COGS at Berkeley: Cognitive Science Organization for Graduate Students


President: Alex Carstensen
Email: cogssci@gmail.com
Nominate a symposium speaker: cogssci@gmail.com
Join the mailing list: cogsci-grad-students-subscribe@lists.berkeley.edu

COGS is an interdisciplinary student group whose purpose is to promote research and scholarship in cognitive science by providing a forum for discussion of research and supporting the community of cognitive scientists at Berkeley. We hold monthly meetings and symposia on cross-departmental research relevant to cognitive science. If you would like to join our mailing list, get more info about the group, or suggest a symposium theme or speaker, email us at cogssci@gmail.com.

Why Cognitive Science?

It’s the twenty-first century. Whatever your background, don’t you want to know what your mind is and how it works? You friends’ minds? Artificial minds?

Here and now, during your time at Berkeley, may be the best chance you’ll ever have to do that. COGS exists because:

  1. Berkeley is super-active in cognitive science-related fields;
  2. Whatever your program, you can be a part of the cognitive science community here;
  3. There’s no need to live holed up in your own department, and you probably shouldn’t;
  4. It’s fun to meet, and sometimes we accidentally notice awesome research problems we can solve together!

How to get involved with COGS

Our first social event was on Tuesday, Oct 28, and the following things are being created, but NEED HELP: Monthly symposia with inter-departmental grad student / postdoc presentations. The first will be entitled “The Neural Basis of Cognition.” How to help:
  • Suggest speakers
  • Volunteer to speak
  • Be an organizer for a symposium on a topic of your choice.
A social events committee to organize beer hours and/or hiking and/or other social events around once or twice a month. Joseph Williams calls it the “Liming Committee”. How to help:
  • Suggest fun activities to Joseph (joseph_williams@berkeley.edu)
  • Help Joseph make the Liming Committee work!
If you want these things to happen and happen well, then make it so! Email Alex (abc@berkeley.edu) and offer to help with whatever interests you most.