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PrintPhysiological Systems (PSYS)
The Physiological Systems* concentration area is dedicated to understanding the function of biological processes at the physical, mechanistic, and systems levels. We are training the next generation of research scientists in a physiological and systems perspective towards tackling fundamental problems of biological systems, using multidisciplinary approaches and cutting-edge technologies. This entails not only identifying individual molecules, their mechanisms and regulation involved in a biological process, but more importantly their integrated role in a system to generate the biological function of interest.
With strengths in physiology, biophysics, and computational biology of physiological systems, the University of Maryland is uniquely positioned to provide training to graduate students interested in the functional and mechanistic understanding of biological processes.
Research Area Specializations
- Biophysics
- Comparative and evolutionary physiology
- Neurobiology
- Functional genomics
- Molecular and cellular physiology
- Integrative studies of biological systems
Core Courses
The curriculum for the Physiological Systems concentration area revolves around a set of core courses. Each student is required to take three core courses, 600 level or higher, for a minimum of 12 credit hours. Courses can be chosen from the list below, or from the course offerings of other concentration areas. Each student will have an advisory committee set up upon arrival, who will assist students in tailoring the curriculum to best fit the student's individual needs/specialized research area.
Required for all students:
- BIOL600: Ethics in Scientific Research (or equivalent)
- Seminar on Physiological Systems (to be taught)
Potential core courses:
- BIOE 603: Electrophysiology of the Cell (3 credits)
- BIOL 622: Membrane Transport Phenomena (3 credits)
- BIOL 651: Physical Chemistry for Biologists (3 credits)
- BIOL 708L: Quantitative Analysis of Biological Data (4 credits)
- BIOL 708N: Mammalian Physiology (3 credits)
- BIOL 708O: Cell Biology from a Biophysical Perspective (3 credits)
- BIOL 744: Neurophysiology (3 credits)
- CBMG 688W: Principles of Microscopy (2 credits)
- NACS 643: Computational Neuroscience (4 credits)
- NACS 644: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (4 credits)
*NOTE: Formally, the current name of this Concentration Area is Physiology, and that is how it appears on the Application for Admission (in the Application Supplemental Form (ASF) to the Biological Sciences Graduate Program Application). We anticipate a title change to Physiological Systems effective early January 2010. This is a title change only, and will not impact application procedure or programming.
