The mission of the Shackman lab is to have a deep impact on the fields of affective and translational
neuroscience. To that end, the lab performs innovative studies that can lead to important discoveries, to disseminate our discoveries as widely as possible, and to mentor trainees to become top-notch scientists and scientist-clinicians.
Description:
The lab is looking for people who are smart, productive, sensible, passionate, rigorous, fearless in the face of technical and logistical challenges, hardworking, blessed with a creative vision, highly ethical, and who can actively contribute to a positive lab environment (fun!). Students majoring in or planning to major in psychology, biology, or neurobiology/neuroscience are strongly encouraged to apply. The Shackman Lab provides an excellent opportunity for receiving top-notch mentorship in affective/translational neuroscience.
Responsibilities: Data Collection (people person; work directly with human research subjects as part of a team; administer tasks in the lab, mock scanner, or scanner; prepare subjects for collection of peripheral physiology/eye-tracking; administer surveys; calibrate equipment; obsessively document violations of research protocol and communicate problems with data collection; ensure adherence to highest ethical standards for the treatment of subjects and the protection of privacy/confidentiality; requires an obsessive attention to protocol details and the ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders, especially subjects, MNC personnel, and the lab administrative staff)
Laboratory Administration (air traffic control; use email, phone, text, and IM to screen and enroll research subjects; coordinate subjects, lab personnel, and resources, including paperwork, scanner, and other apparatus; ensure that subjects are treated with respect and that their privacy/confidentiality is maintained; draft IRB amendments; order supplies; requires good people management, obsessive attention to logistical details, and the ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders, often remotely)
Analyzing Data (computer guru; use existing computer software/code to process/analyze physiological data; write scripts and wrappers in bash, MATLAB, Python, Ruby, or Java; visually inspect data to confirm that it looks sensible and to better understand what it’s trying to teach us; develop and validate new ways of doing things; manage network resources and your own pre-existing beliefs about how the results should look; requires obsessive attention to detail and the ability to communicate with emotionally-devoid hard/software and emotionally-expressive lab directors).
Opportunity to work on your own individual projects and honors thesis!
Qualifications/Requirements:
GPA and Major GPA must be 3.0 or greater.
Preferred students majoring in or planning to major in psychology, biology, or neurobiology/neuroscience.
Prefer students who have availability to attend 3 hour MRI sessions.
Available to start in Spring 2024 semester or over the winter break.
How To Apply:
Interested in applying to the Shackman Lab? Please read about the lab mission and the different RA roles below, and then fill out the RA application.Once you are done, please send the following materials to our lab managers, Jennifer Cunneen (
jcunneen@umd.edu) and Dominique Ewing (
dewing1@umd.edu):
-Shackman Lab RA Application
-A Copy of your Unofficial Transcript
-CV/Resume
Please see the lab website listed below for more information and to find the RA application.
https://shackmanlab.org/
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