There are three programs in Cognitive Science department at METU Graduate School of Informatics: Master’s Program with Thesis Option, Master’s Program with Non-Thesis Option, and the PhD Program. Each program provides extensive interdisciplinary training as each enables students to enroll in courses from different specialization groups. Below are the program curriculums.

Please check the full list of graduate courses available to the cognitive science programs. Each term we announce which ones are offered. Below are the program curriculums for the M.S. and Ph.D programs.

Program Curriculums

M.S. Program with Non-Thesis Option

• 2 COGS Deficiency Courses: COGS507(Primer I), COGS508(Primer II)
• 3 must courses: COGS501 (3 credits), COGS502 (3 credits) and COGS500 (0 credit)
• 4 COGS courses (one from each group; 3 credits each)
• 4 electives (either from elective list or COGS list, 3 credits each)
• COGS 589 Graduation Project (0 Credit) HERE is the syllabus

M.S. Program with Thesis Option

• 3 must courses: COGS501 (3 credits), COGS502 (3 credits) and COGS500 (0 credit)
• 4 COGS courses (one from each group; 3 credits each) (If a student holds a degree in Cognitive Science, the group constraint does not apply)
• 1 elective (either from elective list or COGS list, 3 credits )
• 1 seminar course (0 credit)
• Master's Thesis (0 credit)

Ph.D. Program

• Depending on the candidates’ qualifications and needs, we may ask the candidates to take at most two deficiency courses. (COGS507 Primer I and COGS508 Primer II)
• 3 must courses (if not taken in the M.S. or exempted): COGS501 (3 credits), COGS502 (3 credits) and COGS500 (0 credit).
• 1 seminar course: COGS690 lectures and seminar presentation (0 credit)
• At least 21 credits of elective courses (7 courses x 3 credits).
• Ph.D. Qualifier Exam: The students should pass the written and oral Ph.D. qualifier exam: (Please see Ph.D qualifier exam guidelines)

PhD students should take elective courses according to the constraints states below:

• At least one course must be a philosophy course.
• At least four courses should have the COGS course code
• If a student does not have a previous degree in Cognitive Science, then 4 COGS courses must be taken, one from each specialization group.
• At least four courses should be selected from the graduate course list.
• At most two courses may be taken outside of the department course list (those courses can be taken from any department at METU or from another university).
  
  • Before enrolling in a course that is not in the department course list, the student should first seek the approval of the advisor. Courses taken without the written consent of the advisor will not be counted towards degree requirements.