What is it like to work in our lab?
  • Gain deep knowledge in human sensorimotor neuroscience. This may include upper limb motor learning, proprioception, multisensory integration, and their neural substrates.
  • Opportunities to learn cutting edge techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and advanced technologies for human behavior research (robotic manipulandum, gaze tracking, touchscreens).
  • Work on the lab's existing NIH and NSF-funded projects and co-author related manuscripts, and also develop your own ideas.
  • Access to neuroscience faculty throughout the campus who specialize in kinesiology, psychology, cognitive science, vision science, speech and hearing science, computer science, and medical science.
  • Opportunities to take or audit a wide variety of courses to build your skills and knowledge.
  • The chance to gain experience in teaching, mentoring, and science outreach, if desired.
  • We are a small research group, so you get lots of opportunity to interact with and learn from the lab director.

​We are located at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB), the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. IUB is a R1 Doctoral University, a classification meaning that it grants doctoral degrees and has very high research activity. 
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Because of the university presence, Bloomington, Indiana has a surprising amount of culture for a small city in the Midwest! Concerts, arts festivals, great restaurants, athletic events, etc. And it's a pretty affordable place to live. 
We went to the Society for the Neural Control of Movement annual meeting in Dublin, Ireland, July 2022. Here are our lab members with their posters! Left: Postdoc Trevor Lee-Miller. Right: PhD students Reshma Babu and Manasi Wali.
We run a week-long neuroscience camp for middle and high school girls. Previously this was in person (left), but in 2021 we went virtual (right)! It's a great way for lab members interested in outreach to get involved.

PhD students

Dr. Block is currently recruiting 1-2 new PhD students to start Fall 2024 ​
Requirements and details:
  • ​​Masters degree is not required, provided you have a strong academic record in a 4-year undergraduate degree (neuroscience, psychology, kinesiology, or related area) and some kind of lab-based research experience.
  • If accepted into the PhD program, you will automatically be fully funded by research/teaching assistantships. This funding covers your tuition, health insurance, and stipend for living expenses. 
  • The lab pays for PhD students to attend and present their research at one professional conference per year.

Our PhD students often choose to do a dual Kinesiology/Neuroscience program. This does not usually add time to obtain the degree, but does provide extra options for funding.
  1. PhD in Human Performance: Motor Learning/Control. School of Public Health.
  2. PhD in Neuroscience, College of Arts & Sciences. 

What is the PhD program here like? Everyone’s situation is different of course, but in general:
  • The PhD program takes about 5 years. 
  • PhD students spend their first two years taking classes and helping with existing projects in the lab: learning to use the equipment, to collect data, to program, etc. This is the time to think about what you might want to focus on for your dissertation.
  • In the third year students should finish their course work and complete their qualifying exam. Planning of the dissertation project should be well underway; the student should be collecting and analyzing pilot data and refining their ideas with their advisor's guidance.
  • In the fourth year students should have their dissertation proposal as soon as they are able. They should finish collecting data, along with any other lab projects they became involved with along the way, in the next year or two.
  • The dissertation defense is the last formal step of the PhD program. Most students will have several first-author publications (based on their dissertation work and other lab projects they have taken a major role in) and be co-authors on several other publications.

To receive full consideration, apply by December 1, 2023.  Before applying, prospective students should e-mail [email protected] with a CV or resume and unofficial transcript.

Undergraduates

Students interested in gaining experience in sensorimotor research are invited to contact Hannah Block. There are frequent opportunities for volunteering or independent/directed study in our lab.  

Female freshman and sophomores are encouraged to consider IU's Center of Excellence for Women in Technology (CEWiT) Research Experience for Undergraduate Women. This is an excellent way to gain some exposure to research and technology, and several of the undergraduates who work in our lab started out in this program.