DPT: Cognitive Science (Humanities) (MA Hons) (UTCOSCS)

Jump to: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4

Year 1 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: September

You will be automatically enrolled on your two compulsory courses. You must pass these two courses, as well one Philosophy course and one additional PPLS/Informatics course, in order to progress into Year 2 of the Cognitive Science (Humanities) programme.

Please note: The courses you take in Year 1 will have an impact on your options later on in your degree. This is particularly relevant for students interested in Informatics courses and dissertations in Psychology. Please refer to the Cognitive Science (Humanities) handbook for further information.

Compulsory courses

Introduction to Cognitive Science

Must be passed

Linguistics and English Language 1A

Must be passed

Course options

Logic 1

Philosophy of Science 1

Morality and Value

Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

AND

This list of courses includes those listed above in the Year 1 Philosophy section; you cannot use the same course to meet both of these requirements.

Informatics 1 - Introduction to Programming

Informatics 1 - Cognitive Science

Informatics 1 - Foundations of Computing

Linguistics and English Language 1B

Logic 1

Philosophy of Science 1

Morality and Value

Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

Psychology 1A

Psychology 1B

Data Analysis for Psychology in R1

AND

Calculus and Algebra Fundamentals for Informatics

Linear Algebra 1

AND

You are permitted a maximum of 40 credits at Level 7 across Years 1 and 2.

AND

Challenge Courses are designed to bring together students from different degree programmes to explore the complex issues facing the world today through interdisciplinary collaboration and creative thinking. Working with each other and expert academics, students will gain new perspectives and develop important life skills highly valued by employers, such as teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability.

Our Changing World

Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)

Wicked problems: Reason and Rhetoric

Understanding decolonisation in a globalised world

Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030

Living in the Anthropocene

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 2 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: August

You will need to take a minimum of 80 credits of Year 2 PPLS courses, including at least one course in each PPLS subject area (Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences).

In order to progress into Year 3 of the Cognitive Science (Humanities) programme, you must pass a minimum of 80 credits of Year 2 PPLS courses. Courses taken in Psychology must be passed at first attempt.

Please note: The courses you take in Year 2 will have an impact on your options later on in your degree. This is particularly relevant for students interested in Informatics courses and dissertations in Psychology. Please refer to the Cognitive Science (Humanities) handbook for further information.

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.

Course options

LEL2A: Linguistic Theory and the Structure of English

LEL2B: Phonetic Analysis and Empirical Methods

LEL2C: English in Time and Space

LEL2D: Cross-linguistic Variation: Limits and Theories

AND

Mind, Matter and Language

Knowledge and Reality

AND

Psychology 2A

Psychology 2B

Data Analysis for Psychology in R1

Data Analysis for Psychology in R 2

AND

Informatics 2D - Reasoning and Agents

Informatics 2 - Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures

AND

You are permitted a maximum of 40 credits at Level 7 across Years 1 and 2.

AND

Our Changing World

Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)

Wicked problems: Reason and Rhetoric

Understanding decolonisation in a globalised world

Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030

Living in the Anthropocene

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 3 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: August

You will need to take 120 credits of honours courses in Philosophy, Psychology, Language Sciences, and/or Informatics.

During Years 3 and 4 (combined), you must complete at least 20 credits worth of honours courses in three of the four subject areas: Philosophy, Psychology, Language Sciences, and Informatics.

Preparing for dissertations: Please refer to the Cognitive Science (Humanities) handbook for information on courses that must be taken in Year 3 in order to complete dissertations in certain subject areas in Year 4.

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.

Course options

Sociolinguistics

Middle English

Simulating Language

Historical Linguistics

First Language Acquisition (Honours)

Second Language Acquisition (Honours)

Origins and Evolution of Language (Hons)

Reading Old English

Linguistic Fieldwork and Language Description

Global Englishes

Speech Processing (Hons)

Speech Synthesis

Pragmatics

Scots and Scottish English

Computer Programming for Speech and Language Processing

Phonological Theory and English Phonology

Syntax: Theory and Practice

Morphology

Phonetics and Laboratory Phonology

History of Scots

Universals of Language

Language Variation and Change

Speech Production and Perception

Cognitive Linguistics

Methods in Theoretical Linguistics

Semantic Theory

Discourse Analysis

Online Experiments for Language Scientists

Structure of a Language A

Semiotics

Quantitative Methods in Linguistics and English Language (Hons)

Language Endangerment and Revitalisation

AND

Philosophy of Religion

Metaphysics

Logic 2: Modal Logics

Topics in Mind and Cognition

Late Modern Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy

Early Modern Philosophy

Philosophy of Time

Philosophy of Technology

AND

Applied Ethics

Normative theory

Political Philosophy

Aesthetics

Social Philosophy

Moral Philosophy

Feminist Philosophy

Philosophy of Technology

AND

Political Philosophy

Late Modern Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy

Early Modern Philosophy

Japanese Philosophy

AND

Data Analysis for Psychology in R 3

Qualitative Methods in Psychology

AND

Computational Cognitive Science

Foundations of Natural Language Processing

Machine Learning

Introduction to Mobile Robotics

Distributed Systems

Speech Processing (Hons)

AND

Algorithms and Data Structures

Software Testing

Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science

Elements of Programming Languages

Compiling Techniques

Computer Security

Computer Communications and Networks

Computer Architecture and Design

Operating Systems

Introduction to Databases

Informatics Experiential Learning (Level 10)

Year 4 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: August

You will need to take:

- Dissertation/Project from Philosophy, Psychology, Language Sciences, or Informatics (Group A), and
- 80 credits of honours courses in Philosophy, Psychology, Language Sciences, and/or Informatics (Group B).

During Years 3 and 4 (combined), you must complete at least 20 credits worth of honours courses in three of the four subject areas: Philosophy, Psychology, Language Sciences, and Informatics.

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.

Course options

You must select a dissertation in Philosophy, Psychology, or Language Sciences, or a project in Informatics.

Philosophy:
There are two options in Philosophy - either an independent dissertation or two coursework dissertations:
- An independent dissertation is a single 8,000-word dissertation. You should select Dissertation in Philosophy (PHIL10026) for this option.
- The coursework dissertation option involves enrolling in two Philosophy Year 4 courses and submitting a 4,000-word essay in place of the standard assessment for each of these two courses. To complete the coursework dissertation option, you must select two courses from the Philosophy Coursework Dissertation Options listed below. You must complete one coursework dissertation in Semester 1 and one in Semester 2. These courses are attended as normal.

Psychology:
- To complete a Psychology dissertation involving advanced statistical methods, you must have taken DAPR3 (Data Analysis for Psychology in R 3).
- To complete a Psychology dissertation involving basic statistical methods, you must have taken at least DAPR1, and it is recommended that you have passed DAPR2.

Language Sciences:
- In order to complete the Dissertation in Language Sciences, you must have taken a course from the 'Skills' category in Year 3.

Informatics:
- There are no general restrictions for completing the Honours Project (Informatics), however individual projects may have pre-requisite courses.

Honours Project (Informatics)

Dissertation in Language Sciences

Dissertation in Philosophy

Dissertation in Psychology