REU Site: Michigan Summer Program in Cognition and Early Development (MSPICED)

This summer training project is funded by the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. The program aims to educate undergraduate students by giving them first-hand experience in how psychological research is conducted and help them develop professional skills in science. Developmental science is a field of psychology concerned with the development of children who are facing a dynamically changing reality while teachers, parents, and policy makers are experiencing heightened demand for making rapid decisions affecting children. To support them, developmental science engages in translational research to advance evidence-based theory into practice to promote child development and well-being. Therefore, it is critical for individuals of many professions to gain the skill-sets for using and interpreting scientific findings through active participation in state-of-the-art developmental science research. To help with these educational goals, each year 6 undergraduate interns will participate in a 10-week summer internship program that includes (1) hands-on research-participation in active empirical research projects, directly supervised by faculty with a strong track-record of involving undergraduates in their research, (2) teaching modules to offer training in advanced behavioral and neuroscience methods and develop programming skills for using state-of-the-art statistics software including the use of artificial intelligence tools and large language models, and (3) professional development training to tutor academic writing, the connection of basic science to translational research, science communication to the public, and how to write strong graduate school applications for a career in science. Recruitment is focused on undergraduates with a record of high academic achievement seeking opportunities for active research involvement, including applicants from smaller universities and colleges without large-scale psychological research. By working collaboratively with faculty members and graduate students at the University of Michigan, summer interns become actively involved in pursuing translational research in developmental science focused on the cognitive development of young children. The interns collect and analyze scientific data as part of behavioral and neuroscience studies. They learn how to write and present scientific research, including academic writing and statistical data analysis, as well as poster presentations at scientific conferences. Moreover, through collaborations with local museums, interns will learn about science communication with the greater public. The broader impact of this is to break down boundaries and strengthen their resolve in becoming scientists themselves. In addition to their primary research project, interns participate in weekly meetings and formal training sessions in methods, statistics, and neuroscience introducing them to core tenets of developmental science and career paths in the discipline. Interns receive professional training modules, a mentoring agreement, assessment tools for their short-term and long-term professional goals, and an alumni network to help with future career steps. In sum, this summer training program has scientific and societal benefits as it integrates research and education. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.