Our lab prioritizes inclusion and diversity in achieving and sustaining excellence in our research, training, and outreach. We are committed to an intellectual climate that is welcoming, nurturing, and challenging. We respect and value the full spectrum of human diversity in race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, body type, socio-economic background, age, disability, and national origin. Members of the lab work together to create an environment of inclusion, mutual respect, safety, and support (for example, we all worked together to craft this statement). We take an active stand against discrimination and bias.
To learn more about how to join our lab, read on.
As a research assistant (RA):
We are always on the lookout for motivated and responsible people who would like to be involved in our lab. UC Davis students can receive course credit for their time. No experience is required. You should be interested in psychological research, willing to commit a consistent number of hours each week for at least two academic quarters, and 100% reliable. Research assistants have the opportunity to become involved in many phases of the research process, including study design, data collection, data entry, and understanding the results. Our regular lab meeting, held on Fridays at 11am, gives RAs the chance to interact with Dr. Ledgerwood, learn more about empirical research and emerging findings in psychological science, contribute your perspectives and insights to help make our science stronger, and acquire new skills in programs like Qualtrics, Excel, Medialab, R, and SPSS.
These positions provide an excellent opportunity to acquire hands-on research experience, contribute to science, and potentially earn a letter of recommendation from a professor. An RA position can also provide a launchpad for pursuing an independent research project or honors thesis in the future.
We are currently accepting RA applications for Fall 2023! Please access the application here to apply before 5pm on May 26th, 2023. For any questions or concerns, email us at agilab.research@gmail.com. Thank you for your interest in our lab!
These positions provide an excellent opportunity to acquire hands-on research experience, contribute to science, and potentially earn a letter of recommendation from a professor. An RA position can also provide a launchpad for pursuing an independent research project or honors thesis in the future.
We are currently accepting RA applications for Fall 2023! Please access the application here to apply before 5pm on May 26th, 2023. For any questions or concerns, email us at agilab.research@gmail.com. Thank you for your interest in our lab!
As an undergraduate honors thesis student:
Students who conduct an honors thesis research project in our lab must join the lab first as a research assistant to get basic research experience and learn first-hand about the type of research we conduct. If you are interested in completing an honors thesis in our lab, please plan to meet with Professor Ledgerwood to start formulating a research question that is interesting to you and that relates to our lab’s key topic areas during the spring quarter before you will start work on your thesis.
As a PhD student:
Please note that our lab will not be considering new graduate students for Fall 2024.
UC Davis has one of the top-ranked social psychology PhD programs in the nation. To learn more about the PhD program as a whole, click here. Application information can be found here; no GRE is required.
As an incoming graduate student in our lab, you can jump on board an ongoing research project and/or start a new line of research that combines your own particular interests with one of the major research areas of the lab. As you progress through the program, you’ll move gradually toward more independent projects, culminating in a dissertation. Our lab combines a collaborative and supportive atmosphere with a stimulating research environment; we intentionally create and actively maintain an inclusive and anti-racist culture as a "home base" from which we can understand and act to transform inequitable systems. We value diverse perspectives, questions that challenge prevailing assumptions, methodological rigor, and creating an environment where each of us can bring our whole selves to our research and conversations. Students are encouraged to develop their own unique research interests within the broader framework of the lab, and also to work in multiple labs while at Davis to get exposure to different research areas and methodological approaches.
UC Davis has one of the top-ranked social psychology PhD programs in the nation. To learn more about the PhD program as a whole, click here. Application information can be found here; no GRE is required.
As an incoming graduate student in our lab, you can jump on board an ongoing research project and/or start a new line of research that combines your own particular interests with one of the major research areas of the lab. As you progress through the program, you’ll move gradually toward more independent projects, culminating in a dissertation. Our lab combines a collaborative and supportive atmosphere with a stimulating research environment; we intentionally create and actively maintain an inclusive and anti-racist culture as a "home base" from which we can understand and act to transform inequitable systems. We value diverse perspectives, questions that challenge prevailing assumptions, methodological rigor, and creating an environment where each of us can bring our whole selves to our research and conversations. Students are encouraged to develop their own unique research interests within the broader framework of the lab, and also to work in multiple labs while at Davis to get exposure to different research areas and methodological approaches.
If you're interested in applying:
Prospective PhD students are sometimes advised to contact potential advisers by email to ask about current research interests and whether they're taking students. To make sure everyone has access to this information, I post it here (no need to email me separately -- if you are reading this, it counts as contacting me, because I literally copy and paste the below text in response to all email inquiries):
Thank you for your interest in our lab! I will not be considering PhD applications for Fall 2024.
These days, the collaborative work in our lab centers on three main lines of inquiry: (1) increasing what we learn from scientific research (e.g., How can we make psychological science more open and inclusive so that the questions asked and answers generated help us understand the full picture of how humans think, feel, and behave?), (2) understanding how people form ideas about their likes and dislikes (e.g., When someone says that they like friends who are intelligent, or they dislike a particular social group, where do those ideas come from?), and (3) how people think about hierarchical social systems (e.g., How do people of color conceptualize race and racism, and why do those conceptualizations matter?). If you apply to our lab in a future year, you may want to connect to one or more of these themes in your application, or otherwise discuss why you think our lab would fit with and support your research interests.
For equity reasons, I have a policy of not talking individually with applicants before reading applications, but I look forward to reading your materials if you decide to apply in a future year. You can learn more about our lab and ongoing research here on our lab website.
Thank you for your interest in our lab! I will not be considering PhD applications for Fall 2024.
These days, the collaborative work in our lab centers on three main lines of inquiry: (1) increasing what we learn from scientific research (e.g., How can we make psychological science more open and inclusive so that the questions asked and answers generated help us understand the full picture of how humans think, feel, and behave?), (2) understanding how people form ideas about their likes and dislikes (e.g., When someone says that they like friends who are intelligent, or they dislike a particular social group, where do those ideas come from?), and (3) how people think about hierarchical social systems (e.g., How do people of color conceptualize race and racism, and why do those conceptualizations matter?). If you apply to our lab in a future year, you may want to connect to one or more of these themes in your application, or otherwise discuss why you think our lab would fit with and support your research interests.
For equity reasons, I have a policy of not talking individually with applicants before reading applications, but I look forward to reading your materials if you decide to apply in a future year. You can learn more about our lab and ongoing research here on our lab website.