The Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED) within the Deakin School of Psychology is inviting applications from fourth year and Higher Degree by Research (HDR) psychology students for research internships with the SEED Systematic Review Hub. Internships will be available to full-time and part-time students remotely and across Deakin campuses.  

Currently we are recruiting interns to work on systematic reviews. Interns will develop advanced skills in the conduct of systematic and/or meta-analytic reviews. They will also delve into what constitutes high quality evidence when appraising studies found through systematic searches. 

Additionally, the SEED Systematic Review Hub is undertaking an ambitious program to create a Living Knowledge System; a system that enables systematic reviews to be continually updated to remain current and reflect the best evidence and contemporary answers to research questions of interest (e.g., What are the best, evidence-based treatments for building resilience in childhood?). Interns interested in the Living Knowledge System may also be offered the opportunity to gain experience with machine learning-aided systematic reviews. Interns will also be able to contribute to our SEED Living Knowledge portal that provides up-to-date evidence recommendations for clinicians, researchers and the community. 

Interns who meet authorship contribution criteria may also be named as an author on a published review. 

This internship is able to be completed online or on campus depending on the availability of the student and of the lead author of the review.

It is important that students take their internship commitment seriously and make a reliable and consistent contribution to their review team. In turn, the Systematic Review Internship Program will endeavour to accommodate student intern work and study commitments.   

The starting date of the internship will be arranged in alignment with relevant project timelines.

Fourth Year Student Internship

The fourth-year student internship is designed to align with and complement students’ fourth-year psychology studies. This internship is an unpaid position and all training will be provided.  

Internships comprise a 60-hour commitment (plus training). Shifts will be arranged to suit both interns and review teams. Interns will be required to complete 6 hours per week. The full internship period should therefore be conducted across a 10-week period (unless interns and review teams prefer to average hours differently across weeks).  

Essential criteria: Applicants must be currently completing their fourth year of Psychology studies and have successfully completed the fourth-year unit ‘HPS432/HPS742 - Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’ with a High Distinction. An interest in evidence synthesis is also essential. 

Higher Degree by Research Student Internship

Our HDR internship is designed to align with your HDR Program. This internship will provide valuable experience in systematic reviews and leadership, or progression to leadership, in a research setting. This internship is an unpaid position and all training will be provided.  

HDR interns will work closely with fourth-year interns. HDR interns with systematic review experience may be offered leadership roles on the review in which they support and mentor fourth-year students. HDR interns might also facilitate/contribute to meetings with the broader SEED team, and manage the development of systematic review plans and search terms, with support from the SEED leadership. 

Internships comprise a 60-hour commitment for full-time HDR students, or a 30-hour commitment for part-time HDR students. Shifts will be arranged to suit both interns and review teams. Interns will be required to complete no more than 6 hours per week (3 hours for part-time students). The full internship period should therefore be conducted across a 10-week period (unless interns and review teams prefer to average hours differently across weeks).  

Essential criteria: Applicants must be currently enrolled in a Psychology HDR program at Deakin University, have an interest in evidence synthesis, and have approval to undertake this internship from their HDR supervisor.  

Desirable criteria: Previous involvement working on a systematic review is desirable (but not essential). Preference will be given to students whose own research programs are aligned to the available review topics. 

The starting date of the internship will be arranged in alignment with relevant project timelines.  

How to Apply

Applications close on the 1st of March 2023. Systematic review internship positions are competitive. Preference will be given to students whose own research programs are aligned to the review topics. Students who do not receive an offer for a particular review can nominate to have their name retained on a register of students available for future review internship placements. 

Please review the above listed essential selection criteria. To apply please submit to kayla.mansour@deakin.edu.au : 

·         A copy of your CV 

·         A copy of your academic transcript (no need for it to be certified) 

·         A paragraph of expression of interest outlining why you think you would be a good fit for this internship (no more than 200 words) 

·         If you are a HDR student please also cc your supervisor in this email so that we can verify that you have approval from your supervisor to undertake this internship 

(This internship affiliated with Deakin SEED, and is not affiliated with the Men and Parenting Pathways Study)