ISU Department of Psychology faculty receive competitive grants, provide opportunities for students

“These grants are crucial in providing outstanding research opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate students,” said Michele Brumley, department chair.

Psychology professors are working on projects funded by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the National Science Foundation on such topics as food insecurity, personality traits and sleep physiology. 

The opportunities provided for psychology students through these grants are unmatched, Brumley said. There are currently 37 undergraduate students and 36 graduate students working alongside ISU faculty members in hands-on educational research projects. 

“This kind of hands-on education experience with conducting science in the lab, and not only doing class projects, is pivotal in helping undergraduate psychology majors get into graduate school,” Brumley said. “It also is essential in helping our graduate students be competitive for the job market after graduation.”

The grants give students the chance to be involved in research on personality, sleep physiology, substance use, psychotherapy, stigma, religiosity, obesity, impulsiveness, neuroscience, epigenetics, spinal cord development and motor behavior.

The grants received by faculty not only provide learning opportunities for students, but help faculty members in the research-focused department continue to be award-winning professors. In the past six years, three psychology professors have been awarded the Distinguished Researcher award. 

“Our faculty members are well-known leaders in their fields,” Brumley said. “They are conducting state-of-the-art and world-class research and helping train future psychologists.”