Potential PhD supervisors

[flood25]

I'm applying to PhD / PsyD programs in Canada, U.S and OZ. My research field is executive functions, namely - response inhibition, which I'd like to investigate in several clinical populations, and in no-clinical ones as a possible factor connected with personality characteristics. 

I managed to find some supervisors dealing with cognitive response inhibition but not too many. 

Does anyone know of any supervisors close to the topic ? 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2016 by flood25

[Anxiousapplicant01]

Looking for a good advisor is one of the most personal parts of the application process, and the process of looking will help you narrow your interests even further. It is a great way to learn more about yourself, which is really helpful when writing your statement.  It is beneficial to tackle this process yourself. It is hard, but worth it! One way to get a good jump on looking is to look at research articles (search your interest in a database like Psychinfo)that excite you and see who the authors are. See where they are, look at those programs. There might be other people there that share similar interests beyond the authors you found. 

Research fit is not necessarily a deciding factor/important for PsyD programs, so things might not work the same way advisor-wise. If you are not clearly decided on PhD vs. PsyD you need to do some introspection and decide what's important to you so you can articulate it clearly in your apps. I hope this is helpful!

Edited September 5, 2016 by Anxiousapplicant01

[St0chastic]

My understanding is that there's a pretty big difference between PhD and PsyD programs, PhD programs being primarily research-oriented while as PsyDs focus more on practice.  So you'll first want to decide where you want to fall on that divide (research first or practice first).  Also, PhD programs are almost always fully funded, while as PsyDs may not be or may not provide you with a stipend.  Definitely something to consider.

Reviewing the recent literature and hunting down prominent names in the field is a good way to find potential advisers as Anxiousapplicant recommends.  I took a less efficient but perhaps more comprehensive approach.  I started by identifying a research topic (you've already done this).  Then I visited the faculty pages for the top 60 psychology programs in the US.  I instantly eliminated schools that didn't have faculty researching something I was interested in or only had one faculty member that was a good fit for me.  I then made a list of all potential advisers in a big spreadsheet and closely reviewed their lab webpages one by one.  As you can imagine, this took some time but helped me get a better sense of what I was really interested in and what I wasn't.  I narrowed this list down to eight schools that had multiple advisers I might want to work with, were well regarded in my research area, and were located in a geographic region I would be willing to live in for five or six years.  I made my final decision after interviewing and getting a sense for each adviser's working style as well as how supportive I felt the other grad students in their lab were (an important factor that I think is overlooked by a lot of applicants).  

As Anxiousapplicant said, picking an adviser is deeply personal and IMO by far the most important factor when choosing a program.  There's not a one size fits all approach, but hopefully you have a sense of how to find advisers.  Either take Anxious' strategy of 1) looking for names in the recent literature or 2) comb through the faculty webpages of all schools you might potentially apply to.  Asking your current adviser for suggestions is another option.

Edited September 5, 2016 by St0chastic

[flood25]

Thank you both for the elaborated replies ! 

Since I am interested both on therapy and research, I am applying to both PhD and PsyD programs, while attempting to pick PhD programs which are relatively clinically oriented. As you mentioned, finance issues definitely have a big part in this decision, which also makes me focus on PhD programs. However, since my research field is mainly cognitive (and a somewhat narrow field in it), there's no abundance of researchers studying it within clinical departments, but usually (as i learned after tracking down some major names in the topic as you suggested) in departments which are purely cognitive / research based. 

I am actually following both directions Stochatic suggested, going for major names out of the literature on the field on the one hand, and searching through potential universities faculties on the other. Writing here was an attempt to gain further insight from people who may be familiar with more professionals on the field I'm unaware of 

But you are right in that throughout the process I am opening up to somewhat wider ideas which may have to do with the general field, and, as  Anxious said, in the case of PsyD the research doesn't have to be very precise (though my pretty much is).

Thank you again for the good advises, and perhaps someone here will still come up with a relevant name I'm unfamiliar with. 

Cheers 

 

 

 

[t_ruth]

You may also wish to check out Educational Psychology programs and faculty--there is good work on EF being done in those programs too.

[flood25]

Good advice, Thanks ! 

[Currentstudent&lovingit]

You might want to check out Cuny-queens college neuro/clinical program - specifically Dr Justin Storbeck who researches executive function and inhibition

[CDA]

You might want to check out Yana Suchy's lab at the University of Utah. 

[flood25]

Thanks a lot !