoing faculty research project, or via designing and conducting a research project of their own, supervised by a faculty member.

Students who contribute to an ongoing project gain research experience through readings, assisting in study design, creating study materials, testing research participants, and through contributing to the study analysis, interpretation and reporting. Many students gain authorship on conference presentations or even journal articles or book chapters.

Students who conduct projects of their own receive one-on-one mentoring from a faculty member on the project design, data analysis, and reporting of the results. Students have also presented the results of their supervised research at conferences ranging from regional undergraduate research meetings, to international scholarly conferences.

Students who are interested in pursuing a graduate education are urged to enroll in one or more Independent Study projects with faculty members. You can find out more about the faculty's research and their labs by clicking on the links.

Prerequisites for PSYC 499 vary by faculty member. The expectation is that for each credit, a student should spend about 3 hours working on the Independent Study project.

Publications and Presentations with Students:

Several faculty members have worked in-depth with undergraduates, rewarding the students' participation with co-authorships on publications and presentations. As a quick summary, look at the impressive statistics on co-authorships with students below:

Dr. Beyer: 9 publications and  29 presentations
Dr. Colston: 3 publications and 23 presentations
Dr. Gurtman:  1 publication and 29 presentations

Externship

The externship consists of supervised experiences in planned projects done in a community setting. The prerequisites include 18 credits in Psychology, a minimum 3.0 GPA in Psychology, and consent of instructor.