Cognitive Neuroscience (research) Leiden University

Overview

The Cognitive Neuroscience (research) MSc programme at Leiden University provides you with a rigorous training in the methodological and practical skills necessary to carry out scientific research on human behaviour. You gain hands-on experience with how psychological theory can contribute to the analysis and solution of practical problems and how the application of existing theory guides further theoretical development. 

You have ample opportunity to get in touch with and work with top researchers and excel in the area of your choice. You are also trained in a broad multi-layered, theoretically-driven approach to processes of self-regulation.

Our research and teaching are based on the conviction that cognitive processes can only be understood in the context of their function and purpose for action control. That is, for the adaptation of intentional, goal-directed actions to environmental demands.

Master’s students of this specialisation are provided with their own laboratory including six testing rooms, dedicated work places for the development of psychological experiments, and a discussion room.

Skills after graduation

• Students who choose to take the Research Master’s track Cognitive Neuroscience acquire in-depth knowledge of the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of human cognition. 

• Key topics include the integration of perception and action, the relationship between cognitive, affective and social processes, the way perceptual and value-based decisions are made, and neuromodulatory influences on cognition. 

• Staff members in the Cognitive Psychology Unit use a wide variety of methods, including EEG, fMRI, pharmacology, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and computational modeling. 

• Master students in the Cognitive Neuroscience track are encouraged to play an active role in ongoing behavioural and neuroscientific research.