About the program

The main objectives of the CS program are to explore the nature of the human mind and intelligence, the brain mechanisms underlying mental functions, and the behaviors that derive from the mental faculties. More specifically, the program covers areas encompassing psychology (especially cognitive psychology), linguistics, philosophy (especially philosophy of mind), artificial intelligence, image processing, machine learning, and neuroscience. We not only anticipate to making contributions to the study of mind, brain, and behaviors from our own disciplines, but also benefit from closely interacting and communicating with colleagues from other disciplines that share the same intellectual interests, both at the level of theory construction and the level of empirical inquiry. Therefore, we have organized the CS program into four core areas in accordance with the expertise of participating faculty members. The four core areas are as follows:

1. Cognitive neuroscience—including visual cognition, developmental neuroscience, emotional development, reading and language development, cognitive modeling, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, etc.
2. Linguistics and language processing—including syntax, phonology, semantics, psycholinguistics, language and cognition, computational linguistics, language acquisition, and reading comprehension.
3. Mind and cognition—including the basis of logic and artificial intelligence, mental representation, consciousness, etc.
4. Applied cognition—including cognitive aging, human factors, education and learning, human-computer interface design, artificial intelligence, image processing, and machine learning.

Curriculum plan and requirements

CS is an all-English Ph.D. program. The students accepted by our program will be required to take 18 credits of course work before they can apply to take the doctoral qualification exam and become Ph.D. candidates. Specifically, the course work includes (a) 6 credits of required courses and (b) 12 credits of elective courses with 9 credits from courses of specialization and 3 credits of cross-area courses.

Unique Features

Interdisciplinary Education and Training The core value of our program is to emphasize interdisciplinary learning from the following and related fields: Psychology, Philosophy, Linguistics, Education, Neurosciences, and Engineering.

All-English Program All courses are taught in English to keep up with current research trends. Our goal is to enhance students' research capabilities and communication skills and to learn how to collaborate with other international students.

High-Quality Faculty All our faculty members have Ph.D. from distinguished universities in the U.S.A. or European countries. Many of the faculty members of our program are leading researchers and scholars in their own fields.

Affordable Costs As a public university in Taiwan, our program offers a very affordable opportunity in higher education.

Employment Opportunities

Our program is dedicated to training high-level professional scholars and experts in Cognitive Sciences and in related fields. After graduation, students can find careers along the following paths:

50. Teaching and/or research position in Cognitive Sciences and related-field such as Psychology, Linguistics, and Philosophy. Education in domestic and/or international universities and research institutions.
50. Research positions in the Research and Development Department of large-scale and well-established companies and industries, especially in the areas of human factors (ergonomics), industrial design, consumer research, marketing, and user experiences (UX).

Application Procedure and Required Documents

          All applications should be made through the online application system at CCU. After completing the online application, applicants print out all the following documents and send the package to the Office of International Affairs and Exchange, National Chung Cheng University. For details of the online application, please check the following website: http://oia.ccu.edu.tw/ciaeenglish/