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BACKGROUND:
Title: Ergonomics (MS, PhD). Contact: Michael S. Wogalter, Ergonomics and Experimental Psychology Coordinator, North Carolina State University, Department of Psychology (Box 7801), Raleigh, NC 27695-7801; 919/515-1726; wogalter@ncsu.edu, http://www.ncsu.edu/psychology. Est: 1966. Semester. Granted last 3 years: MS 10, PhD 3. Part-time: yes. Program: Emphasis on cognitive/perceptual aspects of human factors such as: identifying design principles for effective visual displays; evaluating important factors for visual and auditory spatial judgments; human-computer/technology interaction; and developing procedures for effective information transfer in the context of complex systems and hazardous products and environments. Students gain broad knowledge through a structured program that also allows individual specialization. Goal is to produce HF professionals equipped with a broad range of methodological tools and able to deal with a wide variety of problems in diverse settings. Although each student will also specialize in a limited topic area, such depth is expected to enhance, rather than substitute for, breadth of training. Additional outside courses may be taken in a variety of fields, including design, statistics, and industrial/organizational psychology. The psychology and industrial engineering ergonomics programs cooperate in curricula offerings. Although specific requirements differ, students from both programs take many courses together. Occasionally, psychology students work on research with faculty members. Students in both psychology and IE cooperate in running an active NCSU Student Chapter of HFES. Accredited by: HFES. HFES student chapter: yes. Catalog: (free) http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_catalog/catalog.htm.

APPLICATION:
Deadline: 1/15. Fees: $ 55.00. Ergonomics Program requests a supplementary data sheet in addition to the university application and a departmental questionnaire. The university encourages on-line application; the supplementary data sheet and questionnaire are available from Student Services, Department of Psychology, NCSU, or on line from our forms Page (see main psychology Web site).

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: 3.0 (special consideration for nontraditional students; course-by-course review). GRE: 500 v, 500 q, 500 a. Other: Psychology Subject Test recommended but not required. Recommended: Undergraduate major in behavioral, biological, physical science, computer science, engineering, or mathematics. Successful applicants usually have a solid background in mathematics/statistics, experience in conducting research, a broad range of coursework in the sciences, experience in using computers, and at least one course in some area of experimental psychology. Research: medium. Work experience: low. Letters: high. Interview: low.

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: 22. Accepted: 8. Entered program: 4. Openings/year: 4-5.

TUITION AND FEES:
Residents: $1750/semester. Nonresidents: $6560/semester.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 50 (of full-time students). Historically, program students have had great success in finding a local ergonomics-related coop or internship positions with organizations. Most students are continually employed (part-time) after their first year. Amount: Typical TA = $12500 for 1/2-time, typical RA = $12500 for 1/2-time. Available: TA, RA; both usually include health insurance and tuition waivers, if certain conditions are met and the student carries a specified number of hours. Apply: with application.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 36 units, oral defense of proposal and thesis, thesis research, no languages or practical experience required, 2-3 years. Nonthesis option: no. PhD: 36 units (if MS at NCSU), 54 (if MS completed elsewhere), written and oral qualifying exams, oral defense of proposal and dissertation, dissertation research required (plus thesis, if not completed during previous MS program), no languages or practical experience required, 3 years.

CURRICULUM:
Required courses (units): HF in Systems Design (3), Visual Perception (3), History & Systems of Psychology (3), Ergonomic Performance Assessment (3), Human Information Processing (3), Statistics I and II (6), Biomechanics (3), and a graduate seminar/special topics course in either Human-Computer Interaction (3) or Warnings & Risk Perception (3) or similar course. Electives: Tests and Measurements (3), Stress and Coping (3), Organizational Psychology (3), Psychological Survey Operations (3), Advanced Problems in Perception (3), Skilled Operator Performance (3), Non parametric Statistics (3). Required courses outside department: 3. Elective courses outside department: 3. Offered: summer (research credit and statistics courses only). Class size: 8-10

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: More than 3200 square feet of laboratory space. Perception Labs: three visual "alleys" for studying visual spatial performance, equipment for measuring basic visual functions, a Laser-Badal optometer, apparatus for generating a variety of 2D and 3D displays; a 5-meter projection-VR VisionDome is available through cooperation of the School of Design; auditory localization studies are conducted in a large room with modifiable acoustical characteristics; an adjacent control room houses digital systems for creating/modifying stimuli; an anechoic chamber is available through cooperation of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The Human Information Processing and Ergonomics Labs provide a wide variety of experimental, computer-driven displays and test configurations; additional individual testing cubicles are planned. A scaled-facility power plant control room and a controlled environmental chamber are available through cooperation of Nuclear Engineering and the College of Textiles, respectively. Stress & Performance Lab: isolation test room, Coulbourn polygraph and several computers that run the Wright-Patterson Criterion Task Set as well as other cognitive tasks. Individual labs are equipped with computers, including new Max and MS-Windows machines and an assortment of PowerMacs. Clusters of additional computers are available for general word processing, data analysis, etc. Teaching: Teaching assistantships are typically 20 hours/week. Some TAs assist Introductory Psychology faculty with clerical duties and tutoring; others may conduct lab sessions for the undergraduate Methods/Statistics courses. Advanced students may be assigned to independent sections of courses in their areas of specialization, during either regular semesters or a 5-week summer session. Current research: How pilots perceive motion-in-depth under conditions of limited visibility; how pilots judge their trajectory to touchdown during emergency landings; the effectiveness of highlighting cues, such as color and blinking, at attracting attention on a computer display; the costs/benefits of using such cues; factors that influence the effectiveness of warnings; how people perceive risk and hazards; using technology to assist oler adults' cognitive processes; and the use of mental models in evaluating team training. Because of the university's convenient access to Research Triangle Park and to agencies/organizations such as the SAS Institute, IBM, NASA, NRC, HumanCentric Technologies and EPA, students are involved in various research projects in many applied settings.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 8 men, 10 women. First-year students: 1. Mean scores: MS/PhD students: GRE 530 v, 590 q, GPA 3.45.

FACULTY:
Barry H. Beith, PhD 1988, NCSU; HCI, workload, training. Sharolyn A. Converse-Lane, PhD 1988, Old Dominion U; visual display of complex information, human information processing, team training. Katherine W. Klein, PhD 1976, Wayne State U; individual differences and performance, survey techniques, stress. David W. Martin, PhD 1969, Ohio State U; attention, mental workload, mental models of decision making in risky environments. Christopher B. Mayhorn, PhD 1999, U of Georgia; aging, HCI, and medical decision making. Donald H. Mershon, PhD 1970, UC Santa Barbara; spatial judgments, vision, audition. Slater E. Newman, PhD 1951, Northwestern U; cross-modal interactions between vision and touch, materials and training for the visually impaired. Robert A. St. Amant, PhD 1996, U Massachusetts; HCI, intelligent user interfaces, artificial intelligence. Eric N. Wiebe, PhD 1996, NCSU; HCI, visual displays, cognitive ergonomics. Michael S. Wogalter, PhD 1987, Rice U; warnings and risk perception, HCI, visual and auditory information design.