Graduate Students

Dr. Gabard-Durnam is accepting graduate student applications for up to two positions in the Plasticity in Neurodevelopment Lab in the 2025 application cycle to start in the fall of 2026.

Students interested in addressing questions about how developmental experiences and exposures pre- and post-natally interact with neuroplasticity mechanisms (indexed with EEG, MRI/MRS, or both) to shape healthy, maladaptive, and/or resilient sensory, language, self-regulation development will best fit the scope of ongoing and future studies in the lab. Dr. Gabard-Durnam specifically encourages applications from individuals from under-represented groups in science.

If you are an interested prospective student, please check out our up-to-date pages on this site describing our research questions, areas of research interest, and current studies. While I am not responding to individual email introductions or requests to meet ahead of the application deadline to preserve equity in the process, I look forward to reading your application later this fall!

Dr. Gabard-Durnam is able to accept graduate students through the Northeastern Psychology Department. Click here to learn more about the Northeastern psychology program, faculty, and community.

As a graduate student in PINE Lab, you will also be welcomed into additional communities at Northeastern, including:

The Institute for Cognitive and Brain Health: an interdisciplinary group of labs that share research space and take a lifespan approach to understanding the changing brain, how we can change the brain through intervention and support experiences, and how we can rigorously and robustly measure these brain changes with state-of-the-art tools and computational approaches. Research programs within the institute explore scientific questions from basic principles through gold-standard Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) interventions related to the brain and mental or physical health across the lifespan.

The Connected Beginnings Research Collaborative: an unprecedented interdisciplinary alliance, poised to transform our understanding of caregiver-infant health and development on a global scale. By combining expertise across digital health, environmental science, psychology, communication sciences & disorders, kinesiology, neuroscience, nutrition, epidemiology, computer vision, and public health, we will establish a comprehensive research ecosystem that addresses critical gaps in caregiver-infant research while developing innovative solutions for real-world health challenges.

A note about the costs of applying to graduate school:

I know applying to graduate school is an extremely expensive process that places an undue burden on applicants.

Here are ways that I and Northeastern are trying to reduce that burden:

1. GRE score reports: I do not use GRE scores in making decisions about applicants. Northeastern’s application lists the GRE as optional, and if you are applying to primarily work with me, you do not need to pay to have your scores sent to Northeastern.

2. Application fees: We offer application fee waivers on a case-by-case basis. Please email me if the fee is an undue financial burden and we will make the case for a waiver.

3. Flight/hotel expenses: If you are invited to an in-person interview, Northeastern will pay for your flights and stay directly, so you do not need to worry about paying out-of-pocket and then filing for reimbursement.

4. Interview clothes: Come as you are to interview with me, I do not judge your merit based on looks or clothing.