Welcome to UCL MSc CoDeS: The Programme Diaries
We are running the MSc Cognitive and Decision Sciences at UCL and we’re launching a Substack.
Why?
Because we think there’s a conversation worth having about cognitive science education that isn’t really happening anywhere else - at least not in a public, accessible way. And we’ve found ourselves wanting to be part of it.
We’re training students at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, computer science, artificial intelligence, philosophy, economics, and linguistics - fields that don’t usually speak the same language. We’re preparing them for careers that didn’t exist a few years ago. We’re incorporating AI tools while teaching students to think critically about those same tools. We’re balancing theoretical rigour with practical skills, research depth with industry relevance, and individual mentorship with cohort sizes that keep growing.
Academic programs too often communicate in one direction - polished websites, formal announcements, carefully curated stories. But education is messier, more human, and far more interesting than that. This Substack is our attempt to open up the process: to share what works, what doesn’t, what we’re arguing about, what worries and what excites us.
But this Substack isn’t just for our students. This is a space for real, meaningful bits about what it really means to study, teach, and work in cognitive science and beyond. We’re launching this for current students navigating their modules and dissertations, prospective students wondering if this field is for them, alumni building careers in research or industry, and colleagues at other institutions grappling with similar questions about curriculum, pedagogy, and the future of interdisciplinary education.
Beyond our own program, we believe there’s real value in building community across institutions. Cognitive science programmes worldwide face similar challenges, and we learn more from each other’s experiments - successes and failures - than from any curriculum guideline.
What You’ll Find Here
We’re planning a mix of content that reflects the real texture of academic life and cognitive science today:
Behind the Scenes of Running an MSc
The practical challenges of interdisciplinary education - how do you design a curriculum that serves aspiring computational neuroscientists and behavioural economists? How do you handle 200 applications for 30 spots? What do you do when half your cohort wants careers in industry and half want PhDs? What level do you teach at when half of your cohort has a Psychology degree and half doesn’t? How do you respond to formal student feedback about the programme when this may be coming from only a couple of students and you don’t know how representative it is of the whole cohort’s experience? We’ll share our decision-making process, including the trade-offs and compromises.
The Student Experience
Podcasts with current students and recent alumni, addressing common concerns, showcasing dissertation projects, and tracking career paths. We want prospective students to hear authentic voices.
Faculty Spotlights
Conversations with our lecturers about their research, their teaching philosophy, and why they’re excited (or concerned) about where the field is heading.
Admissions Insights
Demystifying the application process. What do we actually look for? What makes a personal statement compelling? How much does your undergraduate background matter? We’ll be specific and honest - including some funny bits from unexpected and unconventional (or too conventional) applications.
AI in Education
This deserves its own category. How are we integrating tools like LLMs into coursework? Where do we draw lines around academic integrity? How is AI changing what skills we prioritize? This is arguably the biggest pedagogical question the sector is facing today.
Student Feedback and Program Evolution
We take student feedback seriously, but implementing change in academia is slow and complex. We’ll share the feedback we receive, go through what we can and can’t change, and document how the programme evolves year to year.
Guest Posts from Other Programs
We’re inviting colleagues from cognitive science, decision science, and related MSc programs worldwide to share their approaches. Cross-pollination makes us all better.
We’ll publish roughly twice a month, though we may cluster content around key moments in the academic cycle.