The document proposes a new 1-year Master's program in Brain and Cognition in Society to better prepare students for careers outside of academia where knowledge of brain and cognition can be applied. It would include 3 mandatory courses covering the theory and practical application of brain and cognition knowledge to real-world problems, as well as experiments and business cases. An internship and thesis would also be required. The goal is to train students in skills like project management, oral/written communication, and working with time/budget constraints to solve problems in fields like marketing, policy-making and product design.

2. WHY?
• Current 1-yr B&C Master needs improvement: program is not
coherent, unclear job perspective
• Students with an interest in Brain & Cognition, but will NOT
become PhD students
• All 1-year Psychology Master programs should prepare students
for a career outside of university

3. BRAIN AND COGNITION IN SOCIETY
Information about how humans process information, pay attention,
remember information, make decisions – i.e. cognitive
psychology/neuroscience – has long been applied to design, marketing,
ergonomics, law, etc. and informed governmental policy making.
With the unprecedented new insights that modern technologies have
provided into the brain’s workings and advances in devices that can
track human performance continuously, the interest in and importance
of knowledge and methods used in the field of brain and cognition for
society has only increased.
Some examples (not an exhaustive list!)….

4. BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
How can we best design safe traffic conditions?
(building on knowledge of how humans pay
attention)
How can you determine if and how cell phone
use during driving negatively impacts driving
performance?
Human Factors

5. Human performance
BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
How often should e.g., doctors be on night shifts
and for how long with least effects on
performance and health? How can night shifts
be optimally designed (building on knowledge of
how sleep deprivation affects decision making.
concentration etc.)?
Can our athletes use wearables that
continuously track physiological changes, to
optimize their sport performance?
How can smart phones best be used to motivate
people to change their behavior?

6. Enhancement, Prevention
BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
Should the army incorporate mindfulness
meditation into its training program? How can
you test if mindfulness meditation improved
soldiers’ resiliency and prevented PTSD?
Should health-care companies reimburse
cognitive training in elderly or neurofeedback in
ADHD?

7. Marketing
BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
How do I ensure people pay attention to my
advertisement, stay on my website, like my brand?
How do people best remember my advertisement?
Can I use brain patterns to predict which
advertisement will be more effective?

8. Design
BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
How can we best design software interfaces
(e.g., to ensure safe driving, enhance sales)?

9. Policy Making
BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
Should high school begin later?
Does running 1 mile before school
starts improve kids ability to
concentrate, their grades?

10. Prognosis, Diagnosis & Treatment
BRAIN AND COGNITION: RELEVANCE TO SOCIETY
Can we use information about brain
and cognitive functioning to facilitate
early diagnosis of dementia?

11. BRAIN AND COGNITION IN SOCIETY
Answering these questions requires:
• knowledge about how our brain/mind works and supports (optimal)
behavior
• knowledge about the methods that can be used to measure brain and
cognitive function and performance, and how to use these
• knowledge about how to design scientifically rigorous experiments, and
to statistically evaluate their outcomes
• the ability to integrate scientific findings from the literature
• BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY: the ability to apply this knowledge and these
skills to real-world problems outside a laboratory context, sensitivity to
commercial interests, the ability to present information in oral or written
form in a way understandable for non-experts, and to work under time
pressure.

12. STUDY PROGRAM [NAMES NOT DEFINITIVE]
3 mandatory courses (6 EC each) [will be developed from
scratch]
1. Brain & Cognition in Society: from theory to practice
2. Experimental skills in Applied Brain & Cognition
3. Business cases in Applied Brain & Cognition
1 elective courses (6 EC)
36 EC in total for Research internship & Research thesis

13. MANDATORY COURSES (1): THEORY
Brain & Cognition in Society: from theory to practice
[6 EC] September/October 2017
Each week, a new societal question is presented and students
have to formulate an answer to this question by making use of
Brain & Cognition knowledge (attention, executive functions,
sleep).
In addition, there will be a strong focus on training practical
skills, such as how to write and present, how to do time and
project management, how to convince a CEO, how to think in
market-oriented ways (limited time/budget). Ethics and the
design of valid research designs is also a crucial aspect.

14. MANDATORY COURSES (2): SKILLS
Experimental skills in Applied Brain & Cognition
[6 EC] September/October 2017
The student will receive practical training in 1)
programming (online) experiments, 2) collecting
behavioral, physiological, and questionnaire data, 3)
analyzing these data, and 4) reporting the conclusions
from these data analyses in brief and visually attractive
management summaries.

15. MANDATORY COURSES (3): BUSINESS CASES
Business cases in Applied Brain & Cognition
[6 EC] September/October 2017
Students will apply the theoretical knowledge and practical
skills obtained in the first mandatory courses to four cases
from business, governmental and/or societal organizations
(two weeks per case).
Students need to come up with answers to the societal
questions being posed in the cases. The solution may be
based on scientific literature and/or derived from an
experimental study (online/lab).

16. MANDATORY COURSES (3): BUSINESS CASES
Business cases in Applied Brain & Cognition
[6 EC] September/October 2017
DEEPENING OF PRACTICAL SKILLS
how to make business inquiries,
how to convince a commissioning company or boss,
how to think in market-oriented ways (limited time/budget),
how to make concessions related to time/budget limitations.
ethical aspects of doing applied research are an important
part of this course.

17. ELECTIVE COURSES (PSYCHOLOGY)
CURRENT MASTER
Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience
Connectionistic Models
Sleep and Cognition
Psycho-endocrinology en psycho-immunology
Psychofarmacology
CURRENT RESMAS
Neuroimaging
Advanced topics: models of visual perception.
APPLIED MASTER METHODS
Big Data and Data Visualisation

18. ELECTIVE COURSES (OTHER)
Business school
Communication sciences
Economics
Business (“bedrijfskunde”)
Tesla minor?
YOUR CHOICE!

19. ACCESS TO FOLLOW-UP MASTERS?
Data science/artificial intelligence
Science communication
Entrepeneurship
?????

20. QUESTIONS
Are you interested?
Are you missing information?
What kind of training do you want?
How much programming/analyses?