The below was written by Dr. Yael Niv (so when I say “contact me,” I mean email yael@princeton.edu)
Note 1: We are not hiring postdocs or research assistants right now. We are potentially going to accept one graduate student for matriculation in fall 2027.
Note 2: If you send an email of interest in the lab (e.g., for a postdoc or graduate student position) that seems like it was sent indiscriminately to all the faculty in the department (or several departments!), that is just annoying. Please don’t waste everyone’s time. If you can’t find the time to read about a lab you are thinking of applying to, please please do not apply to the lab (and do not even email them). We all get too many emails and have better things to do with our time than to triage application spam. (Forgive this note; I know the people sending application spam will not read it, and you, reader, are the wrong recipient for this note… but these types of emails are so annoying that I thought I would mention it just in case. Don’t ever be that person sending these canned emails. Thank you.)
Postdocs
Q: Are you accepting post-docs?
A: The lab is now full and not searching for new postdocs. In general, postdocs in the lab do research in one or more of these areas: 1. computational psychiatry – suitable applicants will have background in clinical psychology or psychiatry, and proficiency with computational modeling, 2. model-driven investigations of learning and decision making, and especially latent cause inference – suitable applicants will have experience with computational modeling, behavioral studies and sometimes fMRI, and clever experimental designs to test hypotheses.
Graduate students
Q: Are you accepting graduate students next year?
A: We are expecting to have an opening for a graduate student in the next application cycle (Fall 2026 for matriculation in Fall 2027). In general, we look for students who have background and interests in psychology, neuroscience and computational modeling. This is a tall order, we know, but luckily there are some of you out there! To be considered for a graduate student position in the lab you must apply through either the Psychology or Neuroscience graduate programs (see the links for more information). You cannot apply directly to the lab. The deadline for applications is around November each year.
Q: What are the admissions criteria?
A: Admissions decisions are based primarily on your research experience and interests, your reference letters, and past academic performance (though the latter is the more minor consideration — grad school is not about taking classes, but about doing research). Having an idea of the sort of research you are interested in is important so that I can assess whether your interests are aligned with what we do. For more information about how to write your application, please take a look at this page. Please be advised that regardless of how well you fit our lab and/or program, spots in both the Psychology and Neuroscience graduate programs are very limited, and so nothing can be guaranteed and you are encouraged to apply to more than one school. If the application fees for different schools are prohibitive, please know that you can request a waiver at most schools, and definitely at Princeton, by emailing a request to the graduate school. When we review applications, we do not know who had a fee waiver and who did not, so getting a waiver can not affect your chances of admission.
Q: Can you tell me what are my chances to be accepted to your lab/the Psychology graduate program/the Neuroscience graduate program, based on my CV and statement of interests?
A: No. We have an admissions process and all decisions are made after all applicants have formally applied to the different programs (see links above). If you wish to be considered for one of the graduate programs, please apply. If you are applying and are specifically interested in working in our lab, please mention this interest in your research statement, so that your application is flagged for my attention. Please note that in your application, you are asked to specify up to three faculty you would like to work with. We consider what you write there as an ordered list. Even if you mention me first, you do not have to email me in advance, although you can do that if you are so inclined. I will probably not answer in detail, but I will tell you if I think this is definitely not a good match, so you can save your time and money (tbh, I have two form responses, one for “not a good match” and one for “potentially a good match” so in any case the response is slightly tailored to you, but often not a personally crafted email). Also, for equity reasons, I cannot meet with any candidate (on zoom or otherwise) before the formal admissions process starts.
Q: If I were to be accepted, can you provide funding for my studies?
A: Yes. All full time PhD students admitted to the lab are guaranteed funding for the normal time of completion of their degree. This money comes from various sources including student scholarships, teaching assistantships, central university funds for student support, and research grants. The details of where your support comes from should not be of concern to you, and I cannot possibly discuss any financial arrangements until after you have been admitted. However, all graduate students in the lab (and in our programs in general) are fully funded.
Q: Should I apply to the Neuroscience program or the Psychology program?
A: To decide on which program suits you most, the main question you should ask yourself is: am I primarily interested in understanding learning and behavior, and knowing about the brain (or using neuroimaging) is but one of the tools I use (in which case you should apply to Psychology) or am I primarily interested in understanding the brain and how it realizes learning and behavior (in which case you should apply to Neuroscience). You should also read the information on the websites of the two programs (click here for Psychology and here for Neuroscience) to determine which program is best for you, as the course of studies in the two is quite different.
Q: I am a graduate student in another program and only want to come visit for a semester (or shorter). Is that possible?
A: Students in a graduate program in any country can potentially apply for a short-term visit as Visiting Student Research Collaborators (note: this is a program you have to apply for, and there is a whole process and constraints). We have had several successful visits, but we do not have the ability to host more than one visitor per year. Contact me if you are interested and have a concrete plan for how this visit will enhance your research and also be beneficial to us. Note that these visits are self-funded.
Research Assistants
Q: Can I work as a research assistant in your lab?
A: Princeton University (rightly) does not allow us to accept volunteers in our lab, and all research assistant positions are paid positions. Undergraduates in Princeton who are interested in our work can work in the lab as hourly employees during the school year, or by enrolling in a research course, or as summer interns (see below). If you have already graduated from college and are looking for a full time research assistant position, check in with me by email. We typically have one or two full time research assistants/lab managers, and expect full time research assistants to stay in the lab for two years. We therefore hire ~1 research assistant per year. Right now we are at full roster.
Q: Do you accept foreign research assistants?
A: Unfortunately, due to visa regulations we cannot secure a work visa (or any other immigration-related documents) to the USA for foreigners interested in working in the lab at a post-bac level. Unless you have a Master’s degree or you are coming as a graduate student, we cannot hire you to the lab. This is beyond our control. We do sometimes hire international students on OPT, but cannot provide OPT STEM extensions, so this can only be for one year.
Interns
Q: Do you accept undergraduate summer interns?
A: We do have paid summer internships available in the lab, through a variety of different programs. If you are a Princeton undergraduate student interested in a summer internship, please contact us early (around March at latest) so we can establish whether you will be a good fit for the lab, and apply for different sources of funding for your summer work. If you are not a Princeton student and are a member of a group that is underrepresented in academia, please apply through the PNI Summer Internship Program. Please feel free to also email me directly with a CV and short description of your research interests, so I can flag you as appropriate for my lab in particular.
Q: Do you accept foreign undergraduate interns who have their own funding?
A: Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to secure a visa to the USA for foreigners interested in a short internship. So the answer is no. This is beyond our control.
Q: Do you accept high-school students that are looking for a way to experience science hands-on?
A: Unfortunately, we do not currently have the womanpower resources to accept and train high-school students. I am sorry. I wish you luck with your research.
(Some of the above was adopted from Sam Roweis’s FAQ. Thank you, Sam.)