[page updated 02/2026]
Graduate Students
Yes we are open to considering new rotation students in 2026/27, either solely or in a co-advising role with another faculty member. Interested students who are enrolled in the Neuroscience or BME PhD programs are encouraged to email cfetsch@jhu.edu.
Postdoctoral Fellows
No current openings.
Undergraduate Researchers / Summer Interns
Maybe!
If you are highly self-motivated and interested in our research, please read on, then decide whether to email Chris according to the following instructions, borrowed/paraphrased with gratitude from my colleague Chaz Firestone. Otherwise I may not be able to respond; sorry!
Undergrads in our lab are usually responsible for far more of the design and execution of their own project, compared to research in other labs. This is not the kind of RA position where you would be one small cog in a big machine. For this reason, we are interested in especially dedicated undergraduates who ideally can devote 10 hours or more per week to research in the lab — initially on a volunteer basis, and then for course credit if needed. We do not have funds to support undergraduate RAs or summer interns.
Note that research with nonhuman primates is time-intensive and requires a fair amount of specialized training and regulatory oversight. Thus, it is unusual, though not impossible, for an undergrad RA to work directly with the monkeys. However, we do have a number of datasets that could support an analysis or modeling project, if you are handy with MATLAB or Python. We also occasionally conduct psychophysics experiments in human participants which can be a good fit for undergrad research. If interested in this, please mention it in your email!
If you are still interested, email cfetsch@jhu.edu with a copy of your CV and the subject line "labapp: [Your Name]", and answers to the following questions:
What is your class year and major (if you have one) here at Hopkins?
Why are you interested in getting research experience?
What interests you most about what we do? Broadly speaking, what would you like to study in the lab? A good way to approach this question is to share a thought about one of our recent papers, and make a suggestion about a new study or follow-up analysis (half-baked or speculative ideas are fine, in fact great! you do not have to understand the topic deeply or delve into great detail; that takes years!).
What relevant coursework or research experience have you had? (It's OK if the answer amounts to "not much".)
What experience, if any, do you have with computer programming? If none, are there any steps you're thinking of taking to acquire programming skills?