Are you a prospective graduate student?

The Fiez lab might be a good match if the following are true.

1. You are interested in understanding the mind in terms of the brain.

2. You are highly self-motivated and you have a track-record that demonstrates your aptitude for scientific research.

3. You enjoy the challenge of working independently to solve a problem but you also know when and how to seek help from others.

4. You would like to learn one of the following research methodologies: functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, or human neuropsychology.

5. You are interested in completing a graduate training program in Cognitive Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, or Communication Sciences and Disorders; you may also be interested in an affiliation with the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition

6. Your research interests overlap with ours. You should be interested in one or more of the following.

a. language and reading: basic mechanisms, individual differences, and/or cultural influences

b. verbal working memory: the substructure of inner speech, role of executive control, shared processes across language tasks

c. mathematical cognition and/or math education: core representations & mechanisms that support expertise

d. human learning systems: basic mechanisms, interactions between systems, practical implications

What is the Fiez Lab like?

My lab group is relatively large (~ 12-18 individuals at any one time). I place a premium on finding individuals who can work independently, but who are comfortable giving and taking help from others. I also like to support a diverse environment. The individuals in my lab are at different stages of training (undergraduate students, research assistants, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows) and they come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and training programs (cognitive psychology, neuroscience, clinical psychology, communication sciences, philosophy). Most, but not all, of my graduate students complete a certification in Cognitive Neuroscience offered by the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, in addition to completing the requirments of their core Ph.D. training program.

Training Philosophy

My training philosophy is based upon an apprenticeship model. With my beginning graduate students I provide relatively well-defined projects and close supervision. However, even at this early stage I establish expectations for independent discovery and learning, along with a respect for the value of each individual as a contributor to the lab. I see myself as a mentor, not a taskmaster: each student has the final responsibility for his or her own professional development. I try to support this development by making judgments about exactly what kinds of intellectual support each student needs, and what kinds of challenges they are ready to tackle on their own. By the time students reach their final years in my lab I see them as full collaborators to programs of research: they strongly influence the new directions the lab takes, they make invaluable contributions to grant proposals, and they establish their own research identity through publications and public presentations.

Training History

The graduate training programs at the University of Pittsburgh and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition attract a terrific group of students. I have been fortunate to have the following students complete Ph.D.s in my lab.