PhD in Cognitive Science

This program leads to a Doctor of Philosophy in Cognitive Science at Carleton University, a stand-alone doctoral program spanning the humanities, social sciences and sciences that focuses on the study of thought. It is thesis-based, and students spend one term in each of two laboratories or other research venues, applying two different methods for studying cognition from among behavioural, linguistic-theoretic, computational, conceptual and neuroscientific approaches; some research can be conducted off campus. Research areas include how computers can be made to interpret visual scenes the way humans do, the cognitive mechanisms and neurological foundations of language comprehension, the use of human perception and cognition in designing and evaluating human-machine systems, formal and experimental linguistics, and children's developing cognitive skills, including their ability to work with representations. Carleton's location in Ottawa supports collaborations with organizations such as Statistics Canada, the Government of Canada, the National Research Council and the Ottawa Hospital. The program normally takes five years to complete on a full-time basis, with admission for the Fall term.