Cognitive Social and Affective Neuroscience (CoSAN)



GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE COSAN CURRICULUM

The Cognitive, Social and Affective Neuroscience (CoSAN) Ph.D. is a 3 year, multi-centre, international Ph.D. program that aims to investigate, within the framework of cognitive, social and affective neuroscience different topics spanning from embodied cognition, the neural correlates of cognitive, social and affective functions including empathy, intention, action, and emotion understanding, joint attention, joint action, cooperative and competitive behaviour, ingroup and outgroup processing and Self-Other distinction. These topics are studied in healthy subjects, along development and in subclinical, clinical and neuropsychological patients (i.e. patients with brain lesions affecting cognitive affective and social functions). All the activities of the curriculum (from students’ selection, research activities, writing and discussion of the thesis) are performed in English. 
 
COSAN AIMS:
·      To provide methodological knowledge, develop theoretically sound and cogent experimental, and longitudinal-cross-sectional designs and paradigms.
·      To train Ph.D. students to be future independent researchers by supporting their proactive role from writing scientific articles to grant hunting and grant writing.
·      To encourage inquisitive, creative and critical thinking through group interaction and cooperation.
·      To reinforce the interaction between partner laboratories by sharing knowledge and expertise and through researchers' mobility. In particular, Ph.D. students will carry out their research projects at Sapienza University of Rome and another university within the PhD network.
 
JOINT PHD IN PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE 
The Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and the Department of Psychology, City, University of London established and developed a scientific co-operation between Italian and UK teams of researchers through a formal Inter-institutional Agreement, to provide a Joint PhD Programme in ‘Psychology and Social Neuroscience’.
The agreement establishes the mobility of doctoral students from and to the partners institution for a minimum of one year in order to obtain the double Doctoral Diploma.
 
ADMISSION PROCEDURES
The whole selection procedure is in English andincludes two steps:
1) CV and Degrees Evaluation 
The candidate is evaluated taking into account the Cv and academic transcript (Master Degree, exams, scientific pubblication and research experience) and the research project  concerning one of PhD programme research topics:
·    Bodily and brain correlates of Intergroup processing, stereotype and prejudice.
·    Joint attention and joint action in healthy and brain damaged people.
·    Intention, action and emotion understanding 
·    Pain perception, empathy for pain, existential neuroscience
·    Body awareness and Self-Other distinction in healthy, spinal cord injured, and brain damaged people
·    Embodiment and agency in Immersive virtual reality

COSAN PHD CONTACT INFO: Any additional information concerning the CoSAN Ph.D. curriculum and the application procedure can be obtained by contacting:

  • Matteo Candidi - matteo.candidi@uniroma1.it  (COSAN curriculum Co-ordinator)
  • cosanphd@uniroma1.it  (administrative issues)

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