Summer Research Opportunities

APA Undergraduate Research Opportunities

  • 28 research opportunities available. Check the eligibility information for each opportunity.

Davidson-Broughton Summer Study Program

  • Davidson College sponsors an 8-week summer internship program for undergraduates at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, N.C., a state psychiatric facility serving western North Carolina. Students complete one course credit by taking Practicum in Psychology (PSY 290), which includes working in the hospital and weekly classroom meetings, times to be arranged once the class arrives in Morganton.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

  • NSF funds a large number of research opportunities for undergraduate students through its REU Sites program. An REU Site consists of a group of ten or so undergraduates who work in the research programs of the host institution. Applications to these programs are handled through the particular REU site. See the website for up-to-date information on which universities will host REU programs this summer.
  • The Center for Cognitive Sciences at the University of Minnesota often hosts an REU program. This program is appropriate for students interested in cognitive science who would like to remain in the Twin Cities for the summer.

Psi Chi The International Honors Society in Psychology

  • Psi Chi sponsors summer research for undergraduates in psychology through a number of different awards.

College funds to support travel to conferences

SMART Program – University of Colorado at Boulder

  • For Neuroscience students only
  • International students are not eligible to apply

Brain Research Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

  • More for Neuroscience students
  • International students are eligible to apply

Summer Program for Undergraduate Research – Society for Personality and Social Psychology

  • International students are eligible to apply

Summer Research Initiative – University of Maryland

  • International students are not eligible to apply

2017 Summer Research Institute (SRI) – The University of Arizona

  • International students are not eligible to apply

Summer Research Opportunity Program – University of Michigan

  • For undergraduate students who are underrepresented in their field of study
  • International students are not eligible to apply

Summer Research at Macalester

Research Labs


Research – new and noteworthy

In recent years, more than 35 students have co-authored presentations at national professional meetings and more than 10 students have co-authored publications in top psychology journals.

Bailey Haas ’19 (Ocean Springs, MS) was the 2017 Parchem Fellow and worked during the summer of 2017 with Professor Joan Ostrove.

Linda De Anda ’18 (St. Paul, M) was the 2016 Parchem Fellow and worked durig the summer of 2016 with Professor Cari Gillen-O’Neel.

Emily Sanford ’17 (Seattle, WA) was the 2015 Parchem Fellow and did research about animal cognition with Professor Julia Manor during the summer of 2015.

Alexander Ropes’16 (Pella, IA) worked with Professor Steve Guglielmo on studies of morality as the department Parchem Research Fellow during the Fall of 2014.

Lydia Craig ’16 (Suttons Bay, MI) was accepted to the APA’s Summer Science Fellowship.

Jessica Pham ’16 (Hanoi, Vietnam) was awarded a summer fellowship at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute in the Undergraduate Research Program at the University of Minnesota.

Faculty member Joan Ostrove’s research group presented a poster at the 2015 Midwest Psychological Association conference in Chicago. The poster won an award from Psi Chi, an international honors society in psychology. The group included P.J. Murphy ’15 (Chesterland, OH), Leah Beckmann ’16 (Sayville, NY), Maddie Kornfeld ’16 (Denver, CO), Marium Ibrahim ’16 (Karachi, Pakistan) and Elena Torry-Schrag ’17 (Forest Grove, OR).

Heather Renetzky ’15 (Tarzana, CA) presented a poster at the 2015 Midwest Psychological Association conference in Chicago based on her honors project on guilt and moral compensation.

Shaina Davis ’13 (Pala Alto, CA) and Professor Lea worked on a Student-Faculty Summer Research-funded (SFSR) project studying the question, “How do we mentally represent our relationships with people?”

Micah Mumper ’13 (Kailua, Hawaii) was the statewide awardee of the Donald G. Paterson Award, given by the Minnesota Psychological Association to the most promising senior in Minnesota Planning a career in psychology He is now a graduate student in cognitive psychology at SUNY Stonybrook.