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The Founding College of the University of Toronto
Plastic Skull & Brain

Cognitive Science

“Learn to question what you think…”
Jesse Berlin, Cognitive Science Alumnus

Our program seeks an understanding of perception, language, reasoning and consciousness by drawing on work in computer science, linguistics, human biology, philosophy and psychology.

Outside all the boxes

Our students are encouraged to excel in the field’s sub-disciplines, but are also rewarded for thinking outside of these disciplinary boxes to synthesize their learning and enrich their understanding. As alumnus Jesse Berlin observed, “Cognitive Science is about the hard problems of tomorrow and today. It's where you learn to question not only what you think and how you think, but also what thinking is. It's utterly fascinating."

Overhead view of several students with laptops

Diverse Curriculum

In addition to dedicated Cognitive Science courses, our curriculum comprises a blend of mind-related courses in Computer Science, Human Biology, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology.

Several microscopes on a black table

Flexible Programs

Cog Sci is offered as either an arts or science major, each with a choice of streams tailored to your intellectual and career interests. Arts streams include Perception and Attention, Language and Cognition or Thinking and Reasoning; Science streams include Computational Cognition or Cognition and the Brain.

Aerial view of students wearing graduation caps

An Expanding Field

The Cognitive Science program is fast-growing -- enrolment is up 76 per cent since 2009! We strive to enhance scholarship and travel opportunities for students and to foster outreach programming such as our biennial undergraduate conference, “Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Mind.”

News

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Join Associate Director of Statistics Patrick Brown and Postdoctoral Fellow Xuyang Tang on Tuesday, March 25 for a conference on COVID Mortality and Immunity from a global perspective! The talk will feature aspects of the speakers’ Action to Beat Coronavirus (Ab-C) studies. Professor Patrick Brown is a Biostatistician leading the geospatial research team at CGHR, as well as Associate Professor in the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Toronto. His research interest combine statistical methods for spatial and spatio-temporal data, statistical computing and software for spatial modeling, and understanding spatial variation in the declining rate of mortality worldwide.
COVID Mortality and Immunity: A Global Perspective
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UC in the News
It was a whirlwind week for the University of Toronto and University College's Geoffrey Hinton, who travelled to Sweden to officially accept the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside a jam-packed schedule of receptions, lectures, talks, ceremonies, banquets and media engagements.
Geoffrey Hinton delivers a speech during the Nobel Prize banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden

Upcoming Events

Apr 8
Conference
Cognitive Science
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Please note registration is required for this event
 

Student Initiatives

Robot with Human face and exposed Components in skull

All of our students are entitled to membership with CASA (Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence Students’ Association). CASA aims to bring together anyone in the U of T community interested in the study of the mind.

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The University of Toronto Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Mind (UTism) is a biennial conference offered by CASA to explore an array of topics in cognitive science and related disciplines.