The CEC is always looking for curious, passionate individuals who are interested in aplying cognitive sciences to the application of difficult engineering challenges to improve the lives of those around us.
Dr. Karen Feigh’s philosophy on the PhD process
- I supervise PhD students who are working as graduate research assistants (GRA) on sponsored research projects which I am the PI. This provides the students with a living stipend and covers their tuition.
- I view the PhD as an extended research apprenticeship – I work very closely with my students and meet with them regularly. Often every one or two weeks. We work closely on designing, conducting and writing up all research findings.
- A PhD is fundamentally a research degree and as such
- I give my students the freedom and responsibility to choose their own dissertation topic. Often this may make the doctoral process last a little longer, but my students come out with a deeper understanding of what makes a good research question and how to solve it. Most of my students choose a dissertation topic which is aligned with their GRA research.
- The pace of the PhD and its completion date are not set in stone but are dictated by the results of the research process and the productivity of the student.
- Classes should be chosen to fulfill the requirements of the degree, but tailored to support you learning the skills you need to support your research. Classwork is secondary to research progress, within limits.
- The PhD process is your time to dive deep and learn new things. I do not require my students to be in the lab 40+ hours a week, but I’d hope that they’d like to be in the lab a lot – because this is your time. What you make of it is up to you.
If this sounds like a good fit to you, please contact us to find out if any funded positions are available.