Research Student PD

Brown Medicine•Madison, WI

6d•$18 - $26•Onsite

About The Position

Undergraduate students with strong interest in behavioral sciences research and who demonstrate enthusiasm for, commitment to, and availability for the full program are encouraged to apply. Previous courses or lab work in sleep or circadian rhythms are helpful but not required. Students from local institutions are asked to maintain participation in sleep lab activities beyond the summer by working on the lab’s sleep studies during the school year. Apprentices must reside in or near Providence for the summer. [Graduate students are accepted under special circumstances. Students may apply for a repeat summer experience as a Senior Research Apprentice, with a slightly higher stipend.] Successful applicants are required to apply for student membership ($85 Fee) in the Sleep Research Society. Brown University Health employees are expected to successfully role model the organization's values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence as these values guide our everyday actions with patients, customers and one another. In addition to our values, all employees are expected to demonstrate the core Success Factors which tell us how we work together and how we get things done. The core Success Factors include: Instill Trust and Value Differences Patient and Community Focus and Collaborate The major research project during the summer assesses the circadian rhythms and sleep homeostatic process in children and adolescents. This project includes lengthy in-lab sessions that involve assessments on non-24-hour days, thus necessitating staff involvement at times that circle the clock.

Requirements

Research Apprentices carry out multiple facets of data collection (electrode application, one–to–one work with research participants, forms and tests administration), data reduction, and data entry.
During the research phases of the program, apprentices are assigned to teams and work 5 or 6 days each week—not always Monday through Friday, often Saturday and Sunday—in research protocols that involve working unusual schedules.
Although we attempt to assign teams to hours that correspond to team members’ circadian phase preferences, applicants must be able and willing to work on any of the following types of schedules for all or part of the program: “Owl” shifts may begin as early as 2 pm or as late as 9:45 pm and end as early as 10:30 pm or as late as 5:45 am; “lark” shifts may begin as early as 3:00 am or as late as noon and may end as early as 8:45 am or as late as 5:15 pm; “neither” shifts may begin as early as 6:45 am or as late a 3:45 pm and end as early as 11:00 am or as late as 10:15 pm.

Nice To Haves

Previous courses or lab work in sleep or circadian rhythms are helpful but not required.

Responsibilities

Formal Training Program Introduction to normal human sleep and circadian rhythms
Central nervous system and neurophysiological basis of electroencephalography (EEG) and EEG spectral analysis
Polysomnographic (PSG) recording techniques, including EEG, EMG, EOG, EKG, respiratory plethysmography, oxygen saturation, electrode hookup
Operation and calibration of PSG monitoring equipment
Multiple Sleep Latency Test procedures, performance testing, identification of sleep stages, saliva collection for melatonin and cortisol
Introduction to radioimmunoassay and gene association analyses
Basic lab procedures, including working with human child and adolescent participants
Ethical conduct of research
Experimental hypotheses, rationale, and methods for laboratory’s summer research project
Presentation skills, including effective creation of PowerPoint slide presentation
Skills in preparing for attending a scientific meeting
Research Apprentices carry out multiple facets of data collection (electrode application, one–to–one work with research participants, forms and tests administration), data reduction, and data entry.