Participate in Research

Participating in Research

University of Brighton students can take part in research through SONA, the university’s recruitment and participation system. Participating in research offers an opportunity to learn about projects investigating a range of topics and to see how psychology studies are conducted. All students are welcome to take part in research. Psychology students will have been allocated a SONA account at the beginning of Level 4. However, If you are a non-psychology student, please see details below for information on how to sign up to participate in research.

Signing into SONA 

You can find the link to sign into SONA on our Mithras Labs SharePoint site. See, SharePoint > School of Humanities and Social Science > Mithras Labs > Participating in Research.

If you are unable to access your SONA/If you have forgotten your password, please select ‘Forgotten Password?’. If the password reset email does not appear in your inbox, check your spam folder and contact the Lab (HSSpsychlab@brighton.ac.uk) if you are still experiencing any issues signing in.

Level 4 & 5 Psychology Students

Level 4 & 5 Psychology students will need to earn research points, in order to access their Level 6 SONA Researcher account. Please see below details on how many research points you will need to collect:

  • Current Level 4 Students (2024 – 2025) – Total of 30 Research Points across Levels 4 & 5
  • Current Level 5 Students (2024 – 2025) – Total of 30 Research Points across Levels 4 & 5

To manage your workload, we recommend dividing this up between your first and second year, e.g. For current Level 4 students, collect 15 Research Points in Level 4, and a further 15 Research Points in Level 5. However, there is no limit to the total number of Research Points you can collect.

Research points are awarded by researchers at varying points within their recruitment period. There may be a period of 1 – 2 weeks between participating in a study and receiving the research points. If you have not received the research points two weeks after participating in a study, please contact the Psychology Lab and we will look into this for you.

Level 6 Psychology Students

Level 6 Psychology students can still participate in research throughout their final year. Your SONA participant account will remain active to allow you to sign up and participate in research.

If you are looking to set up your study on SONA, please see our ‘Qualtrics, SONA & Teams Workshops’ webpage for details on how to do this.

Non-Psychology Students

If you are not a psychology student and would like to take part in research, you can create a SONA account by contacting the Lab (HSSpsychlab@brighton.ac.uk) for access to the University of Brighton SONA link. Once you have access to the link, you will need to select ‘Request Account’. You will then be given instructions on how to create a SONA account. For the Course, please select “Not from Brighton – participation only“.

Once you are signed into SONA, you can select ‘View Available Studies’ to view the list of studies that are available for you to sign-up to. This list will change regularly throughout the year, so please do keep checking back to see what studies are available. You will be able to click on the study Information Sheet, linked in the ‘Description’ section of the Study Information page, to find out more about the study. You will need to make sure that you fit the ‘Eligibility requirements‘ before signing up to a study. 

  • For in person & interview/focus group studies – Click on the study name, then “View Time Slots for This Study” to select and sign up to one of the available timeslots.

  • For online survey based studies – Click on the study name, then select ‘Sign Up’, then ‘Sign Up’ again to confirm your sign up.

The busiest recruitment period is between the end of January to the end of April each year. This is when 3rd year Psychology students will be recruiting for their dissertations, so keep an eye out for any studies you may be interested in participating in between these times. Studies are also be posted on SONA at other times throughout the year.

If you have any questions relating to signing up to SONA and/or participating in research, please do let us know. You can contact us using the email address below:

Email: HSSpsychlab@brighton.ac.uk (Andrea & Grace – Psychology Technicians)

SONA – Frequently Asked Questions

I can’t find my SONA log in details.

Psychology students – you will have been sent an email containing your SONA log in information within your first year of the course. If you are unable to find this email or are unable to log in using the details in the email, please select ‘Forgot Password?’ to send a password reset email to your university email account. If you do not receive this email or you are still unable to sign in, please contact the Lab (HSSPsychlab@brighton.ac.uk) and we will help you sign into your account. Please DO NOT click on ‘Request Account’.

Non-Psychology Students – please select ‘Forgot Password?’ to send a password reset email to your email you used to create your account.

I’ve signed up for a study but can no longer take part – Who should I contact?

Cancelling a Sign-up:

If you have signed up for an interview/focus group and/or an in-person study, but you are no longer able to take part, you will need to contact the researcher as soon as possible to let them know. 

It is possible to cancel a sign-up on SONA 24 hours before the timeslot you have signed up to. If you need to cancel a sign-up within 24 hours of a your timeslot, please email the researcher to let them know. You can find the contact details for the researcher on the Participant Information Sheet for the study you have signed up to and on the Study’s Information page on SONA (SONA homepage > ‘View or cancel my study appointments’ > Select the study from the list of ‘Study Sign-ups’ > See ‘Researcher’ for the researchers contact information).

Rescheduling a Sign-up:

If you are unable to take part in the study on the timeslot you signed up to, but are able to participate another time, you can arrange to reschedule your timeslot with the researcher. 

  • If you have cancelled your sign-up before 24 hours, you will be able to resign-up to the study on SONA. 
  • If you have cancelled your sign up within 24 hours of your timeslot, you will need to contact the Lab to rearrange your timeslot. The Lab will be able to re-sign you up to a new timeslot, provided there are timeslots available. Alternatively, if the researcher has coded your sign up as an ‘Excused No-Show’, you will be able to resign up to a timeslot for the study if there are timeslots available.

I have not received the research points for taking part in a study – What should I do?

Psychology Students Only – Research points are typically awarded by researchers within 1 – 2 weeks after you have participated in a study. If you have not received the research points for taking part in a study within 2 weeks, please contact the Lab (HSSpsychlab@brighton.ac.uk) and we will make sure the research points are awarded to you.

Non-Psychology students – If you are not studying a psychology or psychology joint honours course, you are not required to collect research points on SONA. Points may be added to your account after you have participated in a study; however, these will not count towards a researcher account on SONA or towards the research points prizes.