09/14/2026
Dr. Esther Leerkes is accepting a graduate student for the 2027-2028 academic year.
Dr. Leerkes’ primary research focus centers around parent-child relations in infancy and early childhood. Students working with Dr. Leerkes will serve as RAs on one or more studies focused on: (a) child and familial predictors of childhood obesity and other outcomes; (b) examining the impact of neighborhood dis/advantage on parents and young children; and/or (c) implications of mother and infant sleep for one another's wellbeing. Possible duties include assisting with data collection, data entry and scoring, data analysis, coding videos of mothers and children and working on dissemination efforts. Students also have many opportunities to work in interdisciplinary teams, review manuscripts, prepare research presentations and papers, learn about grant writing, supervise undergraduate research assistants, etc. Students will have access to data from iGrow/iGrowUp and several previously completed studies (e.g., Infant Parent Project, Triad Child Study, STAR study) for use for theses, dissertations, and publications/presentations.
Students who (1) are intellectually curious, (2) are passionate about research related to child development (temperament, emotion regulation, early behavior problems, weight/health), early parent-child relations, predictors of maternal sensitivity, and/or the psychobiology of parenting and early child development, (3) have prior research experience, good quantitative skills, comfort with infants/young children, and good interpersonal skills that facilitate working with diverse families in a team environment are encouraged to apply.
Applications are due December 15. Contact Dr. Leerkes at [email protected] for further information (https://www.uncg.edu/employees/esther-leerkes/)
Submit applications at https://gradapply.uncg.edu/portal/manage-application
Learn more about HDFS@UNCG here: https://hdf.uncg.edu/graduate/hdfs-ph-d/
