Karen Chow

PhD in Cognitive Psychology, UB;
Senior Learning Scientist, Educational Technology Industry

One of the best things about my time at UB was the opportunity to expand my knowledge of psychology by taking courses and interacting with fellow graduate students and faculty who were outside of my domain of expertise. Given that psychology is a broad field, there are many sub-disciplines that I was unaware of, but the supportive interactions I had allowed me to not only see commonalities between my work and others, but also how I could incorporate novel ideas into my own research.

My current role as a Senior Learning Scientist involves developing educational content on a technological platform. Teaching undergraduates allowed me to develop the skills necessary to communicate learning concepts to engineers, designers, and marketing personnel. Additionally, the critical thinking skills I gained in research allowed me to make informed decisions that influence product design and goals.

My advice for students considering the Psychology graduate program at UB is to have a clear research question and understand how it can build upon and challenge what’s already known in the field. Most importantly, discussing your research ideas early on with a potential faculty mentor will allow you to test its viability over the course of the program and open up avenues for more impactful results.