Join the Lab

If you are not currently an ASU student, please know that we often receive more requests to join the lab than we can accommodate, and we may not be able to respond to all inquiries. It is also very difficult to guarantee any information about funding support for prospective students before the time applications are due. If you are interested in applying to ASU and think our research aligns with your interests and career goals, please indicate this in your application materials. You do not need to share your CV or other information with us in advance of applying, because these materials will not be reviewed outside of the formal application process. Please know that whether or not you are able to get in touch with us before submitting your application materials will have no bearing on your acceptance into the graduate program. This is in part to ensure that all applicants will be reviewed as fairly as possible.

If you are not an ASU student, we are not currently taking research volunteers during the school year. We may consider local research volunteers who are not ASU students during the summer. However, the minimum expected commitment for all volunteers would be three hours per week on average for a three-month period. The idea is that any time commitment less than this is unlikely to result in a meaningful research experience, based on the type of work we do in our lab.

• We frequently receive cold-emails from current ASU students who hope to gain some research experience working with us. First of all, we are very glad for the interest in doing research with our lab. While we try our best to respond to every inquiry from current students, depending on the time of year and how busy email traffic is, we may not be able to respond to every one. However, we do notice the emails that seem to have put more thought into what they are asking for. To increase your chances of receiving a positive response, it would be wise to invest some time on this initial inquiry, beyond writing an email that sounds like it could have been sent to any other research lab with some key words swapped out.
• Additional tips for cold-emailing: Most unsuccessful emails will provide a generic summary of their background and include a vague inquiry about opportunities to join our lab. While it helps to introduce yourself, it would be even better if you also had an idea for a specific project, could clarify the type of relationship you’re seeking (e.g., paid position, volunteer, thesis, independent study, etc.), could provide a general time frame by when you hope to complete your project, and clarify what sort of input you’re looking for (tell us what have you tried or thought about already, and what do you need help with). For more information about available opportunities for current students and how to approach us, please visit this webpage: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wa3roTMqNZ-vjRt9LAmzRjzaomoKnBXsmIYfnca9prY/edit?usp=sharing
• Although not always possible, it is recommended to take at least one of Dr. Chiou’s courses (HSE 424/525, 425/525, or 531) before reaching out about research opportunities. This should help you gain some understanding of Dr. Chiou’s philosophy, mentorship style, and the lab’s approach to research, to help you decide if this is the right lab for you.

• If you are a current ASU undergraduate student, there may be multiple ways to get involved with the lab, whether you are interested in doing a FURI project, a Barrett honors thesis, or simply want to gain some research experience as a volunteer. When first reaching out, it is helpful to specify how you’re hoping to get involved, how much time you’re able to commit, and what project idea you have that you would like to work on. Outside of the FURI program, paid research positions for undergraduate students are extremely rare in our lab
• It is always helpful to come prepared with a research project idea of your own that is related to what we do. If you’re short on research project ideas, a good place to start is to read research papers in an area that interests you. There aren’t many shortcuts to doing high-quality, interesting research. Interacting with LLMs like ChatGPT might be helpful with surfacing some ideas or related references, and communicating a research idea succinctly, but ultimately you still need to be able to understand and get across what is important and interesting to you.

• The lab typically adds 2-3 graduate students (dissertation or thesis option) each year. Students come from around the world with different educational backgrounds including psychology, engineering, computer science, healthcare, and business.
• Most lab members will already have some experience designing human subjects studies and working with human subjects data, whether as part of a previous professional role, or from their educational background.
• We frequently collaborate with different labs and students in other degree programs at ASU through sponsored research projects. It is also possible to collaborate on a project by enrolling in independent study or research credits to work towards a paper publication together.
• M.S. students who have a research idea they would like to work on could consider applying to the MORE program, when available. Similar to undergraduate research, paid positions for M.S. students outside of the MORE program are rare. It is a good idea to check ASU’s student jobs website for any funded positions that become available.