A Brief Introduction:

The Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (ICSS) is one of a very few academic institutions in Iran devoted to teaching and conducting research in the field.  The institute was founded in 1997, initially as a study group, which gradually expanded its scopes to the extent that it now admits Ph.D. students in the area of cognitive neuroscience since 2006.  ICSS also launched its Master’s program in the field of cognitive psychology in February 2008.

Over the past years, ICSS facilities, including its laboratories and the specialized library, and its flagship quarterly publication – Advances in Cognitive Science – have been growing qualitatively and quantitatively.   In short, the institute has currently evolved into a magnet for many of the brightest Iranian minds interested in the fields of cognitive science.   Some of the more frequently asked questions about ICSS are answered below.

FAQs:

What are the main objectives of ICSS?

 In the process of studying cognition, ICSS pursues the following major objectives: 

• Discovery of important, unknown facts about key issues in cognitive science through quality experiments
• Understanding unresolved issues in cognitive science through provision of new, effective, analytical theories
• Identifying means of employing achievements in cognitive science to improve the quality of individual and social wellbeing

In a midterm outlook, ICSS aims at significantly increasing its share of producing new findings, theories, and scientific models by 2015.

 

What are the major activities of ICSS? 

The prime interest of ICSS is to conduct research studies that enhance our knowledge and understanding of cognitive science.  That objective requires the kind of theoretical, experimental, and applied studies, which would be beneficial not only in terms of employing these achievements in various aspects of life, but also in terms of advancing our scientific knowledge.  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.  To these ends, ICSS engages in a host of other activities.  They include:  

• Offering graduate studies programs
• Providing short-term training programs and workshops
• Organizing and supporting scientific conferences and discussion meetings
• Participating in international collaborations
•  Publishing (or supporting the publication of) specialized books and journals
• Providing an effective research environment by means of modernizing and equipping its laboratories, and maintaining a resourceful library

 

Is cognitive science taught at Iranian universities? At what levels?

Cognitive science is a relatively new and less-known field in Iran, and most universities in the country yet do not teach it.  In addition to ICSS, which now offers both doctoral and Master's degrees in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology, respectively, the School of Cognitive Sciences of the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) is another institute in Iran which offers Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience.  The psychology department of the University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Azarbaijan province, recently offered, at least on one occasion, a doctoral program in cognitive psychology.

However, a number of graduate schools at Iranian universities are involved in researches that can be related to various branches of cognitive sciences.  To name a few, one could mention the following:

Control and Intelligent Processing Center of Excellence, University of Tehran

Department of Electrical Engineering (Electronics Division: Bioengineering and Biomedical Signal Processing, Robotics), Amir Kabir University

Research Center of Intelligent Signal Processing 

 

What scientific and research institutes in Iran and outside does ICSS cooperate with?

In conducting its Ph.D. program, ICSS has been in a special cooperative relation with Shahid Beheshti Univesity of Tehran.  The institute is evidently engaged in collaboration with other institutes of similar interests in organizing, for instance, joint national and international conferences.  It is also a member of relevant national associations such as Iranian Neuroscience Research Network.

Internationally, ICSS has reached cooperative agreements with the University of Florida and the University of Zurich.  The agreements provide for the exchange of experiences, scientific finding, faculty and students, and for performing joint research and educational projects.

In addition, the institute has conducted many individual joint research projects in Iran with a number of domestic and international universities and organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations.  A sample of such joint projects includes:  

• A survey of the social and psychological health of Iranian students conducted with Yale University, USA.
• Positive Parenting Program (Triple-P), conducted with Queensland University, Australia.
• Harm Reduction Program, conducted with Medicins de monde (MDM).
• A complete model for depression and addiction therapy among the youth – with the cooperation of GTZ, a German NGO.
• Opioid Agonist Maintenance Treatment, with Yale University
• The impact of war on psychological health of Afghani and Iraqi children, a research agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In 2005, ICSS received Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).  Additionally, in 2002, the institute was admitted by the Institutional Review Board of the United States and became eligible for the Federal-wide Assurance (FWA), which paved the way for the collaboration of ICSS with American scientific and research centers in researches involving human subject.