Reflections on 2026 Undergraduate Placements at the CDL Lab

During January–May 2026, Zoe Morris and Robert Fortune have been working at the CDL lab as part of their undergraduate placement. As their internships come to an end, they have reflected on their experience. Their contributions have been invaluable and we were delighted to have them as part of our team. Continue reading to learn about their individual experiences:

Zoe Morris

My name is Zoe Morris. I am a third year undergraduate student in Psychology and Disruptive Technologies at Dublin City University. My time as a research intern at the CDL lab has provided me with firsthand experience of the different stages involved in psychological research. I worked exclusively on the Junior Engineer Development Initiative (JEDI). On this project, I was responsible for systematically entering data from participant worksheets. This task required significant patience due to the high volume of participants. This data entry also included coding each participant's ‘Draw An Engineer Test’, which examines children's perceptions of engineers and engineering. This was an interesting and insightful task.

Also, I had the opportunity to share the JEDI project at Explorium x UCD, an outreach event at Explorium - National Sport and Science Center. Here I worked alongside the JEDI team to engage children in engineering through hands-on, fun activities. Children could practice designing tea boxes and drawing engineers. This experience was a real highlight of my time at the lab, as I was able to see how interactive outreach can be and the impact community-based work can have in encouraging STEM interest among young people. Seeing the children's interest provided me with a rewarding counterpoint to the more tedious data entry work.

Throughout my placement, I also regularly attended CDL lab meetings and the ‘Helping Kids!’ labs; these meetings were fundamental in developing my understanding of how research works in a university setting and I learned the importance of collaboration in research. In the ‘Helping Kids!’ lab meetings, I gained a clearer understanding of the different child research topics being conducted at UCD and the challenges researchers can face when designing and conducting research.  Furthermore, I got the opportunity to hear from guest speakers from different countries, which was extremely beneficial. During the CDL journal clubs, I listened to others present and gave my own presentation, which taught me to critically examine research papers.

Overall, this experience has been incredibly beneficial for me, helping me develop a clearer understanding of research and my own interests. I am extremely grateful to the CDL team for allowing me to join them for this internship and to contribute to the JEDI project.

Robert Fortune

My name is Robert Fortune and I am a third-year undergraduate student at IADT, studying Applied Psychology. From January to May, I completed a research assistant internship at the Cognition Development and Learning (CDL) Lab as part of my professional practice placement. I was hoping for a hands-on research experience focused on cognition and development, and this is exactly what I found in the CDL Lab. The internship was varied, engaging, and academically challenging. 

At the beginning of my placement, I assisted in Shannon Rosbotham’s PhD research. Her work explores how children’s spatial skills relate to their mathematics performance using eye-tracking methods. Through Shannon’s guidance and the experience I gained, I developed a stronger understanding of spatial cognition in childhood and discovered a genuine interest in this area. One of my main goals for the placement was to find inspiration for my final-year thesis, and my conversations and work with Shannon have given me valuable direction moving forward. 

A major role of my placement involved working on the Junior Engineer Development Initiative (JEDI). This is an ongoing large-scale research project that aims to challenge stereotypes surrounding engineering and educate children about what engineering involves, with the long-term goal of expanding the intervention nationwide. My role mainly involved data coding and entry, which required a degree of independence and trust that allowed me to build initiative and confidence in my research ability. While some aspects of the work were a bit tedious, it provided an important insight into the attention to detail required to produce valid research findings. It was also rewarding to see children become engaged with the project and inspired to consider engineering as a possible career. 

In addition to my work on these two projects, the CDL Lab also hosts journal and writing clubs, which were some of my favourite parts of the internship. These meetings created opportunities to collaborate and exchange ideas with individuals working across different areas of psychology. Through these discussions, I gained valuable insights into psychology from peers at varying stages of education and research experience, and further developed my ability to interpret and critically evaluate psychological research. 

Overall, my time at the CDL Lab was an invaluable opportunity to develop my professional skills, strengthen my research ability, and learn from a team of highly motivated individuals. I would strongly recommend this internship to anyone interested in research and understanding how real-world psychological applications are developed. Finally, I would like to thank the CDL lab for their welcoming attitude and providing me with a space in which my education, confidence and capability have thrived.