Entry requirements

Undergraduate degree (normally at least 2:1 honours) in psychology, neuroscience, computer science, engineering, mathematics or a related discipline.

Months of entry

October

Course content

This programme studies the cognitive processes and representations underlying human thought, knowledge and behaviour. It integrates a wide range of disciplines and methodologies with the core assumption that human cognition is a computational process, implemented in neural hardware.

Key topics include: the nature of computational explanation; general principles of cognition; methodology of computational modelling; theories of the cognitive architecture; symbol systems; connectionism; neural computation; and case studies in computational cognitive modelling.

The programme involves intensive training in experimental design and methodology, building computational models, and carrying out a substantial piece of original research.

Information for international students

The requirement for this programme is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each of the sub-tests and at least 7.0 in writing.

Fees and funding

UK students

Part-time home/EU students: £ 3975 pa Full-time home/EU students: £ 7950 pa

International students

Part-time overseas students: £ 7225 pa Full-time overseas students: £ 14450 pa

The government's new postgraduate loan scheme allows you to borrow up to £10,000 to cover the cost of your tuition fees, living costs or other study expenses – and you don't have to start repaying until 2019.

ESRC funding may be available in conjunction with PhD study.

Part-time students who are experiencing financial need may apply for assistance from the Birkbeck Alumni Fund Postgraduate Opportunity Bursary.