The Institute of Cognitive Science offers academic programs for both graduate and undergraduate students. Cognitive science is the study of human knowledge, of which one aspect is the study of how knowledge is acquired, stored, and represented in the mind, including the mind’s underlying biological mechanisms. Another aspect of cognitive science concerns how knowledge is understood, remembered, communicated, and used in the performance of activities, including the acquisition and application of skills and information. This latter aspect provides the practical applications of cognitive science, and thereby ensures a demand for graduates in both academic and industrial markets. Training for graduates in cognitive science prepares students admirably for many of the fields that are targeted as the major growth fields of the 21st century: telecommunications, information processing, medical analysis, data retrieval, education, and multimedia services.
The undergraduate program includes courses in the six core departments, with basic courses and two of four possible advanced skill sequences of courses.
CU graduate students can apply to a certificate program or a combined PhD in conjunction with their home department PhD program. The combined PhD program allows for interdisciplinary study that adds cognitive science or cognitive neuroscience to the PhD program in the student’s home department. There are currently two graduate certificate programs: one has a general science focus, the other focuses on human language technology. Undergraduates may also apply for a certificate program. The Cognitive Science Academic Certificate Programs are interdisciplinary programs for majors in the Departments of Psychology; Philosophy; Linguistics; Education; Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences; Computer Science; and Architecture, Planning and Design.
For more information, either visit ICS.colorado.edu or call Donna Caccamise at 303-735-3602.