UCSD Cognitive Science Department

Higher Education and Academic Researchcogsci.ucsd.edu

The UCSD Cognitive Science Department is a public academic unit within UC San Diego's Division of Social Sciences offering a PhD program, undergraduate major and minors, and conducting interdisciplinary research across neuroscience, AI, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology.

Company typePublic
Founded-
HeadquartersLa Jolla, United States
Headcount51–100
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What UCSD Cognitive Science Department does

The UCSD Cognitive Science Department is a public academic unit within the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. It offers a PhD program, an undergraduate major, an undergraduate minor in Cognitive Science, and an interdisciplinary minor in Design. Its stated mission is to study learning, perception, action, and interaction across physical, digital, and cultural environments, drawing on anthropology, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. The department serves three primary stakeholder groups: undergraduate students (admitted through UC San Diego's central process), graduate students (admitted into the PhD program and a joint SDSU-UCSD doctoral program in Language and Communicative Disorders), and faculty/researchers conducting sponsored research.

The department operates multiple specialized labs spanning neuroscience, machine learning, computational modeling, language processing, human-computer interaction, brain-computer interfaces, and cognitive development. Technical capabilities disclosed in source material include EEG-based neuroimaging, deep learning formulations, introspective neural networks, eye tracking, cognitive ethnography, and multimodal data visualization tools such as ChronoViz. Notable research outputs include comparative Turing test studies of large language models, LLM behavioral analysis, and large-scale neural data analysis. The department comprises roughly 30+ faculty, 80+ graduate students, and approximately 20+ administrative and lab staff.

As a state-funded academic unit, the department does not operate a commercial revenue model. Operating funds flow through UC San Diego's central budget from state appropriations, tuition, and external research grants routed via the university. The department does not sell products or services to external customers; it distributes educational programs through formal university admissions and academic advising channels. Distribution is limited to a single domestic market (California, USA), with no international commercial footprint.

UCSD Cognitive Science Department firmographics

Firmographics

Name: UCSD Cognitive Science Department
Legal name: Regents of the University of California
Website: https://cogsci.ucsd.edu
Company type: Public
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 51–100 employees
Short description: The UCSD Cognitive Science Department is a public academic unit within UC San Diego's Division of Social Sciences offering a PhD program, undergraduate major and minors, and conducting interdisciplinary research across neuroscience, AI, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

UCSD Cognitive Science Department industry classification

Industry

Product category: Higher Education and Academic Research
NAICS: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)
SIC: Services-Educational Services (8200)
akta.pro primary industry: STEM-Focused Research Universities (Engineering & Applied Sciences) (EDAHABAB)
akta.pro secondary industry: Public Research Universities with Engineering/Polytechnic Emphasis (EDAHAAAD)

Keywords

Cognitive science education
Interdisciplinary research programs
Doctoral neuroscience training
Computational cognition research
Human-computer interaction studies

Where UCSD Cognitive Science Department is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: La Jolla
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

UCSD Cognitive Science Department business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

University Funding: Funded through UC San Diego's budget allocation from state funding, grants, and tuition revenue

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

UCSD Cognitive Science Department product offering

Product offering

Core offering

The UCSD Cognitive Science Department delivers interdisciplinary higher-education programs — a PhD in Cognitive Science, an undergraduate major in Cognitive Science, a minor in Cognitive Science, and a minor in Design — together with sponsored research in cognition, neuroscience, computational modeling, language, and human-computer interaction. It is a state-funded academic unit within UC San Diego's Division of Social Sciences.

Product overview

UCSD Cognitive Science Department offers educational programs including a Ph.D. program and undergraduate major/minor programs in cognitive science, plus a unique Design minor. The department focuses on multidisciplinary research spanning neuroscience, machine learning, linguistics, and human-computer interaction, with featured research labs studying topics including brain-computer interfaces, language processing, and neural data analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Cognitive Science Ph.D. Program

Companies that use UCSD Cognitive Science Department

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

UCSD Cognitive Science Department technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature4 records

UCSD Cognitive Science Department partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

UCSD Cognitive Science Department competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Regional players

UC Davis Department of Psychology (Cognition track): UC Davis hosts a cognition-focused group within Psychology serving a similar UC applicant pool. Another in-system UC peer operating with the same governance and funding constraints.
UCLA Department of Psychology (Cognitive): UCLA's cognitive psychology group is the closest in-state UC peer, competing with UCSD for California applicants and research visibility. Same University of California system but a broader Psychology department rather than a standalone Cognitive Science unit.

Direct peers

Indiana University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences / Cognitive Science Program: IU hosts one of the oldest and largest Cognitive Science programs in the US, offering directly comparable undergraduate and graduate training in cognitive science with an interdisciplinary philosophy.
Brown University Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences: Brown's CLPS is an interdisciplinary department unifying cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology — almost identical structural model to UCSD's department and a natural peer for faculty and student competition.
Stanford Department of Psychology (Cognitive): Stanford's Psychology department runs a major cognitive area with strong NLP, vision, and neuroscience research — closely overlapping UCSD CogSci's interdisciplinary research profile and industry placement.
Carnegie Mellon University Cognitive Science / Psychology: CMU's Institute for Cognition and Brain / Department of Psychology houses one of the pioneering cognitive science programs with strong computational and AI emphasis, comparable to UCSD's tech-adjacent orientation.
Johns Hopkins Cognitive Science Department: JHU's standalone Cognitive Science department combines computation, neuroscience, and linguistics with a research output comparable in scope to UCSD.
Princeton Department of Psychology (Cognitive): Princeton's cognitive concentration in Psychology covers computation, language, and neuroscience — directly comparable in research breadth and selectivity to UCSD CogSci.
UC Berkeley Department of Cognitive Science: In-system UC peer and one of the top-rated standalone Cognitive Science departments in the world. Closely comparable curriculum, research portfolio, and applicant pool to UCSD.
MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences: MIT's flagship interdisciplinary cognitive science / neuroscience department combining brain research, computation, and cognition. Most direct academic peer to UCSD CogSci in scope, prestige, and research breadth.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

UCSD Cognitive Science Department financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

UCSD Cognitive Science Department leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

UCSD Cognitive Science Department funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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UCSD Cognitive Science Department M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UCSD Cognitive Science Department

What does UCSD Cognitive Science Department do?

Is UCSD Cognitive Science Department a public or private company?

UCSD Cognitive Science Department is a public company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.

When was UCSD Cognitive Science Department founded?

UCSD Cognitive Science Department was founded in -1. It employs 51 to 100 people.

Where is UCSD Cognitive Science Department based?

UCSD Cognitive Science Department is headquartered in La Jolla, United States, in the North America region.

How does UCSD Cognitive Science Department make money?

One revenue line is on record: university Funding.

Who are UCSD Cognitive Science Department's main competitors?

Regional players on record are UC Davis Department of Psychology (Cognition track) and UCLA Department of Psychology (Cognitive). Direct peers are Indiana University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences / Cognitive Science Program, Brown University Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Stanford Department of Psychology (Cognitive), Carnegie Mellon University Cognitive Science / Psychology, Johns Hopkins Cognitive Science Department, Princeton Department of Psychology (Cognitive), UC Berkeley Department of Cognitive Science and MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Does UCSD Cognitive Science Department have an API?

No public API is recorded for UCSD Cognitive Science Department.

What industry is UCSD Cognitive Science Department in?

UCSD Cognitive Science Department's product category is Higher Education and Academic Research. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHABAB, STEM-Focused Research Universities (Engineering & Applied Sciences), with a secondary code of EDAHAAAD, Public Research Universities with Engineering/Polytechnic Emphasis. Its NAICS code is 61131 and its SIC code is 8200.