Interested in PEN program? Learn more here...

Fully-Funded Ph.D. Positions in Educational Neuroscience

 At Gallaudet University in Washington, DC

The Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) Program at Gallaudet University invites prospective students to apply to our Ph.D. program to start in Fall 2024. The program provides four years of full funding (domestic-rate tuition scholarships + $25,200 annual stipend + health insurance option). 

Educational Neuroscience is a growing field that focuses on vital aspects of learning in the developing child and is committed to communicating discoveries in meaningful ways for societal benefit. Students in our pioneering, bilingual American Sign Language-English program gain state-of-the-art cognitive neuroscience training in how humans learn, focusing on the neuroplasticity of visual learning processes. PEN students become experts in at least one cutting-edge cognitive neuroscience method (e.g., fNIRS, EEG, fMRI, psychophysiology), study neuroethics, gain robust critical analysis and reasoning skills in science, and receive leadership training through the VL2 Student Network to become academic/professional leaders on the world stage. Students develop their own research programs under close mentorship from our faculty. While becoming experts in neuroimaging and behavioral experimental science, students also learn powerful and principled ways that researchers can translate science to benefit education and society. 

We actively encourage applications from diverse applicants, including deaf and hard-of-hearing students, students with disabilities, and students from historically marginalized racial/ethnic backgrounds.

PEN is an interdisciplinary program housed in the NationalScience Foundation-Gallaudet University Science of LearningCenter, Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2), and enjoys a close relationship with the Petitto Brain and Language Center for Neuroimaging (BL2), the Motion Light Laboratory (ML2), and other centers and groups at Gallaudet and beyond.

PEN students also benefit from Gallaudet University’s local university consortium, which provides students access to courses taught in the Washington D.C. area. PEN students also have access to a national network of more than 20 cognitive neuroscience labs worldwide through formal Memoranda of Understanding.

PEN students can expect fellowship support through a combination of University and grant funding, direct mentoring support from individual advisors, and opportunities to apply for additional resources through a fund managed by the VL2 Student Network.   

The PEN program faculty consists of:

• Dr. Ilaria Berteletti (PEN Program Director; Associate Professor)
  Focus: Math and numeracy in the brain, fMRI.
  Numeracy and Educational Neuroscience Lab (NENS)
  
  

• Dr. Lorna Quandt (VL2 Co-Director; Associate Professor)
  Focus: Action, gesture, embodied cognition, EEG, virtual reality, educational technology 
  Action & Brain Lab (ABL)

• Dr. Rachel Pizzie (Assistant Professor)

Focus: Emotion and anxiety in academic environments, psychophysiology, fMRI. 

Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab (CAN)

• Dr. Bradley White (Senior Research Scientist)
  Focus: Neuroplasticity, language, bilingualism, reading, listening (hearing aids and cochlear implants), fNIRS, thermal IR, eye tracking/pupillometry
  Petitto Brain and Language Center for Neuroimaging (BL2)

Ready to take the plunge? Start your online application TODAY!

For information on how to apply and admission criteria, visit our application requirements page. ​​

Contact the PEN program at EdNeuroscience@gallaudet.edu.  

Questions about applications or the application website? Contact: graduate@gallaudet.edu

The deadline to apply for the PEN program is February 15, 2024.

Early applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

PEN Students, 2018