THE I/O PSYCHOLOGY AREA
ACADEMIC EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Outside of coursework, research, and internships, the I/O program also offers a number of opportunities for professional development. This includes the bi-weekly brownbag, national and international conferences, and joining committees dedicated to helping the I/O area. In addition, there are a number of resources available to students of this program, which we review here.
RESEARCH SPACE
All graduate students in I/O psychology are offered office space. We are dedicated to providing adequate space for students to work, research, and fulfill their teaching assistant duties. Typically, students share their office with one other graduate student. This allows a balance between having a quiet, private workspace, and having another graduate student around with whom to brainstorm, pitch research ideas to, and socialize.
There are also a number of other rooms and spaces for students to conduct group meetings and research. We have a resource library dedicated to the I/O area, which contains resources for students as well as provides a space for multimedia presentations to small groups. This is essentially a small conference room that can be booked and used by students for their research and academic purposes. There are also a number of research spaces available to all graduate students, including library research rooms, study spaces, and computer labs.
For more information on the study and research spaces available, click here.
I/O AREA EVENTS AND COMMITTEES
All graduate students in I/O psychology are eligible to receive two types of internal funding. These sources of funding are the Western Graduate Research Scholarship (WGRS) and Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA).
BROWN BAG TALKS
Our program encourages collaboration on and dissemination of research conducted by our students. As a way to faciliticate this dissemination, and to aim in the development of collaboration, the I/O area hosts bi-weekly "brown bags" throughout the fall and winter terms. These brown bags are talks given by students or, occasionally, faculty members, presenting past, ongoing, and future research projects. Not only is this a chance for students to remain aware of the research being conducted in teh area, it also provides an opportinity for the presenter to receive preliminary critical feedback in a friendly, relaxed environment. Occasionally, guest speakers will give presentations, and these visiting presenters may include local consultants, faculty members from other departments, and guest researchers from other parts universities around the world.
ANNUAL SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO I/O AND OB STUDENT CONFERENCE
Each year, one of three universities (Western University, University of Guelph, and University of Waterloo) hosts a conference specifically created for I/O students in Ontario. This conference is not only designed to help students stay in touch with other student's research, it typically also includes talks from both academics and practitioners about their work, their career path, and life after graduate school. In the past, conferences have also included student talks, poster sessions, and breakout discussions on nuanced topics and issues in I/O research. Following the conference, there is also a dinner hosted in the town where the conference is being held which allows students to get to know and socialize with other graduate students across the province. This conference is a great opportunity for graduates students to get to know their peers, to receive and provide feedback on research from other students currently undergoing graduate training, and to begin cross-university collaborations.
COMMITTEES
There are a number of ways students can get involved in the I/O department. Interested students can volunteer to join one (or more!) of the committees listed below. These committees are made up of and run exclusively by students.
I/O Social Media and Website Committee
Brownbag Committee
D.N.J. Resource Library Committee
I/O Student Conference Committee
CONFERENCES
Aside from the events hosted by and for our own students, there are a number of national and international conferences at which I/O students typically present their research findings. These conferences take our students to locations around the world, and allows them to not only present their own findings, but to remain in touch with other research in the I/O area and attend workshops and networking events.
Below are some of the conferences commonly attended by I/O students:
