The Department of Psychology has unique courses available that allow students to delve deeply into specific content areas with approved supervision by a faculty member. These courses are approximately 120 learning hours over a 12-week semester, averaging between 8-10 hours/week. There are two types of these courses:
PSYC 299/3.0, 570/3.0, and PSYC 575/3.0 are research lab courses intended to be used by students who wish to do an in-depth study of an area in psychology for which there is no formal course. Students can take PSYC299 as early as 2nd year in the degree plan, once PSYC100 is completed. For PSYC570 and PSYC575, typically students will have completed PSYC203 prior to completing this course, though this is at the discretion of the research supervisor.
PSYC 550/3.0 and PSYC 555/3.0 are reading courses intended to be used by students who wish to do an in-depth study of an area in psychology for which there is no formal course.
To request permission for supervision, please email the faculty member with whom you would like to work, and introduce yourself. Share your background and interests, and ask whether they would be willing to supervise you in research. These opportunities are rare, and depend on both faculty availability and space within a research lab. That said, if you are looking for research opportunities, you are encouraged to reach out! If your intended supervisor is not able to supervise you, please consider reaching out to a different potential supervisor.
If permission is granted, paperwork needs to be submitted to the Undergraduate Office. This paperwork is completed between a student and the supervisor, and explicitly reviews evaluation criteria.
Working with the same supervisor
Students are encouraged to work in different labs during their undergraduate studies for breadth鈥攖his can be helpful both for experience, and building professional relationships with professors who may be able to write letters of reference. A student may not complete any special directed lab or reading course and the PSYC 501/9.0 Honours Thesis course concurrently with the same supervisor. Students are limited to a total of 2 courses from PSYC 550/3.0, PSYC 555/3.0, PSYC 570/3.0, or PSYC 575/3.0. Students can take a maximum of 3 of 299/550/555/570/575/501 with the same supervisor. Please see below links for the Special Directed Courses Forms.
PSYC 299/570/575 Special Directed Lab Courses Form (MS Word Doc, 94 KB)
PSYC 550/555 Special Directed Reading Courses PDF Form (MS Word Doc, 86 KB)