We are always looking for students to get involved with Victoria Infant and Child Cognition Lab! Here is some information to consider before applying:
What kind of research are we doing at the VUW Infant and Child Cognition Lab?
Student researchers at the VUW Infant and Child Cognition Lab study social cognitive development in infants, toddlers, children, and sometimes adults under the supervision of the lab director, Dr. Alia Martin. Just a few examples to illustrate our research: We might ask whether babies understand that some kinds of actions (like speaking or gesturing) are useful for communication while others (like coughing or walking) are usually not. Or we might study when babies begin to pay attention to and care about what other people can see or experience. For more detailed information, refer to the information pamphlet here.
Postgraduate Applicants:
Students interested in doing Honours research in the lab, or joining the lab as a Master’s or PhD student, should email Dr. Martin directly to express interest, at alia.martin@vuw.ac.nz. If you are going to do this, you should probably read at least a couple of Dr. Martin’s papers first. General information about postgraduate study in psychology at VUW can be found here.
Undergraduate Applicants:
If you are interested in working more independently on a research project in the lab during the academic year, you might consider a Directed Individual Study course such as SCIE306. If you want to do this, you should contact Dr. Martin in advance of the trimester in which you want to take the course to discuss potential research projects. Students who have already worked in the lab or another developmental psychology lab will have an advantage in terms of skills and readiness to do an independent project with infants or children.
Research Assistant Positions:
Depending on the level of experience and availability, we offer both volunteer and paid research assistant positions. However, paid positions are scarce and very unlikely for those without previous research experience. If you are interested in applying for a volunteer research assistant position, please fill out the Research Assistant Application and email it to our lab coordinator Michaela Dresel at michaela.dresel@vuw.ac.nz, along with your most recently updated CV. Applications are considered on a rolling basis but do have deadlines which differ depending on the specific academic trimester. Trimester 1 2022 applications close on February 26th, Trimester 2 applications close on June 24th, and Trimester 3 applications close on October 28th.
Infant and Child Cognition Lab 