The BA in Cognitive Science allows students to explore human cognition and artificial intelligence, to dive deep into the process of production and understanding of concepts within the mind and their applications through computer assisted software in the context of the growing role of computers and Information Systems in language analysis. This interdisciplinary program equips students with comprehensive knowledge in theoretical principles, technical skills, and practical applications spanning linguistics, psychology, computer science, with a strong focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and Data Analytics. Graduates of this program are well-prepared for careers in Cognitive Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing, AI, customer behavior analysis and machine learning.
Students of this program will be able to:
- Demonstrate effective communication skills and proficiency in oral, written, and professional English in a variety of social and academic contexts;
- Use critical thinking to evaluate and interpret evidence, and to apply cognitive science concepts, theories, and research findings to individual and social issues.
- Demonstrate and apply knowledge of theory of language and linguistics, including the ability to precisely describe and analyze empirical patterns found in sets of language data;
- Demonstrate and apply knowledge of psychology and cognition, especially psychological and cognitive processes related to language processing;
- Demonstrate knowledge of theory in computing, and implement practical programming skills and computational tools, including identifying problems and developing practical solutions, making use of computational tools and statistical analysis, and understanding and evaluating the organization, design, and construction of software systems for computing;
- Perform data analysis across a variety of data types, drawing on theory in linguistics, psychology, and computing and demonstrating critical thinking;
- Develop and carry out practical applications of skills, including conducting original, ethical research.
- Demonstrate practical skills in development and deployment of dedicated software tailored for companies, especially those involved in social and public areas.
BACS Curriculum
Requirements for the BA in Cognitive Science are as follows:
| Category of Courses | Credits | ECTS |
| General Education | 36 | 56 |
| Required Courses | 33 | 51 |
| Elective Courses | 3 | 5 |
| Program Foundation | 68 | 112 |
| Required Courses | 35 | 57 |
| Elective Courses | 33 | 55 |
| Program Specialization | 39 | 64 |
| Required Courses | 24 | 39 |
| Elective Courses | 15 | 25 |
| Final Attestation | 3 | 8 |
| Total Required for Graduation | 146 | 240 |
To view the detailed BACS curriculum, please see KIMEP University Catalog
STUDY PLAN
The following tables are a sample program of study to finish the BA in Cognitive Science degree in four years.
| 1st year | |||||||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | ||||||
| Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS | Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS |
| ENG/GEN1110 | Academic Listening and Note Taking | 3 | 5 | LING/GEN1101 | Fundamentals of Linguistics | 3 | 5 |
| ENG/GEN1120 | Academic Reading and Writing I | 3 | 5 | ENG/GEN 1100 | Academic English Speaking | 3 | 5 |
| GEN1000 | Modern History of Kazakhstan | 3 | 5 | ENG/GEN1121 | Academic Reading and Writing II | 3 | 5 |
| KAZ/ RUSxxxx | Kazakh/Russian | 3 | 5 | CLP1202/ MATH2401 or MATH1202* | Calculus or Mathematics for Computer Science* | 3 | 5 |
| GENxxxx | The Module of Socio-Political Knowledge 1 | 3 | 3 | GEN/CLP2103 | Introduction to Computer Science | 3 | 5 |
| GENxxxx | Physical Training | 2 | 4 | GENxxxx | The Module of Socio-Political Knowledge 2 | 3 | 3 |
| GENxxxx | Physical Training | 2 | 4 | ||||
| TOTAL | 17 | 27 | TOTAL | 20 | 32 | ||
| 2nd year | |||||||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | ||||||
| Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS | Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS |
| COGN/GEN1201 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 | 5 | PSY2103 | Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods and Statistics I | 3 | 5 |
| KAZ/RUS xxxx | Kazakh/Russian | 3 | 5 | COGN2103 | Introduction to Cognitive Psychology | 3 | 5 |
| LING2101 | Language and its Structure I | 3 | 5 | LING2201 | Language and its Structure II | 3 | 5 |
| GEN/IRL 2510 | Introduction to Philosophy or Principles of Ethics | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | Minor 1 or WE 1 | 3 | 5 |
| GENxxxx | GE Elective (Category B) | 3 | 5 | CLP2202 | Fundamentals of Programming II | 3 | 5 |
| CLP2201 or CIT3803* | Fundamentals of Programming I (Python) or Python Programming* | 3 | 5 | KAZ/RUS22xx | Professional Kazakh/Russian | 2 | 3 |
|
GENxxxx |
The Module of Socio-Political Knowledge 3 | 2 | 2 | XXXxxxx | FE 1 (Linguistics) | 3 | 5 |
| TOTAL | 20 | 32 | TOTAL | 20 | 33 | ||
| 3rd year | |||||||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | ||||||
| Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS | Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS |
| LING3306 | Corpus Linguistics | 3 | 5 | LING3204 | Advanced Syntax | 3 | 5 |
| PSY2202 | Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods and Statistics II | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | FE 3 (Linguistics) | 3 | 5 |
| COGN2204 | Writing in Cognitive Science | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | Minor 3 or WE 3 | 3 | 5 |
| LING3203 | Logic of Language | 3 | 5 | CLP2205 | Academic Internship | 3 | 4 |
| XXXxxxx | Minor 2 or WE 2 | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | SE 2 | 3 | 5 |
| XXXxxxx | FE 2 (Linguistics) | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | FE 1 (Psychology) | 3 | 5 |
| XXXxxxx | SE 1 | 3 | 5 | ||||
| TOTAL | 21 | 35 | TOTAL | 18 | 29 | ||
| 4th year | |||||||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | ||||||
| Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS | Course Code | Course Title | Credits | ECTS |
| LING3305 | Introduction to Computational Linguistics | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | FE 3 (Psychology) | 3 | 5 |
| XXXxxxx | Minor 4 or WE 4 | 3 | 5 | CLP4211 | Senior Project | 3 | 8 |
| XXXxxxx | SE 3 | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | SE 5 | 3 | 5 |
| XXXxxxx | SE 4 | 3 | 5 | XXXxxxx | WE5 | 3 | 5 |
| CLP4201 | Professional Internship | 3 | 4 | ||||
| XXXxxxx | FE 2 (Psychology) | 3 | 5 | ||||
| TOTAL | 18 | 29 | TOTAL | 12 | 23 | ||
Total for program: 146 credits (240 ECTS)
CLP1202/MATH2401 Calculus (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed to introduce students to the basic ideas and methods of mathematical analysis and their application to mathematical modeling. This course equips students with some of the analytical tools that are required by courses in cognitive sciences, computational linguistics and programming. Students will learn to translate ordinary language descriptions of problems into mathematical expression, derive solutions by rigorous mathematical methods, interpret their results, and explain them.
GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: None
Introductory course in computer science and the study of algorithms appropriate for students in cognitive sciences. Topics include how computers work, simple algorithms and their efficiency, networking, databases, artificial intelligence, graphics, simulation and modeling, security and the social impact of computing. The course also includes a hands-on introduction to programming concepts.
CLP2201/ECN2210 Fundamentals of Programming I (Python) (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed for students with no prior programming experience. The course introduces the fundamental computer concepts, logic, and computer programming. Topics include basic algorithms and problem solving, data types, control structures, functions, loops, lists, dictionaries, files, and the mechanics of running, testing, and debugging, and documenting programs using the Python programming languages.
CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: CLP2201/ECN2210 Fundamentals of Programming I (Python)
Students are introduced to the programming tools required to solve a more advanced set of problems. Students will use dedicated libraries for numeric and symbolic manipulation. They will learn how to extract data and how to create correct visualization directly from the programming environment. The used language is Python.
CLP2205 Academic Internship (3 credits, 4 ECTS)
Prerequisite: Minimum of 69 credits in program (115 ECTS)
This is the first of two required internships. Students will undertake an internship at an appropriate venue outside of KIMEP. Applying knowledge learned in the classroom, they will gain on-the-job experience in areas such as research methods, data analysis, software programming, computing statistical methods, logic, psychology, neuroscience and language acquisition.
CLP3102 Introduction to Machine Learning (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science and CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II
Introduction to modeling and algorithmic techniques for machines to learn concepts from data. Extracting meaningful patterns from random samples of large data sets. Statistical analysis of the resulting problems. Common algorithm paradigms for such tasks. The focus is on applications in natural language processing, computer vision, data mining, human computer interaction, and information retrieval.
CLP3201 Introduction to Natural Language Processing (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science and CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II and LING3305 Introduction to Computational Linguistics
This class introduces key concepts of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Understanding (NLU), familiarizes with common tools and techniques to analyze unstructured data in cognitive sciences. Students will work extensively with probability, statistics, mathematical functions such as logarithms and differentiation, and linear algebra concepts such as vectors and matrices.
CLP3204 Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science
The course provides the basic background for a computer scientist in the area of data structures and algorithms. Students will learn about fundamental data structures and algorithms and how to apply them in real problems. The topics that will be covered by the course include: Analysis of algorithms, Abstract Data Types (ADT), Lists, stacks, and queues, Search trees (BST, AVL, and B-trees), Priority queues (heaps), Sorting algorithms, Hash data structures, Graphs.
CLP3206 Pattern Recognition (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science and CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II
This course is an introduction to pattern recognition: features, classifications, learning. Students will also learn statistical methods, structural methods and hybrid methods. Applications to speech recognition, remote sensing and biomedical areas. Learning algorithms, Syntactic approach: Introduction to pattern grammars and languages. Parsing techniques. Pattern recognition in computer aided design.
CLP3301 Text Mining (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science and CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II and LING3305 Introduction to Computational Linguistics
Text mining, also known as ‘knowledge discovery from text’, is an ICT research and development field that has gained increasing focus in the last decade, attracting researchers from data science, computational linguistics, and machine learning. Example key applications text categorization, information extraction, social media mining and automatic summarization. This course gives an overview of the field from both a theoretical angle (underlying models) and a practical angle (applications). In addition to the lectures, the students work on practical assignments.
CLP3302 Human-Computer Interaction (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: GEN/CLP2103 Introduction to Computer Science and CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II
The basic theories, principles and guidelines of the design and evaluation of human-computer interactions. Topics include: design methodologies (e.g., participatory design, low- and high-fidelity prototyping), user interface technologies (e.g., input and output devices, interaction styles), and quantitative and qualitative evaluation of user interfaces (e.g., expert reviews, usability testing).
CLP3303 Web Development Technologies (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisites: GEN/OPM1300 Information and Communication Technologies or GEN/OPM2301 Business Computer Applications
By the end of this course you’ll be able to describe how a web page is organized, create dynamic web pages using a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, select the correct web hosting service, and deploy your web pages. Finally, you’ll be able to develop a working business website. You will also learn how to tackle the backend and how to link to a database.
CLP3304 Mobile Application Development (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisites: GEN/OPM1300 Information and Communication Technologies or GEN/OPM2301 Business Computer Applications
This course introduces application development systems to run on a mobile device. By the end of this course students will be able to use dedicated programming languages and frameworks to create mobile applications and deploy them. Koltin will be the main language used in this course but other languages or no code frameworks will also be introduced.
CLP3305 Database Management System (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisites: GEN/OPM1300 Information and Communication Technologies or GEN/OPM2301 Business Computer Applications
This course covers fundamentals of databases and database management systems. The course introduces relational design, entity relation structure, enhanced entity relation structure. The onboard DBMS or Client-server DBMS will be introduced. The normalization process and functional dependencies will also be introduced. By the end of the course students will be able to design small-medium scale relational databases and deploy them using SQL language.
CLP4201 Professional Internship (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: CLP2205 Academic Internship
Supervised professional work or research experience on university campus, or off campus in an industry, business or institutional setting using skills and knowledge acquired in cognitive science coursework. Evaluation by internship supervisor.
CLP4211 Senior Project (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: CLP2202/ECN2211 Fundamentals of Programming II
The aim of the course for students to develop their own programming product under supervision.
COGN/GEN1201 Introduction to Psychology (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: ENG/GEN1120 Academic Reading and Writing I
This course provides an overview of the foundational subfields and theories in psychology. Students will be introduced to the breadth of the research and topics in psychology, and the basics of subfields like cognitive psychology, social psychology, and human psychological development. They will learn about classic theories in psychology and be introduced to the ways that psychological research is conducted.
COGN1202 Psycholinguistics: Language and Mind (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING1101 Fundamentals of Linguistics and COGN/GEN1201 Introduction to Psychology
In this course, students will become familiar with major topics and theory in psycholinguistics, the study of how the human mind processes and uses language. We will examine the brain structures relevant to language processing and production, and learn about current theory and research methods. We will consider the psychological implications of multilingualism as well as some discussion of psychological aspects of first and second language acquisition.
COGN2101 Social Psychology (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: COGN/GEN1201 Introduction to Psychology
A survey of the major theoretical and empirical research in social psychology, including person perception and social cognition, attitudes and persuasion, prejudice and stereotyping, interpersonal attraction, and helping behavior. Some theoretical applications will be discussed, as will methodological approaches to social psychological questions and problems. Students will complete research projects and writing assignments.
COGN2103 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: COGN/GEN1201 Introduction to Psychology
This course will discuss the major fields of human cognition, particularly how we take in information about the world (perception and attention), how we interpret and store that information (learning and memory) and how we retrieve and use that information (higher cognitive function / decision-making).
COGN2204 Writing in Cognitive Science (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: COGN2103 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This course teaches cognitive science students how to become proficient writers through exploring the fundamentals of research writing, scholarly publication and peer review processes.
COGN2207 Special Topics in Cognitive Science
COGN/GEN1201 Introduction to Psychology
The course develops current topics in cognitive science in accordance with student and faculty interest.
ENG/GEN1100 Academic English Speaking (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisites: ENG/GEN1110 Academic Listening and Note Taking
This course develops students’ skills in speaking confidently and persuasively on a variety of academic topics in the Humanities, Business Studies and the Social Sciences. Students will be expected to undertake extensive research on their chosen topics and thereby develop their ability to use resources appropriately and ethically. In so doing, they will engage analytically and in-depth with their topics and offer constructive criticisms of one another’s presentations. At all times, critical thinking will be emphasized. Students will adopt a process approach to academic speaking, placing emphasis less on the final product than on the stages of academic research, each of which will be presented to the class in the form of a mini-presentation. Through regular presentations on their research, students will improve their language proficiency and ability to argue effectively and persuasively within an academic context, and to handle evidence and statistical data. Class activities will take the form of discussions, debates and presentations.
ENG/GEN1121 Academic Reading and Writing II (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisites: ENG/GEN1120 Academic Reading and Writing I
This is an advanced-level academic reading and writing course in which students undertake a research project on an academic topic of their own choice. Building on the research and writing skills developed in previous courses, students select a project of substantial scope within an area of interest to them. They offer a sound defense of their choice of topic, using criteria appropriate to an academic context, and then prepare to undertake research. In preparing their research essays, students make extensive use of library and online resources, as well as field research such as interviews and off-campus research, depending on the nature of their topic. Reading tasks include finding, analyzing and evaluating a variety of sources. A process-approach to writing is adopted, with specific attention to planning, outlining, surveying the literature, drafting, rewriting, reviewing and using feedback constructively. Attention is paid to both peer and instructor feedback. At the final stage, editing, citations and bibliographical components are the focus of attention.
LING/GEN1101 Fundamentals of Linguistics (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: None
This course will provide students with an overview of linguistics, the scientific study of language, such as how to analyze the different parts of language such as sounds (phonology), parts of words (morphology), word meaning (semantics), and grammar (syntax). How do people use language in conversation with each other (pragmatics and discourse analysis)? These questions and more will be explored in this course, which aims to introduce students to the exciting diversity of world languages and the basics of linguistic analysis.
LING2101 Language and its Structure I: Phonetics and Phonology (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING/GEN1101 Fundamentals of Linguistics
Introduction to the nature and patterning of sounds in human language. The students will be familiarized with articulatory and acoustic phonetics, and basic phonological analysis, focusing on cross-language typology and comparison. The class is aimed at hands-on development of practical skills, including IPA transcription, field techniques, and digital speech analysis.
LING2201 Language and its Structure II: Morphology and Syntax (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING2101 Language and its structure I: Phonetics and Phonology
Morphology deals with the internal structure of words and their meaningful parts. Syntax is concerned with sentence structure. Together, morphology and syntax comprise the core of the grammar of a language. This course introduces students to the basic principles for the description of grammatical structure and the structure of words, and how they can be applied to describe English and other languages. The class is aimed at hands-on development of practical skills of morpho-syntactic analysis. It also focuses on descriptions of contemporary English grammatical structures that pose problems for learners and teachers.
LING2203 Language Typology (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING/GEN1101 Fundamentals of Linguistics
Why and how are languages similar or different from one another? How can we understand and categorize those similarities and differences? In this course, we will examine not only the linguistics of one specific language, but a broader context of human language through the study of typology. This focus on typology will help us to make generalizations about linguistic structures and to understand how languages we know compare to a range of linguistic types and phenomena. This course will deepen students’ understanding of linguistic theory and analysis and give them the tools to conduct cross-linguistic comparison.
LING3202 Advanced Syntax (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING3203 Logic of Language
This course covers advanced topics in syntax, such as generative grammar and recent syntactic theories and rules for natural language analysis.
LING3203 Logic of Language (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
- Prerequisite: LING2101 Language and its Structure I and LING2201 Language and its Structure II
This course introduces students to the philosophy of language, language and logic/human reasoning, propositional/sentential and predicate logic, and the nature and (abstract) representation of meaning and its relation to reference and truth. Other topics include the relationships between language and knowledge, language and reality, language and acts performed through its use.
LING3305 Introduction to Computational Linguistics (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING2101 Language and Its Structure I and LING2201 Language and its Structure II
This course provides a non-technical introduction to the field of computational linguistics and its history. The main objective is to familiarize students with core questions and approaches in the field. It covers major application areas of computational linguistics including machine translation, information retrieval, information extraction, and computational lexicography. We will also discuss the tools and resources needed for natural language processing and generation
LING3306 Corpus Linguistics (3 credits, 5 ECTS)
Prerequisite: LING/GEN1101 Fundamentals of Linguistics
In this class, students will be introduced to the field of corpus linguistics, learn how to utilize existing corpora, learn the basic computational skills and quantitative methods necessary in carrying out a corpus investigation, find out how corpora are influencing recent trends in linguistic research, and have opportunities to apply corpus-based methods in their own work.
There are many opportunities for merit-based scholarships for Kazakhstani and international students.
While studying at KIMEP University, students may also apply for part-time positions available on the University campus.
Contact the Office of Financial Aid, if you would like to apply for scholarship.
Tuition & Fees
Your future job opportunities
After completing this program, students will be well qualified for careers in a variety of related fields, such as Cognitive Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing and AI, including improving or developing new software in areas such as grammar checking, machine translation, and information retrieval. Graduates may find job opportunities in a wide range of areas including: telecommunications, data representation, human performance testing, speech synthesis and voice recognition, artificial intelligence, counseling, and more, as they will be well prepared to work in any industry.
Graduates with the BA in Cognitive Linguistics & Cognitive Science tend to seek jobs in fields such as:
- Artificial intelligence and information processing
- Data representation and information retrieval
- Education
- Game design and development
- Marketing consultation
- Media and telecommunications
- Medical analysis
- Psychology and neuroscience
- Scientific research