Cognitive Science

• University of Ljubljana, Medical Faculty
• University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts 
• University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science
• University of Vienna, Austria
• Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
• Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary
• University of Zagreb, Croatia

Awarded title: master of cognitive science.
The joint degree (diploma) is awarded by the University of Ljubljana in the name of all the partner universities which already have an accredited programme.

Cognitive science:
Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary endavour that researches and tries to understand the (human) mind. More specifically, it focuses on various cognitive phenomena such as perception, thinking, problem solving, decision-making, learning, emotions, consciousness. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary project that combines science, philosophy and technology. Its core discipliens are neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, biology, anthropology and educational sciences. 

Main programme goals:
Goals of the programme are to educate graduates who a) do research in cognitive science as an independent discipline, b) are professionals capable of collaborative work in interdisciplinary projects, and c) are able to synthesize the findings of cognitive science and apply them to specific areas (e.g., ICT, knowledge management, interactive design, education, biomedical and clinical research, as well as in the field of economy).

In order to achieve the stated objectives, students will have to gain insight into the core disciplines involved; they will have to acquire skill in different experimental methods; and at the same time learn to engage in an interdisciplinary discourse and gain practical experience in interdisciplinary work, partly in an intercultural environments. Two years are a relatively short time to reach such sophisticated educational goals. Thus, a curricular architecture has been developed to help students meet these goals.

Curricular architecture:
The programme is a two-year joint master’s programme (120 ECTS). It is designed as a research-based curriculum with a strong focus on project and team work, aiming to support and cultivate interdisciplinary thinking. In the first year, students are introduced to the core disciplines, concepts, and methods of cognitive science. The second year is phenomenon and research oriented, which means that students focus on a cognitive phenomenon of their choice and study it from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students spend their third semester (30 ECTS) abroad at one of the partner universities (mobility semester).

To acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed in interdisciplinary work, the programme is organised around three core themes: (1) disciplines, (2) methods (tools), and (3) integration. This organisation of the curriculum is depicted as “columns” in the image below.

1) Despite its interdisciplinary character, students need to complement their previous studies by acquiring basic knowledge in the core disciplines of cognitive science (“disciplinary oriented column”). In their first year, students can choose among the following basic disciplines: neuroscience, cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and philosophy.

2) Students are introduced to programming and statistics and can acquire further methodological skills (e.g., first-person research, computational modelling, fMRI, EEG, philosophical argumentation, etc.) via courses and project work (“tools column”)).

3) Integrative courses open up discourse on research paradigms, concepts, models, and approaches specific to cognitive science. They are the core component of this curriculum. These courses focus on interdisciplinary interaction and integration, on reflecting one’s premises, and engaging in dialogue between scientific cultures (“integrative kernel column”).

Since it is a joint study programme, mobility (30 ECTS) is an obligatory part of the studies. Mobility is topic-oriented: students select a topic in the field of cognitive science which they research from the interdisciplinary point of view. Depending on their interest, the hosting university for their mobility semester can be selected to provide the students with the highest quality studies and project work in the area of the selected topic.

Further info: 
- International homepage
- Local homepage