The Department of Psychology at Oakland University offers M.S. and Ph.D. positions on a competitive basis. Information on the graduate program within the Psychology Department can be found here and application details can be found here. The brochure on the graduate programs at OU can be downloaded here. Prospective students should indicate their interest in working with Dr. Welling in their Statement of Purpose. Applicants should be aware that space in the program is limited.
Any questions prospective students have regarding the graduate program or application procedures should be directed to Dr. Virgil Zeigler-Hill via email at zeiglerh[at]oakland.edu. Moreover, prospective students can contact Dr. Welling if they wish to discuss any specifics of working in the lab and/or project ideas. Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 GPA and competitive GRE scores to be eligible to apply. Review of candidates begins in January each year and continues until available positions are filled.
We are only accepting MS applications. Until further notice, there are no funded PhD positions available in the lab. If you are interested in doing a PhD in the lab, you can apply if you have or may get your own funding (e.g., you have a pending NSF fellowship application) or would consider an unfunded position.
Honors Students:
Students interested in doing a psychology department honors thesis (PSY 494) in Dr. Welling's lab need to first volunteer in the lab as an RA for a minimum of one semester prior to their senior year and need to have a minimum 3.2 GPA with a minimum 3.5 average in psychology courses. The PSY 494 class is technically one semester, but a thesis realistically takes 1 year from start to completion. Therefore, students should expect to put a full year into their honor's thesis and will need to complete an IRB submission, a 10-15 page thesis proposal, and a 30-40 page final thesis, in addition to data collection, entry, and analysis. Students should also understand that they will need to dedicate a significant portion of time to their thesis and should not approach Dr. Welling unless they are willing to make this commitment.
The department requires honors students to complete the requirements for the liberal arts major in psychology (please see the Oakland University student handbook for more information) in addition to the thesis. It is the student's responsibility to file an application for departmental honors in psychology at least one year before their intended graduation.
Project students working in the lab will have to register and complete the required CITI training in advance and should also contact Mariann Hodge at hodge[at]oakland.edu to schedule bloodborne pathogen training.
Research Assistants:
There are often volunteer research assistant positions available in the lab for students at Oakland University who are looking to gain some research experience. Students wishing to volunteer should fill out an application form and email it to Dr. Welling at welling[at]oakland[dot]edu. You can download a copy of the application form here.
Students should be aware that volunteering in the lab can take up a substantial amount of time (~10 hours per week) and should be prepared to make that level of a commitment before applying. Only serious, responsible applicants, please.
Students working in the lab will have to register and complete the required CITI training in advance and should also contact Mariann Hodge at hodge[at]oakland.edu to schedule bloodborne pathogen training and laboratory right-to-know training. Finally, students need to print, fill out, and sign the student volunteer form and return it to Dr. Welling.