Psychology & Neuroscience at UC San Diego
Psychology summer program for teens, located on a university campus in San Diego
Program Highlights
Residential Tuition :
$5,698
Commuter Tuition:
$3,298
Session 1:
June 29, 2025
July 11, 2025
Session 2:
July 13, 2025
July 25, 2025
Session 3:
July 27, 2025
August 8, 2025
UC San Diego
San Diego, CA
Course Overview
The adult human brain weighs approximately 3 pounds making up less than roughly 2% of a person’s body weight, yet it defines our humanity and makes us the individuals that we are – and yet no two are the same. The brain is responsible for the generation of language, thought, attention, consciousness, memory, imagination, and more. But how? And what makes certain people in society behave one way, and others another? Nothing is more fascinating and mysterious than the inner workings of the brain and human psychology.
In Summer Springboard’s Psychology & Neuroscience course on the campus of UCSD, students will explore these fundamental questions and more. Our course will explore the anatomy of the human brain, how it functions, and how that correlates and influences human behavior. Students will learn about how the brain works, how that affects behavior such as social dynamics, emotions, personality, mental illness, and how psychologists study them. Students will get to construct their own miniature psychology theory, design/run an experiment to test it, and present findings to the class.
Meet your instructor
Dafna Paltin
Session 1
Dafna is a fourth-year clinical psychology student in the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program. Her research examines the intersection of substance use, HIV prevention/treatment, and stigma, with a particular focus on racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minorities. She has co-authored numerous publications and presented her findings at both national and international conferences. Prior to her doctoral studies, she managed a SAMHSA-funded addiction fellowship at Yale University, where she advocated for reform in addiction treatment, especially for racial and ethnic minorities. Clinically, Dafna specializes in treating substance use, trauma, and relationship challenges. Outside of academia, she co-directs a San Diego-based harm reduction and syringe service nonprofit for unhoused individuals, where she educates stakeholders on evidence-based harm reduction strategies.
Seraphina Solders
Session 2
Dr. Seraphina Solders (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Neurosciences Department at UC San Diego (UCSD). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Biology with the Honors Minor in Interdisciplinary Studies from San Diego State University (SDSU), and her Ph.D. in Neurosciences from UCSD. Her current research focuses on the role of the blood-brain barrier in aging and its contributions to Alzheimer’s disease risk. Broadly, she is interested in the brain changes that occur with aging and risk factors that promote neurodegeneration and cognitive decline, and her overarching goal is to improve our understanding of modifiable lifestyle factors that contribute to pathological aging so we can help our communities live long, healthy lives. Dr. Solders has also been tutoring or teaching for as long as she has been working in research, and has experience working with high school, college, and graduate students. Currently, she teaches Foundations of Neuroimaging for psychology students at SDSU. Dr. Solders comes from a low-income background and was the first in her family to attend college, and she is dedicated to creating a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. Outside of work, you can find her at the San Diego Zoo, fermenting things in her kitchen, or knitting with her cat, Callie, in her lap.
Dr. Heidi Kraft
Session 3
Heidi Kraft earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the UC San Diego/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. She joined the Navy during her internship at Duke University Medical Center and went on to serve as both a flight and clinical psychologist. Dr. Kraft left active duty in 2005, after nine years in the Navy. She is board certified in clinical psychology, and currently works as a lecturer at San Diego State University, where she teaches Psychopathology, Stress, Trauma and the Psychological Experience of Combat, Health Psychology, and Field Placement.
Topics you'll explore
Hands-On Learning
Students will learn to tackle these fundamental questions with the tools of psychological science. Students will learn about classic experiments in psychology (including dissecting a sheep brain!), with the goal of getting a hands-on, experiential understanding of how people work and how psychologists study them. They will explore social dynamics; emotions; personality; mental illness; the nature of beliefs; neuroscience; and the relationship between the mind, brain, and body. As a capstone project, they will construct their own miniature psychology theory, design/run an experiment to test it, and present findings to the class.
Career Exploration
Students will visit the Brain Observatory at UC San Diego to learn about one of the most famous patients in neuroscience. The Brain Observatory is building the first museum and learning center in the world that is fully dedicated to the human brain. Students will have the opportunity to view exhibits, attend informative lectures, and interact with neuroscientists as they conduct research on Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brain utilizing cutting edge neuroimaging technologies.
