M.Sc. in Cognitive Systems
Master degree
DURATION
6 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
EUR 450 / per course
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
Key Summary
To teach the new paradigm of cognitive computing, the M.Sc. Program in Cognitive Systems brings together two main scientific areas: Cognitive Psychology, and Artificial Intelligence in Computer Science. Aiming, on the one hand, for the prospective students to understand the basis for human cognition, the Program is strongly influenced by Cognitive Psychology and includes learning modules that explore the fundamentals of perception, learning, mental representation, and reasoning in humans. Aiming, on the other hand, for the prospective students to be able to design cognitive systems, the Program places its emphasis on the investigation of computational methods and tools for understanding and designing cognitive systems, and includes learning modules from Connectionist and Symbolic Artificial Intelligence, from Machine Learning, and learning modules on recent developments in Cognitive Computing.
Courses are offered from both Cognitive Psychology (CP) and Computer Science (CS), organized in five main themes: Foundations, Perception, Learning, Reasoning, Systems.
The Program consists of 120 ECTS units taught over four semesters of full time study. Each course in the Program is 10 ECTS units, while an optional thesis (taken in the place of three courses) is 30 ECTS units. It is expected that courses will be offered as follows, with the possibility of repeating some course offerings in both semesters: Fall Semester: Foundations, Reasoning; Spring Semester: Perception, Learning, Systems.
Students are required to take the two introductory courses under the Foundations theme (COS511, COS512), during the first semester. The remaining program comprises electives among all the other courses, as long as at least one third of the courses come from Cognitive Psychology (CP), and one third of the courses come from Computer Science (CS). It is advisable that at least one course is taken from each theme, to guarantee breadth of coverage. All elective courses, are offered subject to sufficient demand.
Students wishing to register for certain courses and obtain a certificate of completion, without an interest in gaining the full degree, can opt to do so, with pro rata tuition fees on the number of courses for which they choose to register.
Two (2) full scholarships for the academic year 2023-24 are granted to libanese students for attending English postgraduate programmes of Study .
Scholarships are for full time study.
Criteria:
- New entrance student
- High school diploma from a recognized Lebanese school with a minimum score 50%
- Permanent resident of Lebanon
- Knowledge of English language
Socioeconomic Criteria as advantage in case of tie:
- Single Parent*
- Student must have four or more children*
- Orphan (benefit receiver)*
*based on Cyprus regulations
Interested new entrant students that wish to claim a scholarship should:
- Apply for admission to a study programme through the OUC portal. For support regarding the application you can contact via email admissions@ouc.ac.cy or by phone at 0035722411600
- Complete Scholarship Application and send it along with the necessary supporting documents to scholarships@ouc.ac.cy
With a Master’s in Cognitive Systems, graduates have employment opportunities in the two traditional areas of Cognitive Psychology and Computer Science, but also in the new emerging area of Cognitive Systems. Generally speaking, graduates of the program will be qualified to contribute to basic and applied research aiming at the optimization of human-computer interaction and/or the application of computational tools in the understanding of cognition (research, research and development, and research and innovation at public and private centers/companies). In particular, students will be able to work in organizations in the areas of intelligent systems, machine learning, human-computer interaction, and cognitive system development, with large companies such as IBM, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple actively seeking, and offering lucrative salaries for, employees in the emerging areas that are covered by the program of study. Their ability to design and develop systems also offers the opportunity to graduates to work as developers in large software companies, with the ability to incorporate in the traditional software development cycle novel and cutting-edge techniques that are inspired by human cognition. The graduates’ knowledge of cognitive psychology theories and methodologies will further allow them the choice of working in treatment and health facilities, helping people with cognitive disabilities, while exploiting their expertise in the development of cognitive systems to develop novel solutions for patients. Irrespectively of the focus of their studies, graduates will be well-versed in an exciting new area of research that can lead them to pursue a Ph.D. program at Open University of Cyprus, University of Cyprus, or at other competitive Ph.D. programs across the world.