Roshni L
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of Southern California (USC)

Expertise

Neuroscience, Consumer Behavior & Insights, Research Methods, Study Design & Data Collection, Psychology, Biology, Network Building & Connection Management

Bio

My primary research interest lies in uncovering the neural basis of the role of emotion in decision-making, specifically how this role may vary based on individual moral values. As an incoming second year PhD student at USC’s Brain & Creativity Institute, I use functional neuroimaging to understand how the brain encodes emotional information, and how this influences behavioral metrics. I have a background working with consumer behavior, previously using biometric data to gain consumer insights for a variety of marketing agencies at an applied neuroscience startup. I hope to use these academic passions to bridge the gap between industry and academia. Music has always been a big personal interest of mine, specifically the way music is created & consumed. I’ve made this interest into a side project in 2020 when the pandemic first hit and started a company with a friend in the interactive music space called Recordless. Recordless creates dynamic music that matches the mood and conditions of listeners, while giving artists insights, revenue, and unmatched creative power. As co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), I oversee artist outreach, product roadmap, general internal affairs.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Research Proposal Development

Develop your own research proposal, and maybe even collect some preliminary data! This would entail coming up with some ideas, doing a comprehensive literature review of the existing research, and identifying some tangential studies for the unanswered questions. Create a preliminary survey or research plan and collect some preliminary data (through simple surveys or user interviews) if possible!

Podcast Creation

Create the foundation to build your own podcast, exploring one of your passions. Start out with a few ideas of a podcast and set up the necessary platforms - many of which are free! Look into existing podcasts that explore similar interests, figure out what structure you resonate with, and come up with a plan for the first few episodes. This could include reaching out to potential guests, asking friends for interesting topics, and outlining topics for the first few episodes or even the first full season!

Coding skills

proficient in R, comfortable in python

Languages I know

Hindi, Fluent

Teaching experience

I began mentoring high school kids while I was working at Stanford in 2017, in subjects such as biology, psychology, and other basic science fields. During my applications to graduate school, I came across the mentoring program called Project SHORT and was able to be mentored through the application process. Once I got in, I began mentoring students myself through Project SHORT, and so far have mentored 5-7 students across the past year - many of whom have gotten into graduate programs this year!