Student Opportunities

 

We are keen to hear from students interested in joining us!

POSTDOCTORAL OPPORTUNITY

The Toronto Early Cognition Lab, led by Dr. Jessica Sommerville, is hiring a postdoctoral fellow to work on projects exploring early social cognition, learning, and behaviour in infants and young children. The fellow will focus on early optimism—children’s positive expectations about upcoming events—and how this relates to persistence, effort, and challenge seeking. Responsibilities include designing and running studies (including eye-tracking and EEG), analyzing data, writing for publication, and mentoring junior researchers.

Qualifications:

  • PhD in developmental psychology, cognitive science, or a related field

  • Experience working with infants or toddlers

  • Strong data analysis (e.g., R, Python, MATLAB) and writing skills

  • Experience with eye-tracking and/or EEG preferred

Position Details:

  • Full-time, 1-year position (renewable pending performance and funding)

  • Flexible start date, no earlier than September 3, 2025

  • Apply by July 31, 2025 for priority consideration

To apply, email a cover letter, CV (with contact info for 3 referees), and up to 3 publications to:
jessica.sommerville@utoronto.ca
We value diversity and strive to create an inclusive, supportive research environment.


Graduate Studies

Prof. Sommerville will be accepting graduate students for the incoming year (Fall 2026). Please contact her directly at: jessica.sommerville@utoronto.ca for additional information.

Undergraduate Opportunities

Undergraduate Honours Thesis Program
Professor Sommerville will not be accepting honours thesis students for the 2025-26 year. Students are typically paired with a graduate student or post-doctoral mentor to work on a project of mutual interest. You can learn more about the Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Program here.

Independent Projects

Professor Sommerville will not be accepting independent project students for the 2025-2026 year.

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program
Students are invited to apply work receive course credit in the lab via the Research Opportunity program. Students typically spend 10 hours a week in the lab (or more) and work closely with senior mentors on a project of interest. More information can be found here.

Volunteer Research Assistants
We accept volunteer RAs at the start of each semester. RAs devote 8-10 hours and receive training on relevant research skills. Please click here to apply for positions.

For any questions, please contact the TECL lab manager, Jaemin Hwang, at jaemin.hwang@mail.utoronto.ca.