duke psychology and neuroscience phd

G-PSY-PHD - Psychology & Neuroscience- PhD

Degree designation.

The Department of Psychology offers graduate training leading to the PhD in psychology. This unique program merges social sciences and natural sciences in the study of brain, behavior, and cognition in humans and animals. Program tracks are offered in clinical psychology, cognition/cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, social psychology, and systems and integrative neuroscience.

Elizabeth J. Marsh

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience

Gary Bennett PhD

Core Faculty

Gary Bennett, PhD

[email protected]

Focus Areas

PhD, Duke University

MA, Duke University

BA, Morehouse College

Gary G. Bennett is the Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, Global Health, and Medicine at Duke University and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. He directs Duke’s Global Digital Health Science Center (Duke Digital Health), which leverages digital health technologies to improve health outcomes in medically vulnerable populations. Dr. Bennett also leads the Duke Obesity Prevention Program and holds an appointment in the Duke Cancer Institute.

Dr. Bennett’s research program designs, tests, and disseminates digital health obesity treatments for primary care settings that serve medically vulnerable populations.  Dr. Bennett developed the interactive obesity treatment approach (iOTA), which has been evaluated in several trials, both domestically and abroad. His recent work has demonstrated the effectiveness of coach-led, digital health weight loss and hypertension control interventions delivered via web, smartphone, and interactive voice response systems. His recent intervention trials in medically vulnerable communities have been the focus of numerous invited addresses for professional and lay audiences alike. He has authored more than 125 scientific papers in the past decade and his research program has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Bennett has served on numerous NIH committees, grant review panels, editorial boards, and guidelines councils. Dr. Bennett is committed to the dissemination of evidence-based treatments; he serves on science advisory and executive boards of several community, professional, and commercial organizations. He also co-founded two digital health startups: Crimson Health Solutions (acquired by Health Dialog in 2007) and Scale Down. Prior to joining Duke in 2009, Dr. Bennett served on the faculties of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Bennett earned a bachelor's degree at Morehouse College, followed by doctoral studies in clinical health psychology at Duke University, a clinical psychology internship at Duke University Medical Center and postdoctoral studies in social epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

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My research is rooted in the exploration and understanding of the intricate tapestry of human consciousness. I am particularly fascinated by its myriad manifestations and the potential for our various conscious states to be harnessed as tools for individual and collective development.

My investigations are organized around four main pillars: creativity, mind wandering, dreaming, and the use of psychedelics. Each of these areas offers a unique lens through which to examine the depth and breadth of human consciousness, providing rich insights into our most elusive cognitive processes.

In the realm of creativity, my investigations delve into the mechanisms of innovative thought, seeking to understand how we can stimulate and cultivate this capacity to bolster productivity, refine problem-solving abilities, and spark novel insights. I’m interested in the conditions and cognitive processes that foster creative breakthroughs, with the goal of mapping the landscape of our creative consciousness.

In the arena of mind wandering, I explore the subtle interplay between directed thought and spontaneous cognition to shed light on the complexities and potential benefits of our minds' natural propensity to wander, and I examine methods with which we might reap the benefits of our untethered minds.

Dreaming is another, related, dimension of consciousness that I explore, with research that aims to unravel the cognitive underpinnings of our dream states. By seeking to understand the psychological correlates of dreaming, I aim to uncover how these unique conscious states may serve as catalysts for creativity and problem-solving.

Finally, my research delves into the potentially transformative properties of psychedelics. In this line of work, I aim to dissect the nature of psychedelic-induced states of consciousness to shed light on their implications for cognitive flexibility, creativity, and therapeutic outcomes. My research in this area focuses on deciphering the possible routes by which these substances may broaden our perception and augment our cognitive and creative faculties.

The ultimate goal of my program of research is to reveal the potential hidden within our diverse conscious states so that we can develop methods by which people can enhance their creativity, productivity, and problem-solving abilities. As we advance in our understanding of these states, we find ourselves better equipped to cultivate them in ways that might profoundly enrich our lives. This quest for understanding underscores my commitment to an integrative and humanistic approach to psychology, grounded in rigorous scientific investigation.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Education, training & certifications.

Psychology and Neuroscience: PhD Career Outcomes Statistics

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Research specialist position @ university of pennsylvania, philadelphia pa.

The research lab of Dr. John Trueswell is hiring a full-time research specialist (i.e., lab manager/coordinator) to help conduct language learning studies with children and adults. Some of these studies will involve eye-tracking studies of participants as they respond to spoken instructions. The successful candidate will have frequent interactions with postdocs, graduate students, research assistants, and will have plenty of opportunities for scientific involvement in all aspects of research projects including journal articles and conference presentations. Thus this position is an excellent stepping stone for someone planning to go to graduate school in psycholinguistics — individuals previously employed in this position are now star graduate students, postdocs and even professors within psychology and linguistics. This is a one year term appointment position.

Responsibilities:

• Assisting lab members and the PIs in the running of experiments
• Designing, running and analyzing experiments with infants, children, and adults
• Developing experimental materials, and data management/analysis
• Recruiting participants
• Coordinating and training undergraduate research assistants
• Assisting in planning lab events and meetings
• Additional duties include management of human subject information, assisting in the reporting of information to funding institutions and Penn’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), and lab scheduling

Qualifications:

Essential qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Linguistics, Computer Science, or Cognitive Science 
• 0-1 year of research experience, preferably with children or infants (an equivalent combination of education and experience can be considered).
• Excellent organizational and communication skills (especially with young children and families).
• Be detail-oriented, motivated, creative, organized, and able to work independently
• Experience is required in Microsoft Excel and statistical analysis software (preferably R, SPSS and/or MatLab). 
• Be able to jump from low- to high-level amount of work smoothly and work under pressure when deadlines are approaching

Preferred qualifications:

• Prior experience in psychology research and/or computational modeling.
• Proficient programming skills, ideally in Javascript, Python, and/or R.
• Flexible work availability is desirable.

Click here for more information and to apply

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Three Duke Psychiatry Faculty Members Win School of Medicine Awards

Three Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty members— Melanie Bonner, PhD , David Madden, PhD , and Joseph McClernon, PhD —have won 2024 School of Medicine awards.

Excellence in Professionalism Award

Melanie bonner, phd.

Professor in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Assistant Dean of Student Services in the School of Medicine

The Excellence in Professionalism Award recognizes a faculty member who exemplifies professionalism and personifies Duke’s guiding principles of respect, trustworthiness, diversity, teamwork, and learning.

Dr. Bonner’s work spans across patient care, research, education, and leadership. Since 1999, she has served as the director of the pediatric neuropsychology service, where she has trained practicum students, interns, and post-doctoral fellows. She’s also an associate member of neuro-oncology at the Duke Cancer Institute and works closely with the pediatric brain tumor program.   Dr. Bonner’s research focuses on evaluating and remediating cognitive functioning in children with illnesses that impact the central nervous system. She has co-authored more than 85 journal articles and several book chapters and has delivered more than 130 presentations and invited talks.   Dr. Bonner teaches, supervises, and mentors clinical psychology doctoral interns and graduate students, as well as teaching graduate psychology courses. From 2004 to 2015, she served as the director of graduate studies in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. In September 2023, Dr. Bonner was named assistant dean of student services for the School of Medicine.

Dr. Melanie Bonner is the epitome of professionalism. She is warm, kind, approachable, humble, and a leader in our community. Dr. Bonner is admired for her endless energy, affable spirit, and brilliant mind. I truly have no idea how she is able to do all that she does. Patients, students, and faculty turn to Dr. Bonner for help because we all know of her competency, compassion, and integrity. — Chris Mauro, PhD, associate professor and nominator

Career Mentoring Award in Basic and Translational Science Award

David madden, phd.

Professor in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Chair of the Scientific Review Committee in the Center for Brain Imaging & Analysis

The Research Mentoring Awards recognize faculty members for excellence in research mentoring. Excellence can be demonstrated by the accomplishments of individual mentees, by programs implemented by the mentor, or by exceptional creativity in mentoring.

Dr. Madden’s research focuses on the cognitive neuroscience of aging, including the investigation of age-related changes in perception, attention, and memory, using both behavioral measures and neuroimaging techniques.

The behavioral measures have focused on reaction time, with the goal of distinguishing age-related changes in specific cognitive abilities from more general effects arising from a slowing in elementary perceptual processes. The neuroimaging techniques help define the functional neuroanatomy of those cognitive abilities (e.g., selective attention, memory retrieval, and executive control processes).

Dr. Madden’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1980, and he has co-authored nearly 200 scientific publications during his career.

Dr. Madden’s research program relies on the participation of investigators with different perspectives and types of expertise. In mentoring of postdoctoral fellows and students, he emphasizes an appreciation of the previous findings and theories leading to current research projects, as well as the development of the collaborative skills needed to conduct interdisciplinary research.

“I nominated Dr. Madden for this award because he is an accomplished researcher, thoughtful mentor, and delightful colleague who views mentorship as a passion more than an embedded component of his job duties. As a first-generation woman researcher from a low socioeconomic background, his individualized mentorship during my postdoctoral training has contributed significantly to my growth as an independent scientist.” — Jenna Merenstein, PhD, postdoctoral scholar and nominator

Career Mentoring Award in Clinical Research including Population Health Research and Data Science

Joseph mcclernon, phd.

Professor in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Associate Director, Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute

Dr. McClernon’s research is focused on increasing understanding of the behavioral and neurobiological bases of tobacco use, developing new and more effective interventions to address nicotine dependence, and informing the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) regulation of tobacco products. 

Dr. McClernon has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health, FDA, and foundations since 2002, has co-authored 180 scholarly publications, and has two patents. 

He has served in several leadership roles in the Duke Clinical and Transitional Science Institute; in 2023, he was named associate director of the institute. 

Throughout his career, Dr. McClernon has actively mentored high school students, undergraduates, research staff, graduate students, medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty at Duke and beyond. Many of his former trainees are faculty or staff scientists at academic medical centers, government agencies, and research institutes. While a division director in Psychiatry, he instituted a monthly group mentoring program (“Joe with Joe”)—which lasted nearly a decade—and a travel award for early career investigators.

“Dr. McClernon is the most wonderful mentor imaginable. His guidance and support have been instrumental in the development of my scientific research success and career goal to be an academic physician-scientist focusing on tobacco research. I am excited and honored to have Dr. McClernon as a life-long mentor and collaborator.” — Dana Rubenstein, Duke University medical student and nominator

The awards were presented on May 13 at the 2024 School of Medicine Spring Faculty Celebration, held at the Doris Duke Center at Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

Learn more about the 2024 School of Medicine faculty awards and award winners .