Graduate students in good standing in one of the participating academic units—Psychology and Neuroscience; Philosophy; Computer Science; Linguistics; Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences; Education; and Architecture and Planning—may apply to earn a combined PhD with cognitive science. Earning such a degree can significantly enhance a student’s academic knowledge and career choices.  Review the course requirements, application for admission, and program completion checklist for further information.

Requirements for the PhD in Cognitive Science

Required Core Courses

• An introductory course, Issues and Methods in Cognitive Science (3 units)
• Topics in Cognitive Science (1 unit), taken twice (2 semesters)
• Cognitive Science Practicum (2 units), taken twice (2 semesters)

Hours Required

• A total of 30 hours of cognitive science courses
• 9 hours of required cognitive science core courses and
• 21 hours of other elective cognitive science courses
• At least 12 of the 21 elective hours must be outside the home department, including courses in at least two different departments outside the home department. *Each course must be at least two credits, and
• At least two of the courses must be classified as interdisciplinary cognitive science courses.

*Up to six units may be transferred from a different accredited institution. Candidate will submit a proposal of course substitutions based on the approved course list which will demonstrate comparable course content. A decision to accept substitute course work is at the discretion of the academic program director and/or curriculum committee based on the available information.

Thesis Requirements

• The original contributions of the dissertation research should exploit state-of-the-art methods from the perspective of at least two disciplines.
• Students are encouraged to have their doctoral research co-supervised by two faculty members representing different disciplines.
• At least one supervisor will be an ICS faculty fellow.
• The doctoral committee will include at least two ICS faculty fellows from outside the home department.
• In accordance with the rules of the graduate school, students must take at least 30 hours of dissertation research.