The Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences (french: Centre Interfacultaire en Sciences Affectives or "CISA") is an

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

research centre based in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. Founded in 2003, the focus of its research is the emotions or

affective science Affective science is the scientific study of emotion or affect. This includes the study of emotion elicitation, emotional experience and the recognition of emotions in others. Of particular relevance are the nature of feeling, mood, emotionally ...

. It is one of 20 Swiss Government funded NCCR (National Centres for Competence in Research). The centre was headed by Professor Klaus Scherer, is now headed by David Sander, and researches emotions in the areas of cognitive neuroscience,

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

affective computing Affective computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, psychology, and cognitive science. While some ...

. It has project focuses in cognitive appraisal, expression, social and legal regulation, norms and values and aesthetic emotions. Over 100 researchers from different universities attend in the NCCR Affective Sciences. The Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research tries to train as many new affective young scientists as possible. They have a program devoted to the ''Education and Training Program'' which helps train and prepare researchers in the affective sciences for the future. The goal of ''Education and Training Program'' is to encourage approach towards affective phenomena without losing the punitive profession required for a professional career between disciplines. There is an annual program called the International Summer School in Affective Sciences (ISSAS) which is available for young researchers worldwide. The summer school tries to bring together arts and emotions of students using many methods including literature, neuroscience, psychology, and musicology. The Centre's main research goals include attempting to understand affective phenomena, such as emotions and motivation, through research and analysis. Affective phenomena are complex and difficult to understand. They are described as intricate events in human behaviour and experience. The centre focusses on three parts of emotions: emotions being complicated reactions to our surroundings, emotions as being disruptive and needing conscious control and regulation and emotions as being a regulating force of today’s society. Therefore, individual research projects are organized around three main categories of research relating to these aspects: emotion awareness and elicitation, emotion regulation and the social purposes of emotions.

Notes and references

International summer school in affective sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.affective-sciences.org/issas

External links

*Official website - http://www.affective-sciences.org/ * http://www.affective-sciences.org/teaching-activities {{DEFAULTSORT:Swiss Center For Affective Sciences Philosophy institutes