Join Our Team

Interested in joining the BISON Lab?

Visit our Research section to learn more about the projects we pursue and our Team section to explore our mission and values. Before applying, please also review the Undergraduate/Graduate Student Researcher Expectations in our Lab Manual to understand what is expected of lab members.

If you’re excited about bilingualism and the intersection of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, we’d love to hear from you!

Below, you’ll find specific information on how to apply to join the BISON Lab.

UCSC Undergraduate and Master's Students

UCSC undergraduate students interested in joining the BISON Lab as student researchers are welcome to apply at any time. Applications are accepted year-round, but admissions follow the UCSC quarter system. Priority is given to students who can commit to more than one quarter.

Students may participate in the lab in one of three ways:

Course credit: up to 4 units of APLX 199 (2–4 credits, where 1 credit = 3 hours of lab work per week)
Federal Work-Study (FWS): hourly pay, if eligible
Volunteer

Before applying, please review our Undergraduate/Graduate Student Researcher Expectations in the Lab Manual to understand what is expected of lab members.

To apply, please complete the BISON Lab Undergraduate/Graduate Student Researcher Application Form.

Additional Opportunity: Humanities Explore Program

UCSC Students who are interested in the following projects:

Using the N400 component to examine variation in monolingual and bilingual language processing
Voice Onset Time in Code-Switched Speech
Investigating Word Predictability on Points of Code-Switching

Also have the opportunity to apply to be a Fellow in the Humanities Explore Program, which runs during Winter and Spring quarters.

For program details and the application form, please visit: Humanities Explore Program – Bilingual Minds in Motion

Application deadline: October 19, 2025

Lab Manager (UCSC Undergraduate or Master's Student)

We are currently hiring a part-time Lab Manager for the 2025–2026 academic year!
Priority Deadline: October 1, 2025

For full job details and application instructions, please visit our Handshake posting: UCSC Handshake Job #10266488.

Eligibility:

Must be a currently enrolled UCSC student (undergraduate sophomore, junior, senior, or Master’s student).
Must be able to commit to at least three consecutive quarters (Fall 2025–Spring 2026).

Non-UCSC Undergraduate and Master’s Students

Undergraduate and Master’s students from other universities in the U.S. are welcome to apply to join the BISON Lab as volunteers. At this time, we can only accept students who are currently enrolled at a U.S. institution and who have U.S. work authorization.

Before applying, please review our Undergraduate/Graduate Student Researcher Expectations in the Lab Manual to understand what is expected of lab members.

To apply, please complete the BISON Lab Undergraduate/Graduate Student Researcher Application Form.

Prospective Ph.D. Students

The Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics does not currently offer a Ph.D. program. If you are a current Ph.D. student at UCSC (in another department) or at another institution and would like to discuss collaboration, please contact Dr. Ariel Chan at arielchan@ucsc.edu directly.

Prospective Postdoctoral Researchers

The BISON Lab is not currently accepting postdoctoral applications for the academic year 2026-2027.

In general, if you are interested in joining the lab as a postdoc, please email Dr. Ariel Chan (arielchan@ucsc.edu) with the following materials:

Your CV
Your expected Ph.D. graduation date
A brief statement of your research interests
A few ideas for potential projects you would like to pursue

Dr. Chan is open to collaborating on fellowship grant applications (e.g., National Science Foundation (NSF) SBE Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health (NIH) NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, or the UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship).

High School Students

The BISON Lab does not currently have opportunities for high school students to get involved in research.