How to Enroll in Individual Research/Study Courses

Follow the steps below to enroll in Psychology Individual Study/Research Courses, such as PSYCH 299, 396, 398, 496, and/or 498.

  1. Refer to the Individual Research/Study Courses page or the University of Alberta Academic Calendar to ensure that you understand what will be expected of you and that you have completed the necessary prerequisites.
  2. Consult the Department of Psychology's Research Labs page and thoroughly read through the descriptions of all the labs that interest you in order to gain a clear understanding of their research areas and the current research they are conducting.
  3. Select a lab in which you would like to assist with the research being conducted and then contact the Lab Director - via email - to discuss the possibility of completing a PSYCH individual research/study course for credit. Please include the following in your correspondence:
    a) Your name and student information, including your faculty and degree program.
    b) What intrigues you about this particular lab's research.
    *NOTE - It is a good idea to select several labs when hoping to enroll, as space is limited and not always available.*
  4. Usually, a Lab coordinator will set up an appointment to meet with you and discuss your lab participation in person. Once you have the approval to be supervised in a lab, you will need to fill out the Psychology Individual Research/Study Registration Form.
What to do when your supervisor is not a Department of Psychology faculty member

As you want to enroll and receive credit in a Psychology course, you will need a Psychology Faculty member to support you - even if you would like to work under a graduate student or a faculty member from a different department (or an external supervisor). In such a case, you must seek approval to enroll in a specific individual study/research course from the external supervisor and then request the approval of a University of Alberta Department of Psychology Faculty member to  sponsor  the research. Finally, you would complete the online Psychology Individual Research/Study Registration Form appropriately, showing that you have an external supervisor and a Department of Psychology sponsor.

To request sponsorship from a faculty member with approval for supervision from a grad student or an external lab supervisor, please contact them via email and include the following information:

a) Your name and student information, including your faculty and degree program.
b) The name of the lab you have approval to participate in and the graduate student's or external lab supervisors' contact information.
c) What the research topic of the lab is, and why you are interested in researching that topic.

Once you have both approvals complete the Psychology Individual Research/Study Registration Form .