Notices

SIGN UP CLOSES SOON.

Join a small group of ambitious learners to dream up, plan, and execute your own small research project on a topic to be determined together. Receive individual support to develop your ideas and discuss research methodology, and build a supportive network with cohort peers as you discuss and present projects together.

Expected start date: 22nd July 2024 (TBC)

The course will run for 4 weeks, and will consist of approximately 5 contact hours per week, with an expectation of additional independent work (all online).

The course is expected to be intensive, and will require dedicated time and effort outside contact hours in order to fulfil the requirements of the course by the end of 4 weeks. However, you will be supported if you encounter any issues!

Who is this programme suited for?

Are you 1 to 3 years from graduating high school (completing Y13/Grade 12) and:

  • Want a supportive environment to explore your budding interest in psychology/neuroscience/behavioural sciences and develop your intellectual curiosity further?

  • Want to see if psychology is the subject for you but still end up with work and skills that will be useful for other subjects?

  • Want to develop critical thinking skills to help read and understand academic research in psychological and behavioural sciences?

  • Want to develop your own project from scratch with support and build your profile for university admissions?

You do not need prior knowledge or subject experience in psychology to join.

What You’ll Get

  • Complete a 2500-word (maximum) report detailing your review of the literature, your research, and your findings.

  • After 4 weeks of discussing and debating your research topic, you'll gain in-depth insight into your interest area and will be confident in explaining and critiquing related topics.

    (Perfect if you'll need to show off your knowledge for interviews!)

  • With weekly Journal Clubs as a cohort, you will explore selected psychological studies together and critique their findings and methodology in detail. Learn how to read academic journals, understand key theories, and spot strengths and limitations.

Programme Outcomes

  • Develop basic research design and planning skills, as well as basic statistical and coding (if necessary) knowledge for research.

  • Develop critical thinking skills to ingest and analyse academic literature and produce informed research hypotheses.

  • Develop verbal and written communication skills to present complex topics and to reflect on individual research project progress.

  • Build up knowledge of psychological science and its related disciplines to become a subject specialist.

Week Zero

Before official classes we will have a short session getting to know you and your interests. Importantly, we will discuss potential research projects (you can come with an idea in mind or none at all) and feasibility given the time frame.

Week One

You will receive introductory sessions on basic research methodology as a group, as well as individual sessions to explore your academic interest in your topic of choice. We will explore the current literature, and look at how your project proposal fits into what we know. You will begin working on formalising your research plan over the next 3 weeks.

Weekly Journal Club.

Week Two

We will work on developing testable hypotheses based on what you have read so far. You will also be given the necessary statistical knowledge to analyse your data - our projects will be quantitative in nature. You will continue to discuss your topic of interest in cohort group discussions and learn how to defend the theories you have learnt as well as your research plan.

Weekly Journal Club.

By the end of this week, you will have had a finalised Research Plan, and should have begun analysing data.

Week Three

Depending on your project, we will work to troubleshoot your data analysis and begin to write up your final report (max word count 2500 words). In our cohort group discussion, you will present to others about what you have done so far.

Weekly Journal Club.

By the end of this week, you will have finished your analysis and should be focused on finishing your written report.

Week Four

We will be working to finalise your written report, as well as prepare a short presentation to present your work to peers and a group of special guests (the content of which will be very similar to your written report but will be presented verbally online).

Weekly Journal Club.

By the end of this week, you will have a final report you can be proud of, and will have presented to your peers and other guests about your experiences!

Questions

  • You are very welcome to! If you are not sure if studying psychology is for you, this course may be even better for you. You’re allowed to explore one area in depth to see if this style of thinking and studying is for you, and if not, you’ll still leave with a set of research and literature critiquing skills that you will use for any STEM/social sciences subject, plus your own report that you can talk about in your university applications.

  • There are no expectations as to what you need to already know. If you have no idea where to start, you’ll be guided to a topic you like and explore potential options for your report together. You’ll always be guided and will have support continually available to you at all time, and by the end you might become an expert at a totally unexpected area!

  • If you have a clear idea, this will help narrow down your report topic and you will be able to explore literature in your area of interest. You’ll be guided to ask new questions and critique ideas to create a cool research question which you can write and talk about in your final report/presentation.

  • You’ll develop critical skills related to reading and understanding research, seeing research gaps, critiquing methodology and theories, as well as written and oral communication skills, basic statistical knowledge, and subject specialty in your topic. You can use this in your current lessons, as well as as preparation for university teaching style, and to help you with future academic interviews. Apart from these skills, you’ll get your own research report that you worked hard on to discuss for university applications and show off to your friends and future self!

  • Although the focus is on research skills, ultimately this course will help you become a better scientist and develop an appreciation for how research and theory interact. If you are not interested in research this will provide you with an opportunity to not just discuss ideas together, but practically test your assumptions. Even if you don’t go into academic research, many professions will benefit from some research experience e.g. market/business analyses, financial reporting, legal due diligence processes, policy making, consulting.

  • Research skills are vital for both STEM and social science fields. As physicists, chemists, or biologists including neuroscientists, once you get to the edge of what we know we will need strong critical skills to see where there are gaps in knowledge and how to learn more about the world. As social scientists, high quality empirical evidence is essential to support arguments related to economic and social decisions. No matter which area you want to pursue, knowing how to deal with data will be an important skill you will come back to in your professional and personal life (like to check if some new wonder ‘cure’ actually has good quality research support!).

Register your interest

If you are interested or want to learn more, fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. Due to time constraints and our desire for each cohort to be a small collaborative group, places are limited - we therefore recommend you register as soon as you can.

After submitting the form, we will get back to you in 1-2 days to confirm your place.

We can't wait to hear from you!