In addition to building a research program during their doctoral training, students are required to complete the following program milestones:  

First Year Project: The first year project involves designing, conducting, and reporting research under the direct supervision of the student’s advisor.  By the end of the student’s first semester, two additional faculty members, called "readers," are selected to assist in the development of the project. The student must meet with the readers (either separately or as a committee) at least once. Also by the end of the first semester, the student will give a presentation of the plans for the first year project to the area faculty and doctoral students. No later than two weeks before the end of the second semester, the student provides to all CS faculty a written draft describing the project. The readers provide feedback to the student. The student gives an oral presentation to the CS faculty and doctoral students by the end of the student's second semester.

Master’s Thesis: The master's thesis is typically undertaken in the second year and defended during the third year. It is an original piece of research, closely supervised by the research advisor and an advisory committee. The thesis leads to the M.A. degree which is considered to be a "masters in passing."

Comprehensive Examination: During the third or fourth year of the doctoral studies, the student concentrates much of his or her effort on a scholarly review of the areas of Cognitive Science. The student works with four committee members to put together a reading list upon which the Comprehensive Exams — written and oral — are based. The student has the choice of completing a "closed-book", two-day written exam or an "open-book", two-week written exam. The oral exam is conducted one week after the conclusion of the written exam and serves to clarify the student's answers to the written questions.  Often, the literature review that the student conducts during this time period becomes the basis of the doctoral dissertation.

Doctoral Dissertation: The doctoral dissertation is an extensive piece of original research that demonstrates the capability of the student to act as an independent scholar in experimental methods. The dissertation is closely supervised by the research advisor and three additional faculty members who constitute the dissertation committee. The student writes a formal dissertation proposal and defends it to the committee. After the defense, the student is admitted to Ph.D. candidacy by the Graduate College.  Following data collection, there is a "data meeting" at which the analyses are reviewed by the committee.  The process culminates with the student's defense of the dissertation before the committee and the academic community.

Courses: Students must also complete at least two graduate level statistics courses; at least six, 3-credit courses taught by at least five CS core faculty; and two additional courses. These courses are generally completed during the first two to three years. Choose these courses in consultation with your research mentor, but be sure to also look at the courses taught by Cognitive Science Affiliates.