The Institute offers two graduate degrees in cognitive science, the Ph.D. and the Master’s programs.  Currently, there are tens of students registered in the two programs combined, with about 20 professors and researches involved in the institute’s academic and research activities.  The first group of ICSS doctoral students graduated in February 2011.

The cognitive neuroscience Doctoral Program of the ICSS was commenced in September 2006.  The program is unique in Iran, and ICSS is the first institute in the country to offer a Ph.D. degree in the field.  It brings together some of the country’s most accomplished professors and researches in the areas associated with neuroscience and cognitive psychology.

Student candidates for the program are selected through competitive entrance exams.  For the academic year 2006-2007, despite the fact that the program was just introduced, 70 people participated in the exams, of which 11 were admitted.  Another 10 candidates were accepted through a similar process for the 2007-2008 academic year.  To preserve the quality of the program, since then, the institute has been admitting only less than a handful number of Ph.D. students every other year.

The institute’s Master’s Program was inaugurated in February 2008, with the admission of 12 students. They were selected from among the participants in a nationally-held entrance exam administered by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology.   The MA program of cognitive science studies has an emphasis on cognitive psychology.  Another 12 MA students were admitted for the 2008-2009 academic year -- a trend that has continued since on an annual basis.

The purpose of the programs is to train first-class researchers and scientists in the fields of cognitive -neuroscience/-psychology.  The Ph.D. is designed as a four-and a-half-year program, the first half of which stresses on the latest theoretical and practical achievements of the field, while the second half primarily concentrates on applying that gained knowledge and understanding to a seminal research project.  The Master’s degree is to be conferred at the end of a two-year program, consisting of an intensive exposure to the latest literature in the field, followed by completion of a research project.