JOIN OUR TEAM!

The QuERBY Lab is a diverse and dynamic group of scholars. We solicit and amplify the perspectives of people from a wide range of backgrounds. Our lab is committed to equity and diversity in our research group and we enthusiastically welcome applications from visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+ persons. Materials from all qualified applicants will be considered.

Prior research and/or clinical experience relevant to suicide science is valued but by no means required. Research on suicide has been growing exponentially in the past 20 years or so, but suicide science (suicidology) is still quite a small field. We expect that most prospective students applying to the QuERBY Lab will be relatively unfamiliar with suicide science. If you are looking for an overview of some key themes and findings in suicide science, Dr. Stewart’s list of required and recommended readings for PSYC 480 (“Self-Injury and Suicide”) is available here.

Many people are drawn to clinical psychological science, and research on suicide, in particular, because of personal experiences (e.g., one’s own, a friend’s, or a relative’s mental health problems). Undoubtedly, life experiences shape our career interests, trajectories, and goals in significant ways. Among other things, this can fuel one’s drive and sense of purpose. With that said, the QuERBY Lab’s focus is on understanding basic processes relevant to self-injury, suicide, and other self-destructive behaviours; although we think our findings are relevant to assessment and prevention, this is not the direct focus of our lab’s work. In considering the QuERBY Lab, reflect on your interests and determine whether a research focus on basic processes is a good fit for your learning and professional goals.

Below is a list of current positions available.

applications via the querby lab for the following Positions

Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellow

Current Openings: We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow to lead a project focused on the application of digital mental health technology in primary healthcare. Our industry partner is Harrison Healthcare, a private healthcare service with several locations in Western Canada. Dr. Jeremy Stewart (QuERBY Lab) is the academic supervisor for the postdoctoral fellowship, and the candidate is welcome to base their work out of the QuERBY Lab’s physical space, if desired, or to work in-person at one of Harrison Healthcare’s sites (Vancouver, BC; Calgary, AB). In-person work is not a requirement of the postdoctoral position - the candidate may work remotely from anywhere in Canada, if desired. The project lead with Harrison Healthcare is Dr. Boaz Saffer, the organization’s Chief Scientific Officer.

Project Description: Briefly, the primary goal of the project is to assess the psychometric properties of Harrison Healthcare’s Mental Health Assessment Technology (MHAT). MHAT is a screening tool, designed for use in primary care settings, that assesses 25 of the most common mental health conditions. In the current version, MHAT also provides the practitioner with focused follow-up questions based on the screener so that specific DSM-5-TR conditions may be assessed. Finally, MHAT generates comprehensive reports for primary care physicians. MHAT is a tool that aims to support primary care physicians - clinicians who deal with large amounts of mental health concerns without the benefit of specialized training - in making decisions (likely diagnoses, referrals) for their patients. The postdoctoral fellow’s main duty will be conducting validated semi-structured diagnostic interview and administering dimensional measures of psychopathology with primary care patients at Harrison Healthcare sites. Patients will complete both validated measures and MHAT. The postdoctoral fellow will manage and organize data collected, and will conduct statistical analyses aimed at learning more about MHAT’s psychometric properties. The postdoctoral fellow will engage in manuscript and grant writing activities. Outside of the MHAT project, there are ample opportunities for secondary data analysis and manuscript writing through the QuERBY Lab; these projects would focus on understanding the onset and escalation of suicidal thoughts and behaviours among adolescents and young adults. Other training opportunities in the lab (e.g., EEG/ERP and eye-tracking methods; gold-standard life stress assessment; interviews focused on suicidal thoughts and behaviours) are available as well.

If you are interested in this position, please also read about it here. For more information about the QuERBY Lab, please see our comprehensive FAQ (geared towards prospective graduate students, but includes general information about the lab).

Funding Details: The Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship, which provides postdocs with $120,000 over two years. There is flexibility to tailor the postdoc’s hours and type of work to meet the candidate’s needs and interests. The candidate must complete an application for this funding through the Mitacs website, and the review cycle for these applications tends to be 1-3 months. Funding success rates for this mechanism are very high, and the candidate will have support in preparing the application from Dr. Stewart and Dr. Saffer. An example of the Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship listing can be found here (NOTE: this is an example for BC Institutions. The listing might differ slightly for those applying with Dr. Stewart as the identified mentor).

Timeline: We would like to connect with and interview interested candidates ASAP. Our goal is to answer questions, determine fit to the project, and establish a groundwork to support the candidate’s application. Ideally, we would like the identified candidate to submit their Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship application by the end of September or early October, 2024. The desired start date for the Postdoctoral Fellowship is January 1, 2025.

How to Apply: At this stage, please email Dr. Jeremy Stewart to express your interest. In your expression of interest, please include a few sentences (in the body of the email) about why this opportunity is a good fit to your training goals. Also please include a few sentences on your relevant experiences and training, particularly how they connect to project goals. Please attach an up-to-date curriculum vitae as well. Use the button below to email Dr. Stewart directly from this portal.

applications via the department of psychology for the following Positions

Graduate Student

Current Openings: We ARE reviewing applications from prospective students this cycle (Fall 2025 admission). We will be looking for one (1) new graduate student to join our group; we will consider files from those applying to the Clinical, Cognitive-Neuroscience, or Development programs. Dr. Stewart is not able to supervise students who are applying to the Social Psychology program.

How to Apply: All applicants who wish to join our lab as a graduate student must submit their applications through a centralized portal that can be found here. Please review the general application guidelines and instructions found on the Queen’s Department of Psychology website carefully. In addition, our lab has created a comprehensive FAQ about applying to the QuERBY Lab, specifically. We strongly encourage applicants to review the FAQ prior to drafting their application materials.

Honours Thesis (501) Student

Current Openings: We are not currently recruiting new honours thesis students for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Position Description: For details about the requirements of the psychology honours thesis program at Queen’s, in general, please review information available from the Department of Psychology’s website. Honours thesis students who thrive in the QuERBY Lab tend to be intellectually curious, independent, highly motivated, and interested in an immersive experience in clinical psychological science. Students who are a strong fit for our lab are interested in research careers after graduation, and would welcome opportunities to present their honours thesis work at academic conferences and/or submit manuscripts based on their findings.

The lab uses questionnaires, interviews, behavioural observation, experimental tasks, electrophysiology, and ecological momentary assessment techniques to deepen understanding of self-destructive behaviours, particularly suicide. There are opportunities to carve out a thesis from a larger, ongoing project, to make use of rich archival data to test hypotheses, and to design a novel project. Please review honours thesis work from our former students for an illustration of the range of projects that our trainees have pursued.

Consistent with the honours thesis course requirements, QuERBY Lab honours students get experience conducting literature reviews related to their projects and have opportunities to get feedback on written and oral expression. Most students enter, clean, and organize data related to their projects; data analyses conducted by QuERBY Lab honours students tend to be relatively complex because of the nature of the dependent variables in many of our studies (e.g., zero-inflated count variables). Students are not expected to have mastered these statistical skills when they apply and receive ample support in learning the approaches that their projects require. To lesser and greater extents, honours students are expected to contribute to other on-going lab projects throughout the year (e.g., study advertising; participant recruitment; data collection; data cleaning and checking). The amount of additional lab work honours students are involved in depends on how time-intensive the data collection portion of their thesis project is; thesis work is prioritized above general lab needs.

How to Apply: The honours thesis application process is handled at the departmental level and coordinated by the PSYC 501 instructors. Review the course information and look out for updated information in early- to mid-February of each academic year.