social sciences

Research Assistant in Accent/Dialect Study

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Opportunity Description

Are you interested in accents or phonetics? Are you great with computers or music theory? This position involves assisting with research into the intonation patterns of various accents, specifically finding pitch relationships in particular speech utterances. There is also an opportunity to attend regular meetings with a faculty mentor and discuss relevant literature and research experiences in order to foster your education in the field.

This opportunity can be taken for course credit, or as a Work Study position (only for students with a federal Work-Study award), and runs in Spring Semester 2019. Students earning course credit can negotiate weekly hours (3 hours for 1 credit, 6 hours for 2 credits, 9 hours for 3 credits). Work-study students work 8-10 hours per week.

The role includes:
* Helping to recruit volunteer speakers of specific accents and request accent samples
* Assisting with recording sound samples from on-campus volunteers
* Orthographic (not phonetic) transcription of spoken samples from sound files
* Analyzing sound samples for fundamental frequency and musical interval relationships using appropriate software (e.g. Adobe Audition). Take screenshots and annotate with appropriate information. Record and organize this data.
* Assist in gathering and organizing related literature for review
* Read and summarize related literature
* Undergo online CITI Program Training Course (if required by IRB). This is online and takes less than 2 hours.
* Perform miscellaneous duties as directed

Student Qualifications
Skills/Qualifications required:
* Have excellent computer skills
* Have excellent communication skills
* Have great organizational skills and motivation

Preferred qualifications:
* Experience/education in any or all of phonetics, accents, linguistics, speech, music, sound engineering, computer science.

How to Apply
Please email your application to jennifer.scapetis@uconn.edu and include:
* Cover Letter (please write about why you would be good at the job and why it interests you)
* Resume
* References (Email or telephone numbers)

Looking to fill this position ASAP. Open until filled.

Mentor: Jennifer Scapetis-Tycer, Assistant Professor
Department: Drama
Email: jennifer.scapetis@uconn.edu
Timing: Spring 2019
Campus: Storrs

Research Assistant in Neurobiology of Language (Psychology)

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Opportunity Description

We are seeking motivated, fluid undergraduate research assistants to assist in data collection for an MRI brain study of parent-offspring similarities in language, reading, and math. Gain valuable experience and methodological skills while helping to understand how language is processed in the brain. Research assistants should commit to 6-9 hrs/week (2-3 PSYC 3889 credits) for Fall 2018-Spring 2019.

Student Qualifications
Required qualifications:
– Reliable
– Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
– Availability to assist in weekend data collection

Preferred qualifications:
– Experience working with children age 8-11

How to Apply
Email roeland.hancock@uconn.edu with a CV/resume. Include any relevant coursework, skills or experience, and a short statement of why the position interests you.

Mentor: Roeland Hancock, Assistant Professor
Department: Psychological Sciences
Email: roeland.hancock@uconn.edu
Timing: Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Campus: Storrs

• Research Assistant in Experimental Anthropology Lab

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Opportunity Description

We have a summer opportunity for students to be research assistants in the project Dynamics of fan’s experience during games.
The task includes editing videos and coding research material.
It will be developed in our lab at Storrs campus.
This unpaid opportunity is ideal for students that have time during the summer from May to August. The desired working time is part time during week days, but it is flexible and can be discussed.
There is a chance the student can extend his/her involvement and become a research assistant for the fall, being registered in a course and getting credits for dedication in the research project.

Student Qualifications
Previous Knowledge and experience in editing videos in iMovies and QuickTime software are required (other editing and viewing programs might be considered).
Excel experience.

How to Apply
The students interested should email us (xygalatas@uconn.edu) until May 15, 2017, listing:
1) previous experience in editing videos, including for personal reasons, and the programs used,
2) previous experience in coding videos, programs used,
3) previous experience in research,
4) availability to dedicate to this project from May-August 2017, and
5) why he/she is interested in this particular project.

Mentor: Dimitris Xygalatas, Professor
Department: Anthropology
Email: xygalatas@uconn.edu
Timing: Ongoing
Campus: Storrs

• Research Assistant for Education/Psychology Students

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Opportunity Description
Dr. Kearns’s work focuses on word reading difficulties in children in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. He studies the basic processes involved in word reading in children (links to cognitive and developmental psychology) and designs interventions to improve reading outcomes in these struggling readers. Work in his lab involves two kinds of tasks:
1) Work in schools with children, either testing them (links to school psychology) or delivering instruction to struggling readers (links to special education).
2) Work on campus to enter data and validate its accuracy (links to most social science research).

It is an expectation that students will work at least 10 hours per week. All students work as volunteers for one semester, and opportunities to conduct funded research are possible if the first semester is successful. Dr. Kearns was previously an assistant professor at Boston University. You can contact Michael Li (milkeli@bu.edu) if you would like to learn about Dr. Kearns, his lab, and his previous work mentoring undergraduates.

Student Qualifications
Qualified candidates will be willing and able to do both kinds of work. Important qualifications include these:
* Organizational skills
* Problem-solving skills and the ability to figure out complex tasks
* Flexibility
* Consistency and punctuality
* Hard work.
Other research skills are not required; most skills will be taught on the job.

How to Apply
Applicants should write to Dr. Kearns directly (devin.kearns@uconn.edu). Include your resume and your schedule for Fall 2014 in your inquiry. Review of applications is ongoing. Interviews may be scheduled via Skype as early as August 1, 2014. We look forward to hearing from you!

Mentor: Devin Kearns, Assistant Professor of Special Education
Department: Educational Psychology
Email: devin.kearns@uconn.edu
Timing: Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Summer 2015, Ongoing
Campus: Storrs

• Call for Proposals: Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Research Experience (SHARE) Awards

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The Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Research Experience (SHARE) Award is a research apprenticeship program designed especially for students in the earlier stages of their college careers. A SHARE project serves as an introduction to research in a chosen field and helps students develop the skills they will need for further research projects. SHARE awardees spend 10 hours per week during the Spring semester working on a faculty project.

SHARE provides faculty members with eager assistants for their projects, allowing faculty members to focus on their own research interests while introducing future researchers to the realities of research in their discipline. Examples of SHARE apprentice duties include, but are not limited to, performing library research, assisting with experiments, coding and/or analyzing data, and conducting and/or transcribing interviews.

Funding: During the spring semester, student apprentices will receive a $1,500 stipend (paid out as an hourly wage) and faculty mentors will receive a $500 professional development stipend.

SHARE Teams: SHARE teams consist of a faculty mentor and a student apprentice who apply jointly for the program.  Faculty members are encouraged to recruit student apprentices to work with them on a potential SHARE project, and students interested in the program may also approach faculty members to express their interest in a potential project.

Deadline: SHARE Applications (both the Faculty and Student applications) must be submitted by 4:00 pm on October 28, 2013. Additional program details and a link to the Faculty and Student Applications are available online at: http://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/share/.