Duke University Graduate Admitting Program in Cognitive Neuroscience

Students enrolled in Duke's Graduate Admitting Program in Cognitive Neuroscience will gain a thorough understanding of the intellectual issues that drive this rapidly growing field, as well as expertise in the major methods for cognitive brain research. Students who enter Duke through this admitting program engage in cognitive neuroscience research in an interdisciplinary environment through the completion of coursework and research rotations in their first year of study. Students then affiliate with a permanent department and mentor during their second year and receive their Ph.D. from that department.

The overarching aim of the program is to train students in innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to research on complex brain functions, including, but not limited to, perception, attention, memory, language, emotion, motor control, executive functions, decision making, social cognition, consciousness and the evolution of mental processes. A variety of disciplines and techniques are poised to make significant progress in understanding these aspects of brain function; training a new generation of thinkers capable of applying the breadth of the relevant conceptual and technical approaches will illuminate higher human brain functions in both normal individuals and those afflicted by neurological or mental diseases.