Get Involved

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Typical opportunities in the lab involve direct contact with members of a clinical population, most commonly adolescent adjudicated for illegal or otherwise delinquent behavior. Responsibilities include testing students with a variety of self-report and interview based measures. Data resulting from these measures are used to better inform assessment team members and treatment staff.

Given the significant amount of time contributed by undergraduate research assistants, opportunities to contribute towards professional presentations (e.g., paper presentations, poster presentations) are available.  In fact, almost every undergraduate assistant since 2004 has been a contributing author on at least one scholarly product.  

Given the opportunity for direct clinical contact, the selection process for undergraduate lab assistants in rigorous and highly competitive. Typically, criminology and psychology majors with GPAs above 3.0 and who are able to commit a minimum of 5 hours at least one day per week over the course of one calendar year (including the summer semester) are most competitive.  In order to begin the application process, please complete and submit a lab application Download the application.

If you have any questions regarding opportunities related to this project, please contact Dr. Kelli Thompson.

Graduate Student Involvement

Clinical opportunities for graduate students in doctoral programs in the Department of Psychological Sciences and other related departments include practicum site placement in either assessment and/or treatment at the Mount Meigs facility. 

Research opportunities are also available for advanced graduate students. We have had a number of students use our data for theses and dissertations throughout the years.  Several students have also written IRBs of their own and collected data for original research projects as well.  Some paid research assistantships are also available but are typically reserved for individuals who have already volunteered as undergraduate research assistants. Contact Dr. Kelli Thompson for more details.

Data Sharing and Collaboration

We have been collecting extensive data for more than 15 years with this population.  Data sharing is an important part of the scientific process allowing new opportunities to advance knowledge beyond the scope of what the members of our lab can accomplish.  A data use and sharing agreement allows a researcher to share a limited data set with a colleague or another person or entity not associated with the study or the researcher’s institution.  It also defines the ethical obligations and legal boundaries for data usage for individuals within the researcher’s institution and fellow members of the research team.

All persons seeking access to archival and related data collected through The Accountability Based Juvenile Treatment and Assessment Program (Protocol #15-331 MR 1508) will be required to have an active data use and sharing agreement on file with the Research Coordinator.  Contact Dr. Kelli Thompson for more details. 

Please download and complete the data sharing agreement.

Last Updated: January 11, 2021