Connected Science Community Psychology PhD Program

A new kind of PhD training

Conduct groundbreaking Psychology research and develop skills that open a vast set of future careers with the support of a cross-College PhD Community!

The Connected Science Community Psychology PhD Program prepares students to become experts in research and teaching in psychology by offering a research-intensive curriculum and environment within a supportive community of faculty and students.

Students are apprentices in faculty laboratories and work closely with their faculty mentors throughout their time in the program. Research areas include behavioral neuroscience, cognition/cognitive neuroscience, perception, and social/personality—with crosscutting themes in health, affective science, and life span development.

You will be joining a graduate program that is committed to cultivating a culture of respect and collaboration where the contribution of each person is valued.

Participate in groundbreaking psychology research

Psychology
Developmental Neuropsychobiology Laboratory
Dr. Brenhouse’s lab studies the dynamic interaction between the brain, the body, and the environment throughout early life and adolescent development. Using animal models with genetic, behavioral, and pharmacological manipulation, her laboratory investigates why later manifestation of mental illn..
Psychology
Aggression Lab
Dr. Melloni studies the neurobiology of aggressive behavior. The main goal of this research is to understand how drug use and exposure to social stress during adolescence alter brain development and influence aggressive behavior.
Psychology
Laboratory of Neuroanatomy and Behavior
Stress-related mental illnesses like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are twice as common in women, but relevant pre-clinical research on the mechanisms of stress and fear has primarily been conducted in male animals. Our work explores the relationships betw..
Psychology
Neurotransmission and Brain Plasticity Lab
The Neurotransmission and Brain Plasticity Lab studies how exposure to cocaine (and other psychostimulants including methamphetamine) during pregnancy affects neuronal interactions in the fetus throughout development.
Psychology
Language and Mind Lab
The Language & Mind Lab studies how the mind works and how we (laypeople) think it does, concentrating on the concept of innate knowledge.
Psychology
Conceptual Organization, Reasoning, and Education Laboratory (CORE Lab)
The CORE lab seeks to answer questions about basic cognitive processes like conceptual organization, reasoning, and conceptual development.
Psychology
CESAR Lab
The CESAR lab works on the computational modeling of human behavior, both as a basic research method in the study of human behavior as well as the use of these computational models in a range of education and analysis applications.
Psychology
Whitfield-Gabrieli Lab
Professor Whitfield-Gabrieli’s primary mission is to understand the brain basis of psychiatric disorders and to promote translation of this knowledge into clinical practice.
Psychology
Translational Vision Lab
The Translational Vision Lab uses cross-disciplinary approaches to study basic and clinical vision science. Their basic visual neuroscience research aims to extend models of sensory processing from laboratory settings to real world conditions.
Psychology
Social Emotions Lab
Dr. DeSteno’s research focuses on the role of emotion in social cognition and behavior.
Psychology
Lifespan Emotional Development Lab (LEDlab)
The Lifespan Emotional Development Lab (LEDlab) investigates the links between attention and emotion throughout the adult lifespan.
Psychology
Vision Lab
The Vision Laboratory employs psychophysical and computational methods to better understand visual perception.
Psychology
Neuroanatomy and Behavior Lab
Our work explores the relationships between neural structure and function when both males and females experience aversive events, using behavioral and neuroanatomical techniques to identify sex-specific mechanisms of stress-induced plasticity.
Psychology
Computational Vision Lab
The Computational Vision Laboratory conducts psychophysical and computational modeling studies of many aspects of visual perception.
Psychology
Affective and Brain Sciences Lab
Research in his lab focuses on two main areas. The first area examines the neural basis of affect including pleasure and pain, emotion (e.g. fear), and interactions between affect/emotion with cognition. The second area examines large-scale computational architectures of the brain with the goa..
Psychology
The CTNI
Work at the CTNI is focused on four major areas 1) Alzheimer’s disease, 2) Parkinson’s disease 3) repetitive mild traumatic brain injury, and 4) opioid addiction. Preclinical animal models for each of these problems in human health are studied using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging to fo..
Psychology
Denise Jackson's Lab
The primary focus of Dr. Jackson’s research is on how exposure to cocaine (and other psychostimulants including methamphetamine) during pregnancy affects neuronal interactions in the fetus throughout development. We utilize neurochemical and behavioral strategies to assess alterations in brain ar..
Psychology
Center for Cognitive and Brain Health
The Center investigates the effects of lifestyle choices and health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet) and their physiological sequelae (e.g., fitness, adiposity) on brain and cognition. From a neuroimaging perspective, the researchers’ interests lie in understanding how health influences ..
Psychology
Center for Translational NeuroImaging
The Center for Translational NeuroImaging (CTNI) brings to the Northeastern campus state-of-the-art technology and expertise in the area of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with the purpose of understanding the central nervous system in health and disease. High-field MRI offers the potential to vis..
Psychology
Learning and Brain Development Lab
How do we use information we have learned? Does the way people learn and apply knowledge change across development? In the Learning and Brain Development lab, we investigate the development of brain systems for different ways of learning during adolescence, and the impact of learning on memory, dec..
Psychology
Plasticity in Neurodevelopment Lab
The Plasticity in Neurodevelopment (PINE) Lab explores how different environments and neuroplasticity interact to shape brain and behavior development. We are interested in how typical environment-neuroplasticity interactions support healthy development, as well as how adverse environments or atypi..
Psychology
The Kwon Lab for Low Vision and Brain Research
Welcome to the Kwon Lab for Low Vision and Brain research! Our lab is based in the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University. The central theme of research in our lab is to understand how people with visual impairment see and recognize the world around them. To this end, we study how the ..
Psychology
Subjectivity Lab
Our work focuses on understanding the subjective point of view of the mind: How we perceive the world around us, how the brain creates conscious experiences, and how introspection opens a window into our own minds. With an interdisciplinary approach that integrates tools from psychology, neuroscien..
Psychology
Language Acquisition and Brain Laboratory
The Language Acquisition and Brain Lab (QLAB), directed by Dr. Zhenghan Qi, is dedicated to studying the brain organization of language development. We use a variety of behavioral and neuroimaging techniques such as eye-tracking, EEG, and MRI. We investigate how the neural organization for language..
Psychology
Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory
This laboratory studies emotions what they are, and how they work. Their research uses experiential, behavioral, psychophysiological, and brain-imaging techniques. The IASL is located at Northeastern University, with a secondary site at Mass General Hospital.
Psychology
Brain Game Center for Mental Fitness and Well-being
Led by Dr. Aaron Seitz, our lab strive to improve your brain’s fitness. We research, test, and disseminate evidence-based, scientifically optimized brain fitness games that assist you in real life with memory, vision, hearing, learning, and more. We have a track record of making our tested proced..
Psychology
Working Memory & Plasticity Lab
Led by Dr. Susanne Jaeggi, our lab's mission lies in the development of working memory interventions with the aim that participants not only improve their working memory skills, but also general skills that go beyond the trained domain. By means of behavioral and neuroimaging methods, we seek ..
Psychology
Belonging and Social Identities Lab
The Belonging and Social Identities Lab (BASIL) seeks to: 1) produce high quality, impactful, reproducible research that advances understanding on the topics of identity, self-concept, discrimination, and health for understudied populations, particularly people who hold two identities simultaneousl..
Psychology
Sustainability and Social Change Lab
The Sustainability and Social Change Lab focuses on interdisciplinary research topics including social and environmental policy and decision-making, understanding the interplay between individual, institutional and ecological factors on perceptions, policy preferences and resilience to extreme even..
Psychology
Reid Lab
Led by Dr. Brie Reid, PhD, we study how climate stress, environmental stressors, water insecurity, metal exposures, climate-change induced food insecurity can impact human development through prenatal/postnatal stress physiology and nutrient mechanisms.
Psychology
Psychology of Misinformation Lab
Led by Briony Swire-Thompson, the Psychology of Misinformation Lab studies why people believe in misinformation, why people share misinformation online, and how corrections can be designed to foster belief change.

How the Connected Science Community Psychology PhD program works

Upon joining the Psychology PhD program, you will also join a Connected Science Community of PhD students across the College of Science. During the summer before your first year, you will participate in workshops to develop key skills, explore and utilize university resources, and learn about potential post-PhD careers.

During Fall semester of your first year, you will begin coursework and continue research in your department. Throughout your first year and beyond, you will continue your research while sustaining your Connected Science Community through seminars, workshops, and social activities.

In this unique PhD training program, you’ll:

– join a Community of PhD students across all College of Science departments, who learn from each other, collaborate, and draw on one other’s experience;

– develop Career and Core Skills and inside knowledge of the outstanding career opportunities open to our PhD graduates;

– explore Cross-Disciplinary Research to help you solve pressing research challenges; and

– gain external Work Experience – an integral part of your professional training, with many opportunities.

A Culture of Respect

In the Northeastern University College of Science, we embrace a culture of respect and inclusion, where each person is valued and empowered with equitable opportunities and access to resources. We commit to implementing initiatives that dismantle systemic oppression and build a diverse community.

Learn more

Additional information

Is the program funded?

For the duration of their program, students receive full tuition scholarship, a graduate assistant position with stipend, and health insurance.

When is the application deadline?

The deadline to apply is December 1.

What are the program requirements?

Bachelor’s Degree Entrance
Complete all courses and requirements listed here unless otherwise indicated.

Milestones

  • First-year paper
  • Master’s proposal
  • Master’s paper
  • Master’s presentation
  • Annual Review
  • Dissertation committee
  • Dissertation proposal
  • Dissertation
  • Dissertation defense
  • At least two assigned courses as teaching assistant

Program Credit/GPA Requirements

  • 50 total semester hours required
  • Minimum 3.000 GPA required

Want to learn more about the Connected Science Community Psychology PhD program? Fill out the form below and a team member will be in touch.

Your career starts here. Apply today.