Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics - Cognitive Science (Interdisciplinary)

Cognitive Science is a field that, ultimately, studies all aspects of the human mind: cognition and reasoning, acquisition and learning, perception, emotion, interaction, and more. Given this vast scope, Cognitive Science brings together assumptions, concepts, and methods from a large number of independently established disciplines, including anthropology, computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, (neuro)biology, and neuroscience. Over the past decades, it has become more and more obvious that language can only be fully understood by taking into account humans' cognitive skills and processing. Everything we do with language ultimately passes through the mind at some point of time, as when we acquire our first language, learn a second language, access new referents from long-term memory or given referents from working memory, decide unconsciously to use one syntactic structure over another, or experience language impairments as a result of brain lesions or strokes. For all these and many other linguistic phenomena, an understanding of cognitive processes is often indispensable. The study of Cognitive Science offers exciting opportunities to deepen our understanding of language within the broader question of what it is that makes us human.

Statement of Purpose, Personal History and Diversity Statement, and Resume or CV (submitted in the online application)
Three Letters of Recommendation (submitted online)
Unofficial transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended full-time for at least one academic term (or 12 units) (submitted online).
English Language Exam Scores (if applicable): TOEFL Internet-Based Test (IBT) total score of 80, or TOEFL Paper-Based Test (PBT) total score of 550, or IELTS Overall Band score of 7.
Writing Sample (submitted in the online application). Applicants should submit a copy of a substantive research paper that they have done in linguistics or a closely related field illustrating their ability to analyze language empirically. Writing samples should normally be approximately 10 to 30 pages in length. Theses, publications, and other longer works should be submitted in their entirety.
Final/Official transcripts will be required for all applicants who are admitted and have indicated their intent to enroll at UC Santa Barbara by submitting a Statement of Intent to Register (SIR). UC Santa Barbara reserves the right to require official transcripts at any time during the admissions process, and to rescind any offer of admission made if discrepancies between uploaded and official transcript(s) are found.