Cognitive Science is one of the most rapidly expanding fields in universities. The Certificate in Cognitive Science is designed to meet the need of an increasing number of students to be able to engage in, and critically assess the results of research in this important area. Students from a wide variety of backgrounds will find the certificate courses accessible to them.
The certificate has three components: Supervision by Cognitive Science faculty members, Cognitive Science Courses and Research in Cognitive Science. Successful completion of the certificate will require that all three components below are satisfied. Admission to the program, and the rewarding of the certificate, will indicate that the candidate has met the standards for graduate work of the participating colleges.
Supervision
The student will form a committee of three members of the cognitive science faculty, no more than two of whom may be in the same college. Approval from these faculty will be required for both the student's choice of elective courses and the student's research project.
Courses
The candidate for a Certificate in Cognitive Science must complete the following courses: (1) the graduate level Introduction to Cognitive Science, which is team taught by members of the Center for Neuro-Engineering and Cognitive Science (CNECS); (2) two semesters of a one credit-hour seminar given by CNECS; (3) three electives approved by the student's committee. These electives will normally be from cognitive science courses available at UH.
Research
If the certificate is to accompany a thesis degree, then the thesis must be in an area of cognitive science and it must be approved as such by the student's committee. If the certificate is not applied for in conjunction with a thesis degree, the student will complete a cognitive science research project which is approved by the committee. In the latter case, the student will be expected to prepare a substantial written report on the research; approval of the report by the committee will be required.