Jens Herberholz Appointed Director of NACS

Dr. Herberholz succeeds director Robert Dooling, who was appointed in 2007 and guided the program’s growth and commitment to innovation. “I am truly honored to be named new director of the NACS program, and I appreciate my colleagues’ confidence in my abilities to lead the program,” Dr. Herberholz said. “Director Bob Dooling has been a very successful leader of NACS, and I will do my best to continue the development and improvement of the program.”

In his new role, Dr. Herberholz looks forward to pursuing different directions of research and excellence for the program. 

“My priorities as NACS director will be focused on improving conditions related to graduate education. Since there is a lot of excitement to strengthen neurobehavioral science on campus, I also look forward to take part in the process of further developing this research area,” he said.

Dr. Herberholz is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and has served at the University of Maryland since 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in 1999 from the Technical University in Munich, Germany. He held Postdoctoral Associate and Research Scientist positions at Georgia State University from 1999 to 2005. Dr. Herberholz has served on various NACS committees, including the Admissions Committee and Executive Committee.  He has also served on two university committees, and several department committees, including the Graduate Committee and Executive Committee.

Dr. Herberholz has mentored and trained a large number of high school, undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty research assistants and postdocs. His research program focuses on the neural basis of animal behavior with a particular interest in the neurophysiological, neurochemical, and behavioral mechanisms underlying aggression, social dominance, and decision-making. His work has been supported by intra- and extramural funding sources, including a multi-year grant from the National Science Foundation.