Training Program in Emotion Research

The Training Program in Emotion Research is directed by Richard J. Davidson and funded by an NIMH Institutional National Research Service Award training grant. The program provides specialized, non-degree training for students at both the pre- and post-doctoral levels. A total of seven (7) University of Wisconsin pre-doctoral students are supported by the grant in any given year. In addition, three (3) post-doctoral trainees are supported each year.

The major activities of the training program include a year-long seminar on emotion theory and research that is co-taught by the training program faculty, participation in the annual Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion, attendance at monthly meetings of faculty and students on topics in emotion research, ethics training, as well as other relevant activities on campus. Please contact John Koger at jvkoger@wisc.edu for more information.

We look for diverse candidates with strong potential for future academic success, whose research interests are well aligned with those of the program and the desired faculty mentor.

Program Research Areas & Faculty

Our training program is focused on three areas of current emotion research:

  1. Personality, temperament and individual differences: Lifespan developmental, genetic, cognitive and biological approaches;
  2. Affective neuroscience; and
  3. Emotion and psychopathology.

Trainees may work with any of the following faculty: Heather C. Abercrombie, Vaishali Bakshi, Ruth M. Benca, Craig W. Berridge, Christopher L. Coe, John J. Curtin, Richard J. Davidson, Patricia Devine, Marilyn Essex, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, H. Hill Goldsmith, Diane Gooding, Ned H. Kalin, Marjorie H. Klein, Michael Koenigs, Wen Li, Joseph P. Newman, Paula Niedenthal, Jack B. Nitschke, Seth D. Pollak, Carol D. Ryff, and Carolyn Zahn-Waxler.

Pre-Doctoral Information

We expect to appoint five new two-year predoctoral trainees for 2012-13. Note: Due to the end of the grant currently supporting the program in mid-2013, we can guarantee support for incoming predoctoral trainees for only one year, but intend to continue support for a second year, assuming that the grant is renewed.

Pre-doctoral nominees must apply to or be enrolled in a degree-granting graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. If your application is seriously considered by a program faculty member, he or she may decide to nominate you for consideration by the selection committee by contacting John Koger at 608-263-0132 or 1202 W. Johnson St, Madison, WI 53706, or jvkoger@wisc.edu. If you are interested in participating in the program, be sure to discuss this with your prospective advisor. UW-Madison faculty can nominate pre-doctoral students for the program, but pre-doctoral students cannot apply directly to the program themselves.

According to federal funding regulations, in order to be eligible for support, all applicants must be U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals or lawfully admitted permanent residents. Individuals on temporary or students visas are not eligible for financial support.

Post-doctoral Applicants

We expect to have one, 2 to 3-year post-doctoral position available beginning in August or September 2012. Note: Due to the end of the grant currently supporting the program in mid-2013, we can guarantee support for incoming post-doctoral trainees for only one year, but intend to continue support for two or three years as appropriate, assuming that the grant is renewed.

The following program faculty are interested in mentoring a post-doctoral Trainee in the next year. Post-doctoral applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the professor directly for additional information regarding his or her research.

Seth D. Pollak: The Child Emotion Research Laboratory is addressing questions at the interface of early adversity/stress, emotion, and child development. Current projects include studies of children and adolescents living in poverty as well as those who have experienced child abuse/neglect. Our laboratory provides a rich variety of resources, access of many populations of children, and integration of diverse methods. There are ample opportunities for post-docs to initiate independent lines of research as well.

Carol D. Ryff: Our research addresses aging as a multidisciplinary challenge that requires integration of many levels of analysis: sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial resources, life stresses, health behaviors and practices, neurobiological risk and protective factors, and health outcomes (mental and physical).

The following faculty all desire candidates with expertise in structural and/or functional neuroimaging and an interest in affective neuroscience utilizing human and/or nonhuman primate data.

Heather C. Abercrombie: We are seeking a postdoc for work on an fMRI study on the effects of pharmacological manipulation of the hormone cortisol on the neural circuitry of emotional learning in depressed and healthy women with and without history of early adversity. Prior experience in neuroimaging is necessary; and experience in experimental psychoneuroendocrinology and/or working with clinical populations is desirable.

Richard J. Davidson: The Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and other units directed by Richard Davidson are recruiting for a post-doctoral fellow with expertise in functional and/or structural neuroimaging who are interested in their application to affective neuroscience, affective decision making, contemplative neuroscience and/or psychopathology. We are a broad group with interests that center around affective neuroscience. Our environment is dynamic and our resources are extensive including a research-dedicated 3T scanner, PET, human electrophysiology and access to TMS and to non-human primates.

Ned H. Kalin: Our research involves brain imaging in human children to identify endophenotypes predicting the development of anxiety and depression. This data will be integrated with data from studies modeling risk factors in nonhuman primates.

Post-doctoral Application Instructions:

Please send the following items by 1/4/2012 to John Koger at jvkoger@wisc.edu (email preferred) or 1202 W. Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706. Cover letters, CVs, and research statements must be received by 1/4/2012 for an application to be considered. Letters of reference must be received by 1/31/2012.

  • A cover letter identifying the program faculty mentor(s) with whom you wish to train, addressed either to that faculty member or to the Selection Committee, care of the Training Program in Emotion Research.
  • Your CV.
  • A research statement.
  • Three letters of reference, preferably addressed either to your proposed mentor or to the Selection Committee.

"According to federal funding regulations, in order to be eligible for support, all applicants must be U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals or lawfully admitted permanent residents. Individuals on temporary or students visas are not eligible for financial support."

Post-doctoral Application Suggestions:

The following suggestions are just that: suggestions. They are neither requirements nor guidelines.

  1. Your application is greatly strengthened by having a faculty member--your prospective mentor--who is familiar with you and your academic career, and who can make a case for you with the selection committee.
  2. This is not a requirement, but applicants are strongly encouraged to get to know prospective mentors, and ideally to build professional relationships with them. Learn their current areas of research, and make sure that your scientific interests are aligned with and overlap with their current foci.
  3. This process is competitive. You are vying for the attention and approval of some of the top researchers in the field. There are other applicants, and some of them are exceptionally good. Little things make a difference. Impressions count.
  4. You must have your PhD completed by the time the program starts (August 1 or September 1), specifically: your thesis has passed defense and final review, and been successfully deposited and accepted. If at all in doubt, check with us.
  5. Your application process belongs to you. You own it, and are responsible for its progress and conclusion. We can do little to help you. Specifically, we can tell you what we've received so far from you, and what is still missing. We can explain what is required and when it is due by. Everything else is up to you.
  6. You yourself need to create and provide three documents: A cover letter, a research statement, and a CV. These should be three separate documents, and all of them should look professional and polished.
  7. Your cover letter is your opportunity to present yourself to your prospective mentor and to the selection committee. It is your opportunity to let them know about the things that make you special--the things that may or may not be obvious from your CV or research statement. It is also your opportunity to remind your prospective mentor of who you are and why they are so excited about you and are willing to make a case for you before the committee.
  8. Your research statement is your opportunity to reveal your scientific goals and plans to your prospective mentor, and to show how they dovetail with the mentor's current research.
  9. Your CV is your chance to showcase your academic career and research accomplishments. It is also a very good place to mention the date that you earned your PhD (or anticipate earning it) and the name of your PhD thesis advisor. Your prospective mentor and the selection committee need to know this information.
  10. You need to persuade three august people to write and send in letters of reference for you. We can not and will not do this for you. Reference letters are a key part of your overall application. Sending us the email addresses or phone numbers of your referents is not a substitute. We must receive letters directly from them.
  11. Keep on top of your reference letters process. Ask your referents to tell you when the letters have been sent, and then check back with them. Check with us that we received them. Do all of this before the deadline.
  12. If possible, all of your materials (cover letter, research statement, CV) should be in PDF format. This is the format that documents presented to the selection committee will be in, so sending your documents in PDF format puts you in control of the exact final version that the committee will see.
  13. Referents are busy people, and your prospective mentor and the selection committee understand this. It is far more important that reference letters be sent on time than it is that they be beautifully formatted.
  14. Submit your application on time. Including the letters of reference. If your materials are late, then we may, regretfully, be forced to decline your application. Late materials could be viewed by prospective mentors and the selection committee as a sign of unprofessionalism.

UW-Madison | Department of Psychology | Department of Psychiatry