For Students Interested in Working with Me
My interdisciplinary research program affords opportunities for graduate students with a variety of interests and expertise. Students are encouraged to contact me directly for current opportunities in my lab with interests or backgrounds in any of the following or related disciplines: psychology, developmental psychology, neuroscience, genetics and epigenetics, and bioinformatics. Students with research interests in stress, temperament, parenting or peer influences, social/emotional development, neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, gene-environment interaction, epigenetics and epigenomics, mental health, health disparities, or child and maternal health, would be happy in my lab. We conduct research with prenatal, infant, child/adolescent, and adult populations. I work one-on-one to tailor research programs that fit with each student’s interests. My past and current graduate students have been highly successful in completing the PhD program in a timely way, receiving prizes and funding awards, and publishing empirical and review papers.
Students interested in working with me can be admitted through one of the following PhD programs: Developmental Psychology, Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, or our Dual Specialization program combining Developmental Psychology and Behavioral/Cognitive Neuroscience. The Ph.D. program is primarily a research track. Prospective graduate students are welcome to contact me during the application process. I also serve as a rotation mentor for students enrolled in the Genetics/Genomics Program and MD/PhD students. Applications from members of under-represented groups are encouraged to apply. For general information on admissions to the PhD program, see https://psych.ufl.edu/graduate/prospective-grads/admissions/.
Note: I will be accepting new graduate students to start fall of 2023.
Dr. Kertes and Graduate Students
Potential Undergraduate Research Assistants:
Opportunities for undergraduate research assistants are routinely updated on the Department of Psychology’s undergraduate research website. In my lab, undergraduates are a vital part of the research team and are involved in all aspects of research. I routinely mentor students with interests related to psychology, biology, or pre-med. Graduates from the lab have been highly successful in obtaining positions in top-tier graduate schools pursuing PhD, MD, and MA degrees, or employment in fields spanning public health, allied health professions, education, and criminal justice and others. Several of the lab’s undergraduates have also been successful in receiving research funding awards to conduct research in the lab. For undergraduates interested in molecular work, either prior or concurrent coursework or research experience in a laboratory environment is helpful. Interested undergraduates should send an email to kerteslab@psych.ufl.edu to request an application.