Getting Involved In Undergraduate Research: Psych 99/199

Basic Information

• Units
  • Three (3) or Four (4) [suggested]
• Grading Option
  • First quarter: P/NP
  • Subsequent quarters: P/NP or Graded
• Course Requirements
  • Approximately three (3) hours of work per week, per unit. (Ex. 3 units = 9 hrs/week) 
  • Attendance and completion of a short assignment for each of at least two (2) of the three (3) lectures given to undergraduate research assistants each quarter. 
  • A paper (5–10 pages) based on the research you conduct is required if taken for a letter grade (not required for P/NP).

Procedure for Enrollment

If you are a new student looking to become involved, then you will need to send in a short application and attend a lab tour. Information about this will be sent out to all Psychology and Bio-Psychology undergraduates by an undergraduate adviser during the first week of each academic quarter. If you do not receive the email or are not a Psych/Bio-Psych major, then please contact the VIU Lab's undergraduate research assistant coordinator for the current quarter. Please contact the VIU Lab at viu.ucsb@gmail.com with any questions.

Once Enrolled

• You will be assigned to work with a particular researcher in the lab. While we consider your interests, there are a lot of people and not a lot of spots, so we cannot guarantee that you will work on your particular interests all the time. 
• Later in the quarter, you will be expected to attend at least two lectures out of three about the type of research that we conduct. .
• We try to be as flexible as possible when scheduling your hours--they are based on your availability.
• If you are taking Psych 99/199 for a letter grade, you will be required to write a paper. In general, it will cover what you worked on throughout the quarter and how it applies to current research being done in the field. Do not worry too much about this requirement; we will help you with it.