FACULTY INTERESTED IN TAKING STUDENTS IN FALL 2023

Zubair Ahmed

Molecular and genetic basis of Usher syndrome and oculocutaneous albinism

Jens Herberholz

Animal behavior and its control by the nervous system

 Tracy Riggins

Understanding of memory development by examining changes in neural substrates

Samira Anderson

Neural processing of speech across the lifespan

Yi Ting Huang

The interaction of language, cognitive, and social development in children

Matt Roesch

Neural mechanisms underlying learning and decision-making, and their disturbance in addiction, again, and schizophrenia

Ricardo Araneda

Neuromodulation of olfactory circuits and behaviors

Bill Idsardi

Human speech sounds and speech sound systems in language

Alex Shackman

Understanding the nature and brain bases of anxiety-related states, traits, and disorders

Dan Butts

Developing larger theories of system-level function in the visual and other sensory systems

Tim Kiemel

Neural control of movement

Shihab Shamma

Representation of the acoustic signal at various levels in mammalian auditory systems

Melissa Caras

Perceptual learning; how training-based improvements are implemented in the brain

Katie Kindt

Investigate the function and in vivo assembly of the hair cell system

Michael Sidorov

How brain circuits are shaped by experience and how these circuits are disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders

Caroline Charpentier

Uncovering the behavioral and neural computations involved in human social and affective decision-making

Anna Li

Examining neural mechanisms of drug addiction

Josh Singer

How the output of a neural circuit reflects the behaviors of the individual synapses and neurons that compose it

Ethan Cohen

Evaluating the safety and efficacy of cutting edge neuroprosthetic therapies for blindness

Rochelle Newman

Speech perception and language acquisition

Carson Smith

How exercise and physical activity affect human brain function and mental health

 Naomi Feldman

Speech representation and statistical learning

Colin Phillips

Psycholinguistics, language science

Colenso Speer

Development and plasticity of neural circuits for sensory perception

 Rodolphe Gentili

Brain processes underlying human motor behavior
 

Nan Ratner

Typical and disordered child speech/language development, and fluency disorder across the lifespan

Susan Wray

Cell lineage, neuronal migration, and axonal targeting; mechanisms underlying neuronal activity

Kazue Hashimoto-Torii

How the normal and adverse prenatal environment shapes the cognition

Elizabeth Redcay

The development and neural correlates of social interaction and social cognition in typical and atypical development

Yuan Zhu

Investigating disease mechanisms and developing novel therapeutic strategies for Tumor Suppressor Gene (TSG) syndromes

PHILOSOPHY
The graduate advisor is a mentor for all aspects of the scientific and professional education of the student. This implies frequent, substantive interaction with the student. The student is expected, through his/her scholarship, to contribute to the mission of the advisor's laboratory, research group, and department.  However, the philosophy of the NACS program is that the advisor serves the student, not vice versa.

ADVISOR REQUIREMENTS
The advisor must be a Full Member of the Graduate Faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park and a NACS faculty member.  Students who want to conduct research with a NACS adjunct faculty member will have co-advisors: The adjunct faculty member acts as the research advisor and the UMD faculty member acts as academic advisor.

FINDING AN ADVISOR
Only applicants in whom faculty members have expressed interest in will be considered for admission. Applicants should contact faculty with whom they would like to work prior to submitting their applications. It is best to send a relatively short email (2-3 paragraphs) to the faculty member whose research interests fit with yours.  In the email describe your research interests, background, and goals, and attach your resume. It is fine to ask if the faculty member is taking new students in the coming year (not all faculty take students every year). Initiating steps to network and build collaborative professional relationships is part of being a scientist.

Additional information about the mentor can be found in the NACS Graduate Handbook.

Last modified
11/10/2022 - 2:55 pm