Program Overview

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Introduction to the Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program

The Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program is designed to train students in the neural bases of human behavior, cognition, and perception. The program is committed to providing high-quality training to students at the graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as producing cutting-edge research in the field.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program is to offer foundational courses and training in the broad field of cognitive and brain sciences, along with specialized training in focus areas represented by the faculty's research. The program aims to train students to become researchers and/or teachers who can apply effective and cutting-edge techniques and technologies to analyze and measure human behavior and neural activity.

Program Overview

The Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program offers programs of study leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Students are given a strong foundation in current theory and methods and have the opportunity to specialize in a number of substantive research areas, including:

• Brain organization in developmental disabilities
• Comparative and developmental vision
• Cognitive neuroscience
• Memory
• Perception
• Vestibular control and movement
• Human factors in aviation
• Attention
• Face recognition
• Consciousness
• Neuropsychology

Collaborative Links

The Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program has collaborative links with several other departments on campus, including Biology, Medicine, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering. Many of the program's faculty members also maintain close working links with colleagues and research labs at other universities.

Admission Requirements

To qualify for admission, a candidate must have earned a baccalaureate degree (or equivalent) from an accredited institution, along with a minimum GPA of 3.0 for the doctoral degree and 2.75 for the Master's degree. An undergraduate major in Psychology is not required for admission.

Application Requirements

Applicants should submit:

• A CV
• A statement of goals and interests, including a list of desired faculty advisors
• Official transcripts of all prior coursework from all institutions attended
• Three letters of recommendation
• GRE scores from an exam taken within the last five years

International Student Requirements

For international students, a TOEFL score of at least 500 is required for admission to the Graduate School. Students who have achieved a TOEFL score of 600 or higher are exempt from Intensive English Language Center evaluation.

Master's Degree Requirements

To earn a Master's Degree through the Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program, students must complete:

• Required coursework
• The Master's Comprehensive Exam
• A research project written in the form of a Master's Thesis
• A defense of the Master's Thesis in a public talk and private oral

Course Requirements

Students earning a Master's Degree must complete a minimum of 30 credits of acceptable graduate coursework, including:

• A set of 5 Foundation courses (15 credits) in appropriate subject areas
• A set of 3 Development courses (9 credits)
• Masters Thesis Research (6 credits)

Master's Comprehensive Exam

The M.A. Comprehensive Examination is taken at the end of the Spring semester during the second year of study. The exam is designed to assess the student's foundational knowledge in Cognitive and Brain Sciences.

Master's Thesis

The Master's thesis is overseen by an advisory-examining committee made up of at least three members of the University graduate faculty. The research underlying the Master's thesis is supervised by a faculty member in the Cognitive and Brain Sciences and is evaluated by a second faculty reader in the CBS Program.

Ph.D. Requirements

To earn a Ph.D. through the Cognitive and Brain Sciences Program, students must complete:

• All the requirements of the Master's Degree
• Required coursework
• The Ph.D. comprehensive Exam
• A research project written in the form of a dissertation
• A defense of the dissertation research in a public talk and private oral
• The publication of at least one first-authored, peer-reviewed manuscript

Dissertation

Dissertation research is overseen by an advisory-examining committee made up of at least five members of the University graduate faculty. The completed dissertation consists of a written document describing the background and significance, methods and analyses, results and discussion of the dissertation project.

Expected Timeline of Completion

Students will be expected to progress through the program by the following deadlines:

• Year 1: Select advisor, register name with the CBS grad chair, and give first-year research talk
• Year 2: Comprehensive Master's exam, submit Master's thesis, and give second-year Master's presentations
• Year 3: Ph.D. proposal defense and presentations
• Year 4: Conduct dissertation research, Ph.D. talk, and private defense

Evaluation of Progress

Yearly reports and evaluations are required, including a student report and an advisor review. Students will not be allowed to proceed to Ph.D. candidacy unless satisfactory progress is made. Two years of unsatisfactory progress could be grounds for dismissal.