The Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (ICSS) (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: موسسه آموزش عالی علوم‌ شناختی, ''Moasesse-ye Amouzesh-e Aali-e Oloum-e Shenakhti'') is a non-governmental,

non-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

advanced research institution in Pardis,

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, committed to promoting

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

and educational efforts that bring together the various disciplines that contribute to cognitive sciences and its related technologies.

History and Objectives

The institute was initially established as a study group by the same name in 1997 at

Shahid Beheshti University Shahid Behesti University ( fa, دانشگاه شهید بهشتی , Dāneshgāh-e Shahid Beheshti) (formerly known as the National University of Iran) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers many programs at Bache ...

, and later accredited by the

Ministry of Science, Research and Technology The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) is the government ministry of science, research and technology in the Islamic Republic of Iran. State-run (non-medical) universities of Iran are under the direct supervision of Iran's Mini ...

in 2003 to accept graduate students. In 2016, it departed from its parent university and acted as an independent educational organization ever since. The ICSS founded by a board of trustees consisting of prominent Iranian psychologists led by Prof. Kamal Kharazi. In 2007, to develop cognitive sciences and technologies at the national level, the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, assigned Kharazi to draft a strategic report for the development of cognitive science and its related technologies. This task was carried out by a working group led by him and with the cooperation of a group of cognitive science professors, and it was approved by the Supreme Council in 2010 and announced by the then president. In addition, in 2013, the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, by approving the comprehensive scientific map of the country, named the field of cognitive sciences as an A-priority science for the country. Therefore, the main objective of ICSS is to promote the field in Iran and to train distinguished researchers to conduct cutting-edge research related to the field to address cultural and social issues. To implement the aforementioned reports, the Cognitive Sciences and Technologies Council was established in 2012 under the auspices of the Vice President for Science and Technology, and Kharrazi was appointed as its secretary. Besides, a curriculum planning committee was established in the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to develop the doctoral and master’s degree curriculums of cognitive sciences and technologies. The institute also adheres to the principle that research findings should be shared with other scientific communities through their publication in respectable peer-reviewed journals and

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

. * Offering graduate studies programs * Providing short-term training programs and

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the onl ...

* Organizing and supporting scientific

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

and discussion meetings * Participating in international collaborations * Publishing (or supporting the publication of) specialized

and journals * Providing an effective research environment by utilizing, modernizing, and equipping its

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...

, and maintaining a resourceful

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

Education

The institute offers various M.Sc. and PhD degrees related to

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and cognitive studies which are: M.Sc.: Cognitive Psychology; Mind, Brain, and Education; Cognitive Rehabilitation; Cognitive Design and Creativity; Cognitive Science and Media PhD: Cognitive Neuroscience: Brain and Cognition; Cognitive Neuroscience: Computing and Artificial Intelligence; Cognitive Psychology; Psychology: Social Cognition; Cognitive Modeling; Philosophy of Mind; and Cognitive Linguistics. Acceptance to the institute is competitive and entrance to its programs requires performing well in the

Iranian University Entrance Exam The Iranian University Entrance Exam, simply known as Konkour ( Persian: کنکور; from the French ''Concours''), is a standardized test used as one of the means to gain admission to higher education in Iran. Generally, to get a Ph.D. in non-me ...

, and ICSS awards an exemption of annual tuition fee to the applicants who rank 1 to 10 in the mentioned exam. Furthermore, alongside the master’s and doctoral degree programs, lectures, journal clubs, short-term courses, and workshops are held at the institute to prepare the students for their qualitative research.

Research, Laboratories, and Departments

ICSS departments consist of: the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Rehabilitation; Department of Cognitive Education; Department of Cognitive Linguistics; Department of Cognitive Modeling; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Computing and Artificial Intelligence; Department of Philosophy of Mind; Department of Design and Creativity; Department of Media. The institute has these main laboratories: * Animal Lab * Neuropsychology Lab * Animal Electrophysiology Lab * Human Electrophysiology Lab * ERP, EEG Lab * TMS Lab * EMG Lab * Eye Tracking Lab * Neural Data Analysis Lab * fNIRS Lab * Virtual Reality Lab And two affiliated centres: * Brain and Cognition Clinic (BCC) * COGNOTECH ICSS has a library devoted to publishing materials related to Cognitive Sciences. The library contains a wide range of fundamental and up-to-date references in cognitive science and technologies available to students and researchers. Besides English and Farsi references, CDs, specialized journals, and full access to online libraries are provided. In the process of research through

, ICSS pursues the following primary objectives: Discovery of important, unknown facts about key issues in cognitive science through quality experiments; understanding unresolved issues in cognitive science through the provision of new, effective, analytical theories; identifying means of employing achievements in cognitive science to improve the quality of individual and social wellbeing.

Cooperations

The institute has had cooperations with many universities in The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

including, but not limited to,

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

The University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = Br ...

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

KAIST The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the nation's first public, research ...

Lomonosov Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

University of Hyderabad The University of Hyderabad (IAST: ''Hydarāvād visvavidyālayamu'') is a top ranking public central research university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded in 1974, this mostly residential campus has more than 5,000 students a ...

, and

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

. Also, ICSS has working relations with several

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

agencies such as

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

. The institute also acts as an interuniversity organization having adjunct professors and invited lecturers from

The University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

, Kharazmi University,

Amirkabir University of Technology Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT) ( fa, دانشگاه صنعتی امیرکبیر), also called the Tehran Polytechnic, is a public technological university located in Tehran, Iran. Founded in 1928, AUT is the second oldest technical univ ...

Allameh Tabatabai University Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU; �ælɒːˈme tæbɒːtæbɒːˈʔiː fa, دانشگاه علامه طباطبائی, ''Danushgah-e 'lâmh-e Tâbatâbai'') is one of the largest and the leading specialized public university in humanities and ...

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) ( fa, دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شیراز Dāneshgāh-e Olum Pezeshki-e Shirāz) is a public medical school located in Shiraz, Iran. It is ranked as one of Iran's top medical schools, with ...

, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, and

Shiraz University Shiraz University ( fa, دانشگاه شیراز ''Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz'', formerly known as Pahlavi University دانشگاه پهلوی ''Dāneshgāh-e Pahlavi'') is a public university located in Shiraz, Fars, Iran, established in 1946. ...

. The Institute also organizes its Media program jointly with the

IRIB University The Iran Broadcasting University ( fa, دانشگاه صدا و سیما, ''Dāneshgāh-e Sedā va Simā'') formerly known as the Iran Broadcasting College ( fa, دانشکده صدا و سیما, ''Dāneshkade-ye Sedā va Simā'') is a public uni ...

.
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External Links

* (in Farsi) * (in English)
National Brain Mapping Laboratory
(in English)
Cognitive Sciences and Technologies Council
(in English)

References