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State of the Undergraduate Program in Cognitive Science Spring 2016 The State of the Program is … Awesome! Strengths Program • Balanced between 3 primary areas of cognitive science: philosophy, psychology, computer science • Additional expertise in neuroscience and linguistics • Computational emphasis fits ‘typical’ RPI student • Lots of Research • Awesome Faculty Size and Make-up of Majors • Small Program – ~50 COGS majors (great faculty:student ratio!) • By major: – – – – ~20 COGS ~20 COGS/CSCI (awesome dual!) ~5 COGS/GSAS ~5 Other COGS dual (MATH, PHIL, PSYC, BMED,…) Weaknesses Some Missing Areas • Little work being done in: – Cognitive Anthropology • How do biological, cultural, linguistic, and social forces shape the human mind? – Cognitive Technology/Engineering • E.g. Brain-Computer Interface, Cognitive Robotics Limited Course Availability • Not enough courses/sections offered on a consistent basis • Some courses in catalog not offered at all – Philosophy of AI – Cognitive Engineering • Course Conflicts Senior Thesis Vague • No clear guidelines for senior thesis – Students and faculty alike are unclear on process and requirements – Danger of ‘cheap’ theses! • Recommendation – Senior Thesis ‘Showcase’ • • • • • Presentation / poster Get better idea what a good thesis looks like Incentive to do good work Something to show for, be proud of, put on resume Culmination of 4 year study! Try and do junior year research to feed into senior thesis. No Professional Development • No existing network of coops, internships, alumni, and potential employers • Working with Career and Professional Development Center – Meet with companies – Quick sheet for employers – Show sample of student work Threats Little Growth • Relatively stagnant number of Faculty and Associated Curriculum – Notable exception: Dr. Marjorie McShane and Dr. Sergei Nirenburg! • Number of students that can be supported is limited Cognitive Technology • Especially at this time of growth of ‘smart’ technology, we are in danger of being left in the dust by more cognitive technology oriented programs Philosophy Component in Crisis • Not being taught: – 3-4 additional sections of Minds and Machines – Introduction to Philosophy of Science – Knowledge and Rationality – Philosophy of AI • Fortunately, Dan Thero has graciously volunteered to teach Metaphysics and Consciousness Opportunities Subject Areas • • • • • • Cognitive Anthropology Cognitive Technology and Engineering Computational Neuroscience Cognitive and Social Robotics Communication and Interaction Education, Learning, and Cognitive Development • Cogno-Ethics CISL@EMPAC • Cognitive and Immersive Systems Laboratory Research Undergraduate Research • Cog Sci students are strongly encouraged to do hands-on research • Undergraduate Research Program (URP) – http://www.rpi.edu/dept/urp – Fill out URP form: • You have to write a 500 word proposal! • for course credit (deadline = course add deadline = February 5) – Also fill out an Independent Study/URP Registration form • for $ (Third Friday of semester: February 12) • Research can be used for Senior Thesis Summer URP (SURP) • Competitive program – Applications reviewed by multiple faculty • $4000 stipend for 10-week summer research • Need to find faculty member willing to support research efforts during 10-week period • Deadline: February 19! • SURP Other Summer Programs • Undergraduate Summer Fellowship Program in Vision Science, University of Rochester • Probably others as well … • Usually applications are due sometime in February, so this is a good time to look at summer programs! Wednesday Issues in Cognitive Science Seminar • It is possible for undergraduates to receive 1 credit through the Issues in Cognitive Science Lecture Series: – Write 1 page response paper about talk for 5 talks of your choice – Register for COGS “Issues in Cognitive Science” at 400 level Online Courses • Udacity (~40 courses, mostly CSCI, self-paced, wide variety of course lengths) – Introduction to AI, Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, The Design of Everyday Things • Coursera (500+ courses; wide variety) – Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Computational Neuroscience, Natural Language Processing, etc. • EdX (100+ courses, various fields) • Possibility of getting 1-2 credits Independent Study for successful completion of courses (Add Deadline: Friday, 2/5) Speakers This Semester • March 9, Paul Bello, Head of Interactive Systems, Naval Research Laboratory • April 6, Cay Anderson-Hanley, Professor of Neuropsychology, Union College • April 20, Robert Sternberg, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Psychometry, and Development, Cornell • May 4, Lee Giles, Penn State • All other talks this semester are by COGS graduate students • For a complete schedule of speakers go to Speaker Series off of Cognitive Science department home page • If you think of a potential speaker, let me know! Overview Research Groups and Labs • Linguistic Agents – (Dr. Marjorie McShane and Dr. Sergei Nirenburg) • CogWorks Lab – (Dr. Wayne Gray) • RAIR Lab – (Dr. Selmer Bringsjord) • Sim Lab – (Dr. Mei Si) • PandA Lab – (Dr. Brett Fajen) • Visual Reasoning – (Dr. Bram van Heuveln) Paperwork • Declare or add Cognitive Science Major – Fill out Change of Major form – Advisor: Bram van Heuveln – Curriculum Coordinator: Betty Osganian (Carnegie 108) • 1 credit for lectures – Fill out Independent Study form • 2940/4940 COGS “Issues in Cognitive Science” • Senior Thesis – Find thesis advisor – Fill out Thesis Registration form • URP – Fill out URP form – For credit: • Fill out Independent Study form as well • Credits to be determined by project advisor • Deadline: course add deadline: Monday, 2/6 – For $: • Find faculty member with $! • Deadline: Friday, 2/10