Cognitive Science is an exciting and interdisciplinary area spanning fields including computer science, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy.
Edinburgh is a widely recognised leader in the area, and the School of Informatics has particular strengths in the computational study of higher cognition and reasoning, speech and language, and neuroscience, as well as related areas such as human-computer interaction, robotics, and computer vision.
The Cognitive Science degree offers courses in many of these areas, providing a strong grounding in the shared computational and mathematical foundations while also allowing students to pursue specialised courses in their particular areas of interest. Many students also take advantage of relevant courses offered in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences or other parts of the University.
The University of Edinburgh consistently ranks among the world's top universities for Computer Science, including 22nd in the world and 5th in the UK in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 ranked our School 1st in the UK for research power in Computer Science and Informatics. This means you will learn from experts at the forefront of their fields, undertaking cutting-edge research in a wide range of areas.
You will be part of a large, vibrant department with around 2000 students across undergraduate, masters and research programmes and 150 academic staff.
You will study in the heart of Edinburgh city centre, regularly voted as one of the most desirable places to live in the world, and one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech hubs.
Learn about the Cognitive Science MSc in this presentation delivered by former Programme Director, Prof. Frank Keller.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this MSc was its interdisciplinary nature, bringing together computer science, psychology and philosophy. This allowed me to explore a wide range of subjects, from AI-focused topics such as Robot and Reinforcement Learning to biology-related areas such as Computational Neuroscience. I also valued the diverse cohort, with students from backgrounds including computer science, mathematics and linguistics, making classroom discussions especially engaging.
This student was incentivised to tell their story.
To find international equivalent qualifications, select where you studied from the country or region list.