Research Assistant

About Berkeley

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom, and belonging makes it a special place for students, faculty, and staff. As a world‑leading institution, Berkeley is known for its academic and research excellence, public mission, diverse student body, and commitment to equity and social justice.

Since our founding in 1868, we have driven innovation, creating global intellectual, economic, and social value. We are looking for applicants who reflect California’s diversity and want to be part of an inclusive, equity‑focused community that views education as a matter of social justice.

The Department of Psychology is a large, complex department within the College of Letters and Science. It comprises nearly 40 active faculty members, 16 career staff, 3 continuing lecturers, and a number of visiting scholars and postdocs each year, as well as a large cadre of graduate student instructors and graduate student researchers. The department serves about 4,000 undergraduate students each semester and approximately 90 graduate students pursuing doctoral degrees.

It also supports a large number of life‑science labs, an off‑site field station, and an outpatient clinic that serves the surrounding community.

Assist the principal investigator, a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, and other researchers in the lab with behavioral, clinical, and neuroimaging studies that examine the mechanisms underlying human emotion, motivation, and psychopathology, with a focus on substance use and eating behaviors, including treatment mechanisms.

First review date: 02/25/2026.

• Develop experimental materials (including stimulus generation and programming of tasks for lab and web‑based studies).
• Recruit, schedule, and test participants in behavioral, fMRI, and other studies.
• Complete follow‑up data collection.
• Perform transfer, backup, and quality assurance on data, as necessary.
• Preprocess and help analyze data using Matlab, Python, and other analysis packages.
• Help develop and modify written protocols and best‑practice documents based on discussions with PI/post‑docs surrounding ongoing experiments.
• Collaborate with other labs and universities working on joint projects.
• Assist in training, hiring, and coordination of lab personnel.
• Train and support lab personnel in proper execution of research protocols, including task development, participant recruitment, data collection, and analysis.
• Assist in recruitment and evaluation of potential undergraduate student research assistants.
• Coordinate schedules of undergraduate RAs to ensure appropriate participation and training.

• Present research in informal scientific settings (e.g., lab meetings). Assist with preparation of manuscripts and grants, including figure and table preparation and editing.
• Opportunities to prepare and present posters at scientific conferences and to author manuscripts.

• Purchase and maintain supplies and equipment.
• Obtain and oversee technical support for lab equipment.
• Administer IRB protocols, including approval, amendment, and renewal processes, and grants, including assistance with submission and renewal.
• Manage lab record‑keeping, including purchases, grant information, IRB protocols, experiment participation, and protocols for executing and analyzing individual experiments.
• Help maintain lab website, wiki, and code/file sharing.
• Coordinate weekly lab meetings and other lab events.

• At least one year of research experience.
• Previous research experience in a psychology or neuroscience lab.
• Experience with collection and/or analysis of human participant data.
• Good organizational and interpersonal skills, ability to work independently as well as in a team, and personal accountability.
• Basic computer skills (e.g., word processing, spreadsheet, PowerPoint) required.
• Some programming skills (e.g., Matlab, Python, E‑prime, Inquisit).
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and…