RESEARCH TRAINING AND ADMINISTRATION CORE
Coordinator: Peter Lang, PhD
Training is a major facet of the Center effort. The aim is to train research apprentices to be sophisticated, technologically competent scientists in the field of emotion.
The Center includes three special training initiatives, at different levels of research apprentice development:
1. The Center has an advanced training program to mentor postdoctoral students and junior faculty. The development of a young investigator's own programmatic research in emphasized. The intention is that after this experience, participants leave the Center as fully functioning independent scientists.
2. In collaboration with the Departments of Clinical and Health Psychology, Computer Engineering, and Radiology at the University of Florida—a special graduate program that integrates technological and emotion science training. Students admitted to the program will have strong basic science or engineering backgrounds. The increasing importance of high technology in behavioral/ neuroscience experimentation (e.g., in NMR physics, computer modeling) requires that we train bridging scientists, who both understand the field of emotion studies and have firm grasp of the tools required to implement their research. This program will involve students from both psychology and engineering, in an integrated apprenticeship program, emphasizing emotion research with fMRI, MEG, and high density EEG.
3. A special 1-2 year program of post-baccalaureate study: This program is intended for students who have completed an undergraduate degree in psychology or basic science, who plan to apply for graduate training in psychology, and who wish to focus their intellectual goals and gain preparatory experience in laboratory research. Students work full-time and receive monetary compensation, but are counseled and instructed as graduate students, participating in the execution of experiments and data analysis, learning psychophysiological recording, computer and other technical skills and participating in and presenting their work at weekly laboratory meetings.
