FACULTY INTERESTED IN TAKING STUDENTS IN FALL 2023 |
Molecular and genetic basis of Usher syndrome and oculocutaneous albinism |
Animal behavior and its control by the nervous system |
Understanding of memory development by examining changes in neural substrates |
Neural processing of speech across the lifespan |
The interaction of language, cognitive, and social development in children |
Neural mechanisms underlying learning and decision-making, and their disturbance in addiction, again, and schizophrenia |
Neuromodulation of olfactory circuits and behaviors |
Human speech sounds and speech sound systems in language |
Understanding the nature and brain bases of anxiety-related states, traits, and disorders |
Developing larger theories of system-level function in the visual and other sensory systems |
Neural control of movement |
Representation of the acoustic signal at various levels in mammalian auditory systems |
Perceptual learning; how training-based improvements are implemented in the brain |
Investigate the function and in vivo assembly of the hair cell system |
How brain circuits are shaped by experience and how these circuits are disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders |
Uncovering the behavioral and neural computations involved in human social and affective decision-making |
Examining neural mechanisms of drug addiction |
How the output of a neural circuit reflects the behaviors of the individual synapses and neurons that compose it |
Evaluating the safety and efficacy of cutting edge neuroprosthetic therapies for blindness |
Speech perception and language acquisition |
How exercise and physical activity affect human brain function and mental health |
Speech representation and statistical learning |
Psycholinguistics, language science |
Development and plasticity of neural circuits for sensory perception |
Brain processes underlying human motor behavior |
Typical and disordered child speech/language development, and fluency disorder across the lifespan |
Cell lineage, neuronal migration, and axonal targeting; mechanisms underlying neuronal activity |
How the normal and adverse prenatal environment shapes the cognition |
The development and neural correlates of social interaction and social cognition in typical and atypical development |
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.