Vacancies
Lab culture
Recently, I was involved in a collaborative effort to create a list of '10 simple rules' for creating a supportive lab environment. I endeavour to follow these rules in my role as a PI. You can find the Authors' Accepted Manuscript of this paper here.
Research Assistant (RA)
I currently have no funding for RAs, and do not believe that it is equitable to offer research assistantships that are unfunded or honorary, because I believe this contributes to some of the inequalities in academia. I am, however, always keen to listen to ideas for obtaining funding for RAs, and it might be worth noting schemes such as the BAP summer research internship scheme.
PhD
I am already supporting candidates who are submitting applications to begin in autumn 2027. If you are interested in starting your PhD in the lab from Autumn 2028 onwards, please email me!. In particular, I'm looking for students who are a) enthusiastic about mental health research, and b) excited to explore new cognitive neuroscience techniques (Note: coding experience isn't necessary!).
PhD funding
To embark on a PhD most students need external funding (and, indeed, I would always recommend obtaining some). I have no funded positions at the moment, but there are plenty of options listed on the York Psychology Department funding webpage. I'm always happy to talk through funding options with potential students.
Application process
Please check the York Psychology Department funding webpage for the most up-to-date information and deadlines. Here is some information about how the process works at York if you want to be supervised by me:- First, it would be great if you could send me some details of your interests and your research experience. This doesn’t need to be a formal CV, but can be a list of experiences and the corresponding skills you’ve learnt. This might include any research projects you’ve done, the courses you took as an undergraduate/MSc student, and any work experience you have. I recognise that not every undergraduate course offers research experience - so if that’s the case, please just say so, and highlight experiences you have had that use similar skills (such as report-writing, coding, teamwork, time management, data management).
- If there’s a good fit between our interests, we have a zoom meeting and discuss potential project options.
- If we decide to proceed, we together identify a second supervisor with complementary expertise (all PhD students at the University of York have two supervisors).
- You prepare a draft research proposal (by the middle of November).
- We work together to refine the proposal, normally by end of November/early December.
- York requires candidates to be offered a place by the department before they can be entered into any funding competitions. To do this, you need to have passed an interview with other members of staff in the Department by mid December (at the latest).
- Depending on which funding stream you are applying for, you complete the relevant online forms by the deadline, which is typically in December or January. Some more details on funding streams are listed on the York Psychology Department funding webpage but I can also talk the options through with you on zoom. Note that if you’re applying for the departmental studentships you are typically required to also apply for the White Rose DTP scheme. It's also worth noting that relatively few of the options include funding for international students, other than the China Scholarships Council studentships and the ESRC White Rose DTP studentships.
- Applicants are often then interviewed in February (for the departmental studentships), with outcomes available in March. Again, note that if you get a WRDTP award you must accept that in preference to the departmental studentships (this just means that the department can support more PhD students!).
Postdoc
I currently have no funding for postdocs. I would be very happy to support a postdoctoral fellowship application for individuals wishing to be part of the lab - please email me!