Nr. 20 / 2021

26. Februar 2021 : Cognitive Science Master’s Program goes digital - New offer for international students at Osnabrück University

The Osnabrück University Cognitive Science program is designing a globally-focused digital master’s program where on-site presence, for the most part, will not be required. The online master’s program will start in winter term 2021/22 with the application phase beginning in summer, 2021. In order to implement this new opportunity, Osnabrück University will recieve 540.000 Euro by the end of 2022 from the funding program “International Programs Digital 2020-2022, under the auspices of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). For more information, please visit https://vt.uos.de/cosmos.

The goal of the “Osnabrück Cognitive Science Master Online Studies” (OS-COSMOS) program is to extend the existing Master program in such a way that on-site students and remote students have an equal study experience. OS-COSMOS Master students have the option to specialize in Artificial Intelligence, Neuroinformatics, and/or Neuroscience — areas that are already particularly popular with international students in Osnabrück.

“We are very excited to launch OS-COSMOS. The current Cognitive Science program already attracts many international students, who make up almost half of the students in our program. With this new initiative, we can reach an even wider audience, which will be a step towards a more connected future. It also gives us a chance to utilize innovative digital teaching tools across the program”, remarks Prof. Michael Franke, Cognitive Science study dean, and project leader of OS-COSMOS. During the course of this project, courses will be tailored to optimize online learning and interconnect remote and on-site studies, Franke explains further.

In addition to the online coursework, students will be present in Osnabrück every academic year for a few weeks. “An integral aspect of the program is the yearly on-site period here in Germany. During these weeks, students will be able to get to know one another and build a relationship with the instructors and get to know Osnabrück. Although the majority of the program can be completed remotely, we stress the importance of in-person interaction amongst the students”, explains the second project leader, Dr. Tobias Thelen from the Center for Digital Teaching, Campus Management und Higher Education Didactics at Osnabrück University.

Due to the Corona Pandemic, cross-border mobility has been extremely difficult for students. The university landscape is changing rapidly with a trend towards digitalization - a fundamental change in degree programs. The DAAD program “International Programs Digital” addresses this change and therefore will be funding 19 German universities that will receive a total of around eight million Euros.

“Digitalization is a welcome expansion of the study program Cognitive Science as many courses are already offered as hybrid courses, partly online and on-site”, says the dean of studies, Prof. Michael Franke.

Further details available to the media:
Prof. Dr. Michael Franke, Osnabrück University
Institute of Cognitive Science
Wachsbleiche 27, 49090 Osnabrück
Tel. +49 541 969 3370
E-Mail: michael.franke@uni-osnabrueck.de

Dr. Tobias Thelen, Osnabrück University
Center for Digital Teaching, Campus Management und Higher Education Didactics
Heger-Tor-Wall 12, 49074 Osnabrück
Tel. +49 541 969 6502
E-Mail: tobias.thelen@uni-osnabrueck.de