Specialized Programs

Students interacting with children.


The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences offers many opportunities for education and experience both on and off campus. These include a wide range of courses, several specialized programs, study beyond the UMass campus, and social and academic organizations. Please explore the links to the left and below for more information about these opportunities.

Departmental Honors

The Departmental Honors program is intended for the serious psychology student who seeks challenging course work and research training, along with the opportunity for individual mentoring by a faculty member.

Neuroscience Track

The department offers a Neuroscience Track providing students with a specialized set of courses and experiences in neuroscience. Student on this track complete a rigorous set of science courses and conduct research with members of the Neuroscience and Behavior (NSB) program at UMass. 

Advancing Diversity in Research and Practice Program (ADRAP)

The Advancing Diversity in Research and Practice program’s mission is to promote diversity in the field of psychology by increasing the diversity of the next generation of researchers and practitioners in psychology, and by fostering interest in research and practice with diverse populations.

Developmental Disabilities and Human Services Program (DDHS)

The department has partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to offer a letter of specialization in Developmental Disabilities and Human Services (DDHS). The DDHS specialization offers undergraduates across disciplines the opportunity to obtain the skills needed for careers in the disability and broader human services field.

Psychological Modeling Specialization

This program offers undergraduate students the chance to earn a letter of specialization in mathematical approaches to psychological research. The purpose of the program is to help students prepare for sophisticated research practices that they will encounter in graduate school and beyond.

LEAD at Mt Ida: Linking Employment to Academic Development

Are you looking for ways to gain work experience while balancing academics?  PBS is excited to launch a new program to help enrich the training of our majors.  In the LEAD Program you will spend a semester taking psychology courses on the Mt Ida campus and we will help you find exciting internship sites in Newton and the greater Boston area.  The University of Massachusetts Mt Ida campus presents a unique opportunity for student to secure internships in the Metro West Boston area, an area well known as an epicenter for employment opportunities in mental health, medicine, science and research, all key areas of interest to our psychology majors. 
For more information contact Prof. Metevier at stina@umass.edu

Peer Mentoring Program: Supporting Peer Academic Commitment & Excellence (SPACE)

Apply to join SPACE as a freshman or sophomore mentee or a junior or senior mentor.  Build a connections while having fun learning about opportunities in the PBS department as well as across campus.  Mentees and mentors are matched by common interests and goals.  

Research Assistant Mentoring Program (RAMP)

This program aims to introduce Psychology majors, especially those from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in our field (e.g. first generation college students and students of color), to laboratory research early in their college careers.  Research mentees will register for a 1 credit Research Assistantship (Psych 398B) that will primarily involve attending weekly lab meetings and shadowing a junior, senior, or graduate student mentor already established in a lab.