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Psychological Sciences

Psychological Sciences
  2. Research
  3. Centers
  4. Training Grants

Training Grants

Graduate and postdoctoral training in Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt is significantly enhanced by a number of training grants.

  • Experimental Education Research Training (ExpERT) program features an integrated sequence of graduate courses in statistics, measurement and design, along with courses in educational practices, context and learning. It offers extensive field research experience with world-class faculty, summer workshops, monthly interdisciplinary lectures and colloquia, teaching experiences, internships and conference attendance. Students will acquire expertise in planning, executing and analyzing high-quality randomized field trials of educational strategies (e.g., programs, interventions, policies) firmly grounded in theoretical frameworks and supported by empirical evidence. The ultimate goal is to develop a new generation of education scientists who are both committed and well equipped to lead the way in education research.
  • Developmental Psychopathology research training program trains research scientists studying the development, life course, and prevention of abnormal behavior. Its goals are to (a) prepare trainees to become leading research scientists in the interdisciplinary fields of developmental psychopathology and prevention science; (b) provide a national forum for the maturation and evolution of these fields; and (c) enhance the quality of research being conducted in these fields. Faculty and trainee research has focused on internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders; disorders of cognition and learning; basic emotional, cognitive, and biological processes; and prevention and treatment.
  • The Vision Training Grant aims to train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to understand the mechanisms of vision through physiological and anatomical investigations. A central mission of the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center (VVRC) is to provide pre and postdoctoral training centered on perception and system level research for the next generation of vision scientists. Trainees attend a weekly vision seminar series (Vanderbilt Visionaries) and are required to enroll in a semester-long course, The Visual System. The Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, funded by a core grant from the National Eye Institute, also provides predoctoral and postdoctoral students with resources relevant to their training.
  • The Developmental Disabilities Research and Training Program focuses on support for predoctoral and postdoctoral students interested in pursuing research in mental retardation or atypical development. The program is closely associated with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, one of 14 NICHD-funded national mental retardation/developmental disabilities research centers. Fellows work closely with one or more faculty members and receive training in a broad range of areas, including language and communication, behavior disorders, learning, autism spectrum disorders, emotion, and cognitive and social development.