Mentored Research

What kind of mentorship model do we use?

We follow a model where students are admitted to work with an individual faculty member as their primary mentor. (Of course, students sometimes switch mentors due to things like changing interests, but this is not very common). Thus, it is important to indicate in your application materials the individual faculty with whom you might like to work.

Note, we do not have a “dual-mentorship” program officially, nor a “lab rotation” program; however, individual faculty allow students to collaborate with other faculty and sometimes in the summers graduate students will work with other faculty as well.

A Research-rich Environment

Students in Penn State’s Biobehavioral Health graduate program have a truly unique opportunity to work with world-renowned researchers and faculty members in a highly active research environment, helping conduct groundbreaking research. Depending on their interests and mentor, BBH graduate students gain firsthand experience working with participants and/or laboratory animals, collecting data, conducting data analyses, publishing papers, and presenting findings at academic conferences.

In keeping with our innovative and interdisciplinary mission in Biobehavioral Health, the research possibilities here are extensive and diverse, spanning domains such as behavioral neuroscience, behavioral endocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology, genetics, behavioral pharmacology, health promotion, health psychology, epidemiology, health and vulnerable populations, social psychology, socio-ethical dynamics, cognition — and much more.

Can I talk with specific faculty?

Yes. Feel free to reach out to specific faculty in whose work you may be particularly interested. We will have a formal interview day, but you can express interest to specific faculty and ask them specific questions you may have. The interests of our research faculty (who may be accepting graduate students at any given time) can be viewed here.