Front-Cog

Coordinator: Charlotte Jacquemot (ENS - PSL)

Host institutions: CNRS, ENS - PSL, EHESS , INSERM, IEC Labex, UPEC


The focus of cognitive science is to connect mental function – memory, perception, language, reasoning – with underlying psychological mechanisms and genetic and neural phenomena. The Front-Cog EUR (graduate school) project is helping to define and showcase the discipline of cognitive science, with help from the Department of Cognitive Studies (DEC) at ENS. The DEC is an interdisciplinary department that combines the humanities and social sciences, life sciences, engineering and information technology to frame its examination of human cognition in all its diversity, backed by a wide range of research tools.

The PSL Front-Cog research project is drawing international attention to the DEC’s activities, thanks to a five-year scholarship program and a curriculum that includes training in data science and applied research in conjunction with the project’s industrial partners.  The project includes international partnerships that promote student mobility and collaboration with high-level research centers around the world.

Front-Cog draws on the Master’s program in cognitive science, which includes both scientific training and multiple internships that offer an immersion in cutting-edge research, as well as the PSL Doctoral College. The project is also enhanced by synergies with other departments at ENS and PSL’s partner institutions. Firmly focused on the future, Front-Cog is a major hub for education and research for an area of interdisciplinary research at the forefront of innovation.

Front-Cog is exploring the frontiers of cognitive science, capitalizing on the wide range of expertise within PSL (data science, physics, life science, engineering, the humanities, the arts, social science). It offers a career-developing academic path with a focus on both fundamental research and business applications.