Physiological Systems (PSYS)
The Physiological Systems (PSYS) concentration area offers graduate students an exceptional opportunity to pursue cutting-edge research with unique academic flexibility. Unlike traditional graduate programs with fixed course requirements, PSYS empowers students to pursue a curriculum tailored to their unique research interests and career goals.
Our program brings together faculty expertise spanning neuroscience, plant and animal physiology, computational biology, biophysics, and beyond to create an intellectually rich environment where cross-disciplinary collaboration is not just encouraged, but fundamental to our approach.
Note: Training with an off-campus affiliate/adjunct faculty member requires an on-campus co-advisor. Emeriti faculty members can serve on committees, but not as the primary or co-mentor.
Flexibility & Customization
Design Your Own Path
PSYS students benefit from minimal core course requirements, allowing you to build a curriculum that directly supports your research objectives. Working with your faculty mentor, you'll select from graduate-level courses across the entire University of Maryland campus, spanning departments in the biological sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and computational fields.
This flexibility means:
- A student with a background in physics who is interested in biomechanics can balance coursework in biology and engineering
- A neuroscience researcher can integrate computer science and advanced statistics
- A plant physiologist can incorporate molecular genetics and ecology
- Your curriculum evolves with your research, not against it
Truly Interdisciplinary Research
Work Across Boundaries
PSYS-affiliated faculty come from many departments across campus and have diverse subject matter interests, including physics, biology, plant science, ecology, microbiology, genetics, neuroscience, and computer science. This structure provides you with:
- Diverse expertise: Access to faculty with complementary skills and approaches to tackle complex biological questions
- Cutting-edge tools: Exposure to methodologies and technologies from multiple disciplines
- Broader perspective: Training that prepares you for the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of modern biological research
- Collaborative opportunities: Natural pathways to form research collaborations across traditional departmental boundaries
Whether your research requires molecular techniques, computational modeling, field ecology, or advanced imaging, you'll find the expertise and resources you need within our network.
Who Should Apply?
PSYS is ideal for graduate students who:
- Value intellectual independence and want to shape their own academic training
- Have research interests that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries
- Seek a program that adapts to their intellectual curiosity, rather than fitting into a rigid structure of coursework
- Want to work with faculty using diverse approaches to understand physiological systems
- Are self-motivated and ready to take ownership of their graduate education
If you are passionate about understanding how biological systems function, from molecules to organisms to ecosystems, and want the freedom to pursue that passion on your own terms, PSYS may be the right fit for you.
Research Areas
PSYS students pursue questions across a wide spectrum of physiological research:
- Neuroscience: Investigate neural circuits, sensory processing, behavior, and brain function from molecular to systems levels.
- Computational Biology: Apply mathematical modeling, bioinformatics, and simulation to understand complex biological processes.
- Physiology: Examine how organisms maintain homeostasis, respond to environmental challenges, and coordinate physiological functions.
- Plant Physiology: Study plant development, stress responses, and plant-environment interactions.
- Biophysics & Biomechanics: Apply physical principles to understand biological structures, movement, and mechanical properties of living systems.
- Developmental Biology: Explore how organisms develop from single cells to complex multicellular forms.
Getting Started
Interested in joining PSYS? We encourage you to:
- Explore our faculty directory to identify potential mentors whose research aligns with your interests.
- Review the BISI Graduate Handbook for detailed information about curriculum, milestones, and program requirements.
- Reach out to the PSYS Concentration Area Director, Dr. Colenso Speer, with questions.
- Apply to the BISI Graduate Program and indicate your interest in the Physiological Systems concentration area.
