Psychology Undergraduate Research Readiness (PURR) Program
PURR Fall 2025 Updates
PURR has undergone some updates. Last year, PURR experimented with a structure that included course registration. This year we have a more flexible structure in that 2-3 workshops will be held across the semester. The workshops will cover a range of professional development topics. Information about these workshops will be updated to this website, as well as flyers sent to the department. Stay tuned for additional information!
Workshop Materials
Spring 2025 Workshop Recordings
PURR Resources & Guides
Meet the PURR Team!
Dr. Christine Coughlin is an Assistant Professor in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Area at UIC. Her research leverages behavioral and neuroimaging methods to investigate how memory improvements contribute to the development of flexible cognitive abilities, such as future event imagination, reasoning, and creativity. As a first-generation college student, Dr. Coughlin is passionate about supporting students from all backgrounds. Outside of work, she loves burritos, pups, and the outdoors!
Dr. Josefina Bañales is an Assistant Professor in the Community and Applied Developmental Psychology Area at UIC. Dr. Bañales infuses her personal experiences as a Mexican American woman who is a first-generation high school, college, and doctoral student from the Southwest side of Chicago with her community-engaged research with youth of color in schools and community organizations. As an undergraduate student, Dr. Bañales completed the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). With the CAMBIAR Collective, her research examines how youth develop beliefs, feelings, and actions that challenge racism (i.e., youth critical racial consciousness development). In collaboration with youth, schools, parents, and community organizations, she co-creates opportunities that facilitate youths’ critical racial consciousness development. Dr. Bañales loves hot black coffee, singing, and walking at a very leisurely pace.
Josh is a doctoral candidate in the Community & Applied Developmental Psychology Program at UIC. Josh earned his BA in psychology from Duke University. Prior to pursuing graduate studies, Josh was a Fulbright Scholar in South Korea, where he spent three years teaching ESL to a wide range of students. He is broadly interested in the social and behavioral contexts of learning, especially in the social-emotional competencies of teachers and how this impacts a variety of factors in the classroom and school ecology. Josh has a passion for teaching and pedagogy and wants to explore teaching-oriented careers after completing his PhD.
Taylor is a doctoral candidate in the Brain & Cognitive Sciences Program. She earned her BS from the University of South Carolina and moved to Chicago to start at UIC right after her graduation. She is interested in problem-solving, and her current research focuses on insight problem-solving and the Aha! experience in the real-world context of computer-programming. In the future, she wants to explore a career in industry because she loves using data and stats to answer real-world questions.
Have More Questions?
Please email PURR@uic.edu if you have additional questions.