The Research Assistant Mentoring Program (RAMP) is an easy yet efficient way for a freshman or transfer student to find what lab works best for them.
Lori Astheimer, neurotrack advisor and psychology lecturer, who runs the RAMP program, ensures all students in the program are comfortable with the lab they are in. Consisting of a class with around 20 students, RAMP aims to match psychology majors to a 1-2 credit research assistantship. There are weekly meetings as well as a mentor who is already in the established lab that shadows RAMP students.
Yasmeen Zureiqi, a UMass Sophomore Psychology major, has found her passion through RAMP with the Violence and Trauma Across the Lifespan Lab, aka, the ViTAL Lab.
As a freshman, Zureiqi’s reasoning for applying for RAMP stemmed from her love for pursuing research in high school and interest in the UMass psychology labs, but the limited number of lab spots made her hesitant. RAMP was the perfect way to introduce her to research and new possibilities.
“I found RAMP and it was just a shot in the dark applied, and I got in,” she said. “I absolutely loved it.”
With RAMP, it helps through every step of the process. It opens horizons on understanding research articles and how to further provide information for the lab a student is in.
“Even the word ‘research’ is scary to freshmen,” Zureiqi said. “I’m really happy that this is how I got introduced to research.”
In the ViTAL Lab specifically, they are extremely flexible on what they research. A specific study that Zureiqi helped conduct her freshman year in the RAMP program was the “stress, parenting, and child emotions (SPACE)” study.
This particular review focused on caretakers with experiences in trauma and how it can affect their child's mental health and development.
As stated in the study directive, “We know that caregiver's emotions and behaviors have a strong influence on children during the preschool period; however, optimal caregiver functioning is often compromised by trauma. Therefore, we are aiming to examine how caregivers experiencing significant stress manage their children’s emotions, especially their fears and worries.”
The ViTAL Lab, along with many other psychological and brain sciences labs, is full of new and exciting research. Many students can have the opportunity to help the broader community, such as Zureiqi, who now is a current research assistant completing her honors thesis for the lab.
“I absolutely love my lab, it's everything,” Zureiqi said.
With RAMP, it matches up psychology students with a fresh start to research. With a new beginning as a freshman or transfer student in college, the program introduces students with a step-by-step guide to learning how to properly work in a lab.
“This is one of the best opportunities PBS offers for anyone who wants to get involved in research!” Zureiqi said.
As an incoming freshman or transfer student, RAMP is a perfect way to further explore what kind of research students can do as a psychology major, and how to further look into the career path to pursue.
—Alexa Sales '26