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The EDEN Lab is a compassionate, dedicated, and inclusive community of scholars who study development and behavior from multiple perspectives to inform interventions and treatments that improve the lives of children and families. Our exceptional and interdisciplinary team includes members of different backgrounds and experiences, from undergraduate and graduate students to post-doctoral research scholars and staff.
Post-doctoral applicants
Students who are approaching completion of their PhD are encouraged to email Dr. Waller (rwaller@sas.upenn.edu) to inquire about specific availability for post-doctoral research positions in the EDEN Lab or at Penn, including the MindCORE Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Scholars. Typically, post-doctoral applicants who would be a good match to work in the lab study youth antisocial behavior, parenting and neighborhood context, developmental neuroscience, and developmental psychopathology. Students with a particular interest or experience in the study of callous-unemotional traits, psychopathy, personality assessment, substance use and misuse, computational linguistics and computer vision methods, criminal justice, early years' intervention, social work, or multimodal assessment methods are also encouraged to get in touch about specific projects that might intersect with ongoing research and funded grants in the EDEN Lab.
Graduate Student Applicants
Dr. Waller will not be recruiting for the 2024/2025 academic year.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the online information about the Psychology graduate program at Penn, a core component of which is deep involvement in research. Although students are admitted to the graduate program as a whole (i.e., not for a specific subfield), students who work with Dr. Waller have an interest in the developmental origins of moral and antisocial behaviors beginning in early childhood, and in incorporating a multi-disciplinary perspective. Current trainees in the EDEN Lab are gaining training in clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and developmental neuroscience. More specifically, students in the EDEN Lab are conducting research into youth aggression and antisocial behavior, parenting and neighborhood influences on development, neurogenetics, neuroscience, callous-unemotional traits, empathy, emotion processing, and psychopathy. For questions about the graduate program, please email the Graduate & Research Coordinator at Penn, Paul Newlon (pnewlon@sas.upenn.edu).
Undergraduate Student Applications
First and second year students from the University of Pennsylvania who are interested in joining the EDEN Lab should submit an application form. Applications are considered on a rolling basis. However, third year students who are planning on a 399 or senior honors thesis should be advised that we receive many many more applications than there are places available. Thus, strong preference is given to students who have already completed at least one semester as an undergraduate research assistant in the EDEN Lab, and we only consider two semester-long projects. For more information about the honors program, please see the department website or email Dr. Caroline Connolly (cconn@sas.upenn.edu), Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies.