The lab is looking for students who are curious about the relationship between the human brain and cognition and, in particular, motivated to study this relationship through the lens of memory in healthy and aging/clinical populations. We study questions in this research domain using diverse methods, including computational modeling, machine learning, online/laboratory behavioral experiments, intracranial/scalp EEG, eye-tracking, neuroimaging, and brain stimulation. If your conceptual and methodological interests fit within this area, please apply!

Also, we make no difference in considering international or domestic applicants in terms of research training and funding package. We strongly encourage students of different backgrounds to apply as long as your research interests align with ours. For international applicants, we support your visa process if an offer is given.

The goal of graduate training is to prepare one with a critical mind, sufficient content-area knowledge, a solid research program, and sophisticated analytical skills to pursue a future career in science, education, policy, or industry.

To achieve this goal, the lab provides conceptual, methodological, and financial support for your graduate study. This includes regular meetings to develop research ideas, scientific and grant writing training, conference presentation and financial support, career development support, and hands-on training in advanced methods (e.g., computational modeling, statistics, programming, behavioral experiments, electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and brain stimulation). The lab also offers abundant opportunities for graduate research with partnership programs at the NIH and local hospitals. Furthermore, to hone your skills in academic or nonacademic settings, graduate students will be supported to mentor undergraduates and junior research staff.

There are many factors to consider when you pick a place for graduate school. If your interests align well with that of the ICON lab, we strongly encourage you to apply. We believe our training and resources in the DMV area may provide you with the necessary support for your academic success in Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience.

However, like most places, we find no magic in our recipe of science: it requires time and effort, and sometimes a little bit of luck. The progress of science depends on our collective time, effort, and luck. The ICON lab, therefore, believes that research is a community effort, and encourages students to consider multiple options along with the ICON lab.

It’s not easy to definite “fit,” as we believe everyone has abundant potentials. In general, we find students with the following characteristics tend to benefit most from graduate training (ranked by importance):

• Intellectually curious, with a passion for learning and an enthusiasm for research (some describes it as “fire in the gut.”)

• Enjoy writing and sharing your stories.

• Prior research experience (in any field), demonstrated through either the completion of an independent research project during undergraduate (e.g., honor thesis) or via post-bac training with some contributions to a research outcome (e.g., conference poster or publication).

• Experience with statistical analysis of behavioral and/or neural data, and some prior experiences in Matlab, R, or Python.