The Psychology Research Festival has been a part of the the graduate program for over 50 years. This activity culminates in a formal presentation of work at the annual Psychology Department Research Festival, held at the end of Spring Quarter (typically the Wednesday after Memorial Day). Clinical students present at the end of their second year in the program. All other students present at the end of their first year.
The 2026 Research Festival will be in-person on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at the Waterfront Activities Center.
It is designed to emulate a professional scientific meeting as much as possible. Hence, there are two different rooms where talks are given simultaneously, and abstracts are provided along with the program. The talks are usually 15 minutes long with a 5 minute question and answer period.
Concluding the Festival, an Awards Ceremony will honor students who received the following: Distinguished Teaching Awards for Graduate Students, Alcor Graduate Student Fellowships, James Steele Endowed Scholarship Fund for Clinical Psychology (clinical grads only), the Earl (Buz) and Mary Lou Hunt Endowed Fellowship for Graduate Students in Psychology (for advanced students in their final few quarters to support dissertation writing), Steven A. Nomura Endowed Fund Fellowship, Jaeger Fellowship in Clinical Psychology, and the Kohlenberg Psychology Research Fellowship. The faculty recipient of the Davida Teller Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award will also be revealed during the ceremony.