Join our lab staff

Would you like to work in the Early Learning Lab as a Research Assistant?

Undergraduate research assistants help us study how infants and children think, learn and grow from birth to age seven. Depending on a student’s specific interests and/or level of experience, responsibilities in the lab may include the following:

executing research studies on word learning in young children,
interacting with families who visit the lab to participate in studies,
assisting with studies that are being conducted in local childcare centers,
recruiting and scheduling research subjects, and
coding and entering research data.

All undergraduate research assistants are expected to dedicate at least 10 hours per week to working in the lab. There are 3 ways that undergrads that are willing to make this commitment may join our lab:

Work-study—Students who received a federal work-study allotment may work in our lab for pay through N.U.’s work-study program.
Independent study—Students who are interested in managing an independent project for course credit may apply to complete an Independent Study in our lab. Independent study research assistants are expected to commit to working in the lab for at least two consecutive quarters and to take no more than 3 classes in addition to the Independent Study for each of those quarters.
University-supported research opportunities—Some undergrad RAs have successfully worked in the Early Learning Lab conducting independent research projects over the summer with funding from Northwestern University’s Undergraduate Research Grant program. See the Summer Undergraduate Research Grant Webpage for details. Students are not eligible for any paid summer research opportunities in the Early Learning Lab unless they have worked in the lab for at least one quarter during the academic year.

If you would be interested in working in the Early Learning Lab either for work-study pay or course credit, please complete the our questionnaire [doc] and send it to:
Kathy McGroarty-Torres, Project Coordinator
Francis Searle, Room #1-411C
847-491-2081
k-mcgroarty-torres@northwestern.edu