AHBRI offers two opportunities for graduate students to receive research training:

• Graduate Research Internship: 3 credit hours, 1 day/week minimum
• Graduate Research Fellowship: 9-12 credit hours, 30 hours/week minimum

Graduate research interns and fellows work under the supervision of Chad Werch, Ph.D., professor and director. Werch has more than 20 years experience in conducting research focused on the prevention and etiology of substance abuse. Werch currently serves as the principal investigator of several National Institutes of Health funded research projects examining substance use and the efficacy of brief intervention strategies for adolescents and young adults.

• Developing and implementing research methods and protocols, including subject recruitment and consent, randomization, data collection, and data analysis.
• Developing, administering and testing innovative, science-based interventions aimed at preventing harm and promoting health among high risk populations.
• Creating, managing and manipulating data and data sets.
• Conducting statistical analyses using SPSS operations and applications.
• Preparing research abstracts for presentation at national or international professional meetings.
• Conducting systematic in-depth reviews of published research.
• Conducting investigator-initiated research or secondary data analyses as a Principal Investigator.
• Developing PowerPoint slides for oral or poster presentations of research findings.
• Writing and submitting research manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals.
• Assisting AHBRI collaborating scientists and faculty research associates on research projects under their supervision.

Credit Options for the AHB Research Institute Internship/Fellowship include:

• HSC 7905 Advanced Independent Study (master’s and doctoral students)
• HLP 7979 Advanced Research (Doctoral students in year two of their program, but not yet admitted to candidacy for the degree)

AHBRI interns and fellows receive appointments for one academic semester. Appointments begin on the first day of classes, and end on the last day of classes, as specified for the term by the University of Florida Registrar. For students requesting course credit, they typically complete about 40 hours of work for each credit earned. Part-time interns typically complete about 120 hours of work (for 3 credits) during the term, including spending at least one full workday each week at the institute. Full-time fellows typically complete from about 360 to 480 hours of work (for 9-12 credits) during the term, including spending 30-40 hours per week at the Institute and field research sites.

Interns and fellows who perform at an outstanding level maybe invited to re-apply for subsequent internship/fellowship awards. Fellowships may be requested without course credit if desired.