**Thank you for your interest! Unfortunately, we are not planning on hosting our own internship program for Summer 2019. If you are interested in our research topics, we suggest that you look into the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) through the Curry School of Education at UVA. Some of our graduate students plan to mentor interns from SURP. For details, please click here and find Dr. Lillard and Dr. Jirout's names.**
This internship experience has been designed to provide exceptional undergraduate students an opportunity to gain experience conducting psychological research in a child development lab. Students do not need to have previous research experience to be competitive applicants; in fact, students from liberal arts colleges and smaller universities are strongly encouraged to apply.
The Early Development Lab is a research lab in the psychology department at the University of Virginia led by Dr. Angeline Lillard, a leading expert in pretend play and theory of mind research. Generally, our research focuses on the cognitive development of children from about 2 to 8 years of age. Our lab is interested in how children interact with pretend, fantasy, imagination, and media, and how this interaction influences their cognitive and social development.
The program is open to rising juniors and seniors. Successful applicants typically have at least a 3.3 GPA in psychology, and have completed or are currently taking courses in developmental psychology, statistics, and research methods.
What to Expect
The Early Development Lab Summer Internship is built upon a mentorship model, with each intern being paired with one graduate student mentor in the lab. Graduate student mentors and interns will work closely on at least one ongoing study. Moreover, interns will have the opportunity to be involved in several steps of the research process, including study design, participant recruitment, and data analysis. Interns will also attend weekly lab meetings, journal article clubs, and a series of professional development talks, such as navigating the graduate school admission process.
