Oscar Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Developmental Issues

Overview

The Oscar Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Developmental Issues offers two years of mentored research opportunities with an experienced and funded researcher from the Department of Psychology at San Diego State University. During the two-year Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellpwship, funding is provided for the Kaplan Fellow to think, write, participate in the research of an established laboratory, and develop his or her own research program with guidance from a team of experienced researchers. The overarching goal of the Fellowship is to develop the skills necessary to be successful in the highly competitive arena of university research and teaching (Announcement and Policies and Procedures).

This fellowship is funded from an endowment made available by the family of Dr. Oscar J. Kaplan, a distinguished Developmental Scientist specializing in gerontology. Dr. Kaplan has been called the “father of geriatric psychology.” In addition, he conducted one of the first major studies of the psychology of senile dementia, was instrumental in establishing the Western Gerontological Society, and served as president of Division 20 (now called the Division of Adult Development and Aging) of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Kaplan was a faculty member in the Department of Psychology from 1946 to 1994, serving as Chair of the department on two different occasions. He is considered the architect of the Department of Psychology at San Diego State University. The Oscar Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Development Issues, honors the life and work of Dr. Kaplan by providing young scholars the research and teaching opportunities necessary for launching productive careers in the Developmental Sciences (see Oscar Kaplan's Legacy).

Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellows work closely with an established and productive scholar in the Department of Psychology at San Diego State University. San Diego State is located in the city of San Diego California, considered “America’s Finest City.” For two years in a row, SDSU has been ranked the No. 1 most productive research university, among schools with 14 or fewer PhD programs based on the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index--Academic Analytics, 2007. In 2007, we ranked #1 among Psychology Departments in California in NIH funding with $7.3 million, followed by Stanford ($7.1 million) at #2, UCSD ($5.9 million) at #3, and USC at #4 ($5.1 million). We are also proud of having one of the top ranked APA approved PhD programs in clinical psychology in the U.S., which is offered jointly with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. The joint doctoral program was named No. 2 in the country in the 2006-07 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index rankings of best doctoral programs nationwide by Academic Analytics--November 2007, and was ranked No. 25 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools 2009."

Within the SDSU Psychology Department are several established research laboratories in the Developmental Sciences, including the Center for Behavioral Teratology, the Behavioral Health Institute, the Lifespan Human Senses Laboratory, The Cognitive Development Laboratory, The Child Language and Emotion Laboratory, The Developmental Laboratory for Language and Cognition, The Culture and Cognitive Development Laboratory, The Developmental Psychopathology Laboratory, and Brain Development Imaging Laboratory. In addition, many of the faculty have established collaborative relationships with researchers at other universities and nationally recognized research institutions, including the University of California - San Diego, the University of San Diego, the Salk Institute, the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center at Rady’s Children’s Hospital (CASRC), the Center Research in Mathematics and Science Education (CRMSE), and the San Diego Prevention Research Center. Needless to say, research opportunities abound for post-doctoral fellows within the beautiful surroundings and temperate climate of San Diego, California.