Psychology Research Opportunities with the Emerging Scholars Program

By Malika Burieva

As the new school year commences, so do clubs, extracurricular activities and programs, many of which have research opportunities for students. Psychology students, however, would turn to the Emerging Scholars Program, a year-long research program for junior and senior psychology majors at Adelphi.

Senior Camila Restrepo presented her project “How Fluent Do You Speak? The Role of Linguistic Errors in Eyewitness Testimonies” during the APA conference.

Emerging Scholars pursue authentic research and attend a monthly seminar with their peers in which significant topics are covered, such as ethics, data analysis, sampling, working with secondary data sets, the integration of science and psychological research and admissions to graduate school.

Luis Sebastian Garcia Campos, a senior and former Emerging Scholars member, shared his experiences. “While studying here at Adelphi, I developed a big research interest. I wanted to experience research. My favorite part about the program was presenting my findings on Research Day at Adelphi and the Association of Psychological Science in Washington, DC. I least enjoyed the process of waiting for data to be collected. Even though it is a relatively long process, once you have enough data, you can start the analysis and write.”

Shayne Georges, a current Emerging Scholars member with a minor in health education, said, “I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from a mentor that shares my interests. My experience has been a learning curve so far, and I'm very satisfied with that. I truly enjoy gaining knowledge about how to conduct research, learning from my mentor, and meeting other Emerging Scholars.”

A minimum overall and psychology major GPA of 3.30 is required to be qualified. A successful completion of the Psychological Statistics (PIA 137) course is required. Students must also have completed or enrolled in Psychological Research (PIA 245). Once in the program, Emerging Scholars must meet regularly with their research advisor and register for an independent study for one year (minimum of six credits).

Emerging Scholars receive support in project costs, attending professional conferences and other activities and materials related to their project and participation. Their research will be submitted to the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research and presented at the Adelphi Research Conference in the spring. If not, it will be submitted for presentation to a professional conference such as NCUR, APA, APS, EPA and NYSPA.

Anthony Gioletti, a senior and former Emerging Scholar, said, “I plan to go for a PhD in clinical psychology. I figured the program would help me discover whether I enjoyed research and provide some great experience for my resume. I loved the puzzle-solving and, at times, methodical work of research. It was fun to discover answers to problems I was interested in with the guidance of those more experienced.”

Senior Camila Restrepo and former Emerging Scholar said, “The Emerging Scholars program enriched my academic experience since I enjoyed answering questions and learning. I had the opportunity to explore the influence of language perceptions in a legal context. Simultaneously, we had assistance once a month from current grad students, who guided us and offered us feedback. From a constructive point of view, a united community can be created among the students who are part of the program.”

For interested psychology students, applications are due on March 10, 2024.