“COGS 402 – Research in Cognitive Systems” is one of the weirdest courses I took in university. Instead of learning from lectures, you learn from apprenticeship. In other words, it’s a glimpse of real life disguised as a course.

Here’s the official description of what COGS 402 is: Students in this course must pursue a supervised, collaborative research project in a laboratory or research environment relevant to your interests. Students are expected to independently seek out a laboratory in which to volunteer, and contribute to the ongoing research or to instigate a project that integrates with the research goals of the supervisor/laboratory.

From the outline, you’ll see that you get assessed on:

• 1st oral presentation within first two weeks of term – 15%
  Should be no more than five minutes and should address the what, why, and how of the proposed research.
• 2nd oral presentation at end-of-term – 10%
  Should be 5 minutes and clearly present the what, why, and how of the research, as well as provide a brief summary of the main result(s).
• Final deliverable (submitted during Finals) – 30%
  The final project should produced in the medium appropriate to the chosen research — e.g., research paper, website, computer simulation, musical performance
• Laboratory work (weeks 1-12) 45%
  Assessed by person-in-charge from that laboratory or work site. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 9 hours per week in the laboratory.

That is pretty much all the guidance you get.

After doing COGS 402 myself and supervising students on their COGS 402’s, I might be able to give a bit more guidance…

Q. I don’t know whether or not I’m fit for COGS.
A. Let me start with a metaphor: Imagine there’s a road; a highway or something that goes somewhere. You know where the destination is. Off the highway, you see a little trail that looks like it was made by wildlife. If you follow that trail, you'll end up in a dense forest. You don’t know where the destination is. You might end up at someone’s cabin. It might lead to a rocky beach. There might be a lake you can swim in. You might end up on top of a hill and find a marvelous view. Or… the trail might end in the middle of nowhere. What would you do: taking the highway to your destination or the trail that you have no idea where it will take you?

I know some people who were in the program who weren't actually fit for it because their expectations didn't match up with reality. COGS is not a program that automatically grants you success in life (although there are many successful COGS grads out there). It's about putting all the pieces together in a way that makes sense for YOU, and it's not easy because you need to do all the work!

One thing to try out to see if you might like the content discussed in COGS: check out "They're Made Out of Meat" by Terry Bisson. To me, this is the spirit of COGS. What is a cognitive system? (Turns out meat can be! ;D) If you're fascinated by this idea, you might feel like COGS is your home.

Q. What’s the difference between B.A. Cognition and Brain stream and B.Sc. Cognition and Brain stream?
A. Let me start off with similarities first:  you will take all the COGS core courses (200, 300, 303, 401, 402). You will also have some degree of freedom with your module courses (off the top of my head I think it was 2 PSYC courses, 2 non-PSYC courses, and 2 any as long as it's in the module list). The difference is in the FACULTY requirements. It's actually quite different so I recommend you compare (BA brain stream vs. BSc brain stream) and see for yourself. Satisfying the program requirements is important, but so is satisfying the faculty requirements. If you forget to satisfy the faculty requirements that will stop you from graduating.

Q. What was your favorite course?
A. COGS303: Research Methods in Cognitive Systems. It was terrifying when I took it but the value I got from it triumphs the terror. I can ramble on forever, but to keep it short, COGS303 gave me two vitally important things: 1) the bullshit detector and 2) argument etiquette.

Q. What is COGS for you?
A. I’m in concordance with Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson (founding COGS Director)’s definition: “It’s what you want it to be.” Since COGS isn’t straightforward in terms of what career paths are available afterwards (because people go all over the place afterwards), it forces you to take ownership of your degree and spin it your way, instead of the other way around (imagine your degree dictating the way you live your life – that would be really sad). Tuum est.

Q. What advice would you give to someone who just joined COGS?
A. Get to know your people. Befriend them. Nerd out with them. One of the many things I love about COGS is the people: students, TAs, profs, alumni… they’re awesome. Most importantly, have fun. If you're not having tons of fun, COGS is probably not the right place for you. And that's okay because you need to find what's the best for you.

Q. What advice would you give to someone who is about to graduate from COGS?
A. If you still feel murky about where this COGS-coaster is going to take you…

1. You’re not alone. I was like that too. I’m still wondering where it would take me, because I know my COGS-coaster ride is nowhere near over. (I would be surprised if you totally knew where you were going actually.)
2. You’re not flawed. It’s perfectly normal to not have a crystal clear idea of what you want to do. The finding-what-you-want-to-do process lasts a lifetime because you change and the environment changes over time. It’s okay.
3. It’s also totally okay to change your mind. It might be difficult to face your own aspirations seriously because of the expectations of the people around you, but all I wish for is that you are satisfied with the way you live your life.

Special shout-out to Miya Zhang who inspired me reach out to the COGS community!