Join the lab

If you are interested in working with me either as a graduate student or undergraduate student, please see below for more information.

The bottom of this page also provides a list of helpful resources for those interested in applying to psychology PhD programs which I encourage you to check out.

Graduate students

I am potentially accepting a graduate student to start in Fall 2026, through the Cognitive Science doctoral program in the Psychology Department at Mississippi State University. The following website has more information on the program and application process: https://www.psychology.msstate.edu/graduate/cognitive-science/. The application deadline is typically around December 1st.

If you considering applying to work with me, please check out my ‘Research’ and ‘Publications’ page for more information on the type of research I do. I am primarily interested in students who want to work on computational perspectives on emotions. If you are interested this topic, I strongly encourage you to read my recent preprint on this topic on my ‘Publications’ page, to learn more about my approach to this area.

All potential applicants are encouraged to reach out to me over email before applying (tvrantsidis@psychology.msstate.edu). Please send a brief (~1 paragraph) email summarizing your research interests and how you see them overlapping with my research interests, as well as a resume/CV and unofficial transcript. If you do not receive a reply within a week, it is possible I missed your email, so you are free to politely send a reminder email if you are serious about potentially working with me. If you do not receive a reply after that, assume I have either decided not to take on a student that year or do not think it is a good fit. (Ideally I would love to have time to get to know all potential applicants and send a personalized response to everyone, but alas time is short and emails are many!)

If you are interested in applying to psychology PhD programs, whether with me or more generally, I also encourage you to check out the various resources for applicants, listed at the bottom of this page!

Undergraduate students

If you are interested working with me, you can do so either as a volunteer research assistant, or by doing a directed individual study course for course credit. Please reach out by email at any time if interested in either of these options, with a brief description of why you want to work with me in particular (as opposed to any other lab) and what you are hoping to get out of it in terms of your longer term career goals. I may or may not be accepting students at that time, but if it seems like a good fit I can keep it in mind for when I do have a position open. Emails about open positions will also sometimes be sent out to undergraduate students in the psychology department.

General resources for applying to psychology PhD programs

Programs you can participate in (e.g. for advice, mentoring, feedback on materials):

  • The Application Statement Feedback Program (https://www.asfp.io/) provides personalized feedback on application statements for students applying to US-based psychology PhD programs, with priority given to applicants from underrepresented backgrounds or without other sources of mentorship. They deadline to accept statement drafts is usually the end of October.
  • Psychin’ Out is a great resource hub for aspiring psychologists aimed at diversifying the field. In addition to their giant resource hub, they have PhD app mentorship, as well as ongoing workshops/bootcamps for those preparing grad school applications.
  • Project SHORT provides pro bono consulting for people applying to PhD or MD programs, with the goal of combatting socioeconomic and systemic inequalities in the medical and graduate school admissions processes.
  • The University of Minnesota hosts a virtual grad-student-led mentorship program called the Next-Gen Psych Scholars Program which offers 1:1 mentoring and ongoing panels/workshops on various professional development topics, including grad school applications.
  • Stanford Psychology runs an annual virtual event called Paths to PhD, intended for people applying to research positions and PhD programs in psychology. Applications are due in mid-September for the workshop in October.
  • The University of California San Diego is hosting a two-day virtual event called “Diversifying Psychology” for prospective PhD students with the goal of increasing the diversity of applicant pools. This event will take place in October.
  • For clinical psych students: Getting Into Grad School hosts monthly virtual meetings from July – April to walk applicants through the application cycle, and provide feedback and advice on each part of the application process.

Online Resources and Guides:

  • The Application Statement Feedback Program wrote a guide to writing application statements which you can download here.
  • Prof. Sokol-Hessner’s lab has written a detailed breakdown of many aspects of the psychology PhD application process, which includes a list of external resources. You can find it here.
  • The American Psychological Association (APA) has a large, detailed resource entitled “Applying to Grad School” available here.
  • Dr. Jamil Zaki at Stanford has put together some tips for applying to psychology PhD programs, available here.
  • Dr. Laurel Gabard-Durnam has written and compiled resources for graduate school applications, available here.
  • For applicants applying to clinical psychology programs:
  • Mississippi State University also created a grad school application guide here relevant to not just PhDs but also people interested in various psych-related Master’s programs.
  • For a list of resources related to all aspects of the application process, interviews, and more, see this resource page from UCSD’s annual Diversifying Psychology Event.
  • If you’re not sure what goes into a typical psychology PhD application statement, see here for advice from a professor at Yale on how to write a good statement, multiple examples from NYU PhD students here, and statement advice (along with a lot more advice!) from an NYU professor here.
  • The University of British Columbia Okanagan has compiled a set of successful PhD application materials from its own former students, and made them available as examples for others here.
  • Next-Gen Psych Scholars Program also provides various online resources for applying to and navigating the transition to graduate school. (Click on the “resources” link at the bottom of their main page)

Credit: This list was largely taken from https://www.asfp.io/faq