Undergraduate Students

Research assistantship is a key aspect of building a strong research foundation during one’s undergraduate years and is a great way to get hands-on experience in the field. We are always looking forward to hearing from enthusiastic students who are passionate about psychological wellbeing, research on health outcomes of older adults, and other related areas of research!

Undergraduate research assistants are expected to commit a minimum of 6 hours per week to our lab and preferably more.

At the Psychosocial Flourishing Lab, research assistants participate in a variety of activities, including but not limited to:

• Conducting literature searches
• Attending meetings with fellow lab members, graduate students, and Dr. Kim
• Helping prepare, and personally present research at conferences
• Helping prepare, edit, and format manuscripts for publication
• Assisting in applied and translational projects, such as work with United Way and IDEO.

Research assistants at the Psychosocial Flourishing Lab receive specialized, meaningful mentoring from Dr. Kim and the graduate student team. Mentorship at our lab looks like:

• Weekly to monthly mentorship meetings with Dr. Kim and the graduate team
• Receiving help with personal statements
• Obtaining strong letters of recommendations (assuming strong and reliable performance over time)
• Regular career-development exercises
• Academic workshops and topical seminars held in-lab
• Opportunities to lead projects (see below for Honours or Directed Studies projects)
• Guidance and nomination for student research awards (e.g. Arts Undergraduate Research Award)
• Networking opportunities with collaborators and leaders in the field

Basic Qualifications:

• Exceptional attention to detail
• A genuine and deep-rooted desire to help others
• Undergraduate student enrolled at the University of British Columbia
• Ability to learn quickly
• Excellent ability to work both independently (self-directed problem–solver) and collaboratively in a fast-paced and collegial research environment
• Excellent communication-, interpersonal-, and organizational-skills
• Familiarity with online research tools and search databases (e.g., PsycInfo, PubMed, Google Scholar)
• Have a strong quantitative background (or desire to learn)

Additional Preferred Qualifications:

• At least one-year of related experience (this does not apply to 1st year students and not as much to 2nd years students either)
• Interest in health psychology/the interface between psychological factors and physical health, as well as aging

If you are interested in joining the lab as a research assistant, please send a cover letter (that includes a brief equity, diversity, and inclusion statement), an academic CV or resume, an unofficial transcript (SSC screenshot is acceptable), and a completed <application form as one pdf to eric.kim@psych.ubc.ca.

Honours or Directed Studies Students

As an advanced research student, you will conduct an independent research project, receive specialized mentoring and guidance as you learn statistical methods specific to our research, and thoroughly learn the entire process of research – from conceptualization to publication.

In our lab, we typically offer the opportunity to pursue a Directed Studies or Honours Thesis project to students who have worked in our lab for at least one semester. However, if you are a student with previous research experience and an interest in our research goals, please feel free to reach out.

Please contact us at eric.kim@psych.ubc.ca if you are interested! When sending your résumé, please describe a few of the hardest problems you solved and exactly how you solved them. In this email, please also include: a brief description of your research interests, a cover letter (that includes a brief equity, diversity, and inclusion statement), CV/resume with the names and contact information for two references, an unofficial transcript (SSC screenshot is acceptable), a sample of your academic writing (such as a class research paper), and a completed application form in one pdf.

• UBC BA Psychology Honours Program
• UBC Student Research Opportunities