Master in Cognitive Science

The MSc in Cognitive Science at Aarhus University is a two-year, full-time master's programme taught in English. It is for students who want to understand how processes in the brain shape human behaviour, and who are comfortable with statistics, programming and experiments.

What you study

The programme looks at how the brain produces thinking and behaviour. You learn to build your own computational and statistical models of cognitive processes, and to analyse large and complex datasets. You also get hands-on with experimental tools such as functional brain imaging and eye-tracking to measure human behaviour.

The first semester covers neuroscience and neuroimaging, decision-making, and statistical processing of natural language data. In the second semester you take courses in computational and statistical modelling of cognition, human-computer interaction, and advanced methods for analysing large and complex data sets. Intensive workshops on neuroimaging methodology and more advanced data science methods run during the first two semesters.

How the programme is organised

Classes and exams in the first two semesters are heavily project based. You build a portfolio of project work as you go. The third semester gives you a choice: study abroad, take an internship, or follow a faculty profile course, while you prepare for your MSc thesis. You write the thesis in the final semester.

The programme is full time and expects about 37 to 40 hours of work a week, including lectures, workshops, exam preparation, study groups and private study. The student environment is at Nobelparken, north of the main campus. Student activities include Broca's Bodega (the Friday bar), CogTalks, CogKnition, Gazzaniga's Gang, the LICS student council (The Basal Gang) and BrainWaves. Students are also welcome at events and research at the Interacting Minds Centre.

Who it suits

It suits you if you have a bachelor's degree with solid coursework in cognition and in statistics and programming. The specific requirements are 30 ECTS in topics related to cognition (for example cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, behavioural economics, psycholinguistics or artificial intelligence) and 40 ECTS in statistics and programming: 30 ECTS in courses with documented statistics content and 10 ECTS in courses with documented programming content. The programming credits can come from statistics courses if statistical programming is required for them. The total is 70 ECTS.

You should be ready for a quantitative, project-heavy programme and interested in applying models of human behaviour to real problems.

Admission, language and next steps

Your bachelor's degree must be comparable to a Danish bachelor's degree in level and duration (180 ECTS). If you have a bachelor's degree in Cognitive Science from Aarhus University, you have a legal right of admission, provided you apply within three years of completing it. Direct admission is also granted to certain degrees: Cognitive Science from Aarhus University, Product and Design Psychology from Aalborg University, and Cognitive Data Science from the University of Copenhagen.

All master's programmes at Aarhus University have limited intake, so meeting the entry requirements does not guarantee a place. Applicants are ranked by grade level from the qualifying degree, then grades in relevant subject areas (cognition; statistics and programming), then the number of relevant ECTS credits. Grades received after the application deadline are not included.

You must meet the university's English language requirements, except students with a legal right of admission from Aarhus University, who are exempt. The university cannot assess your qualifications in advance; you must apply to be assessed. Applications for master's programmes go directly to the institution. The programme starts in August or September, with no winter intake. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland study free of charge; other students pay a fee set by the institution.

Master’s applications go straight to Aarhus University, not through optagelse.dk, and the institution sets its own deadline. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, residence permits and housing.