The Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science's mission is to create a world-class center for teaching and research in cognitive science that will foster interdisciplinary collaborations among students and faculty both inside and outside of the classroom. The Institute also houses the Marshall M. Weinberg Cognitive Science Symposium, postdoctoral scholars program, a Graduate Certificate program, cross-department seminar and speaker series, and funding opportunities for students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Weinberg Institute provides opportunities for students to enhance their academic experience through research and academic initiatives. The Institute strives to provide funding to undergraduate students for research expenses, summer research opportunities, conferences, and speaker engagements.
Your Gifts at Work
Gifts help provide funding for students’ participation in laboratory research internships, study-abroad experiences, and participation in scholarly conferences, all of which offer invaluable opportunities to learn from and collaborate with experts in multiple disciplines. Combined with academic coursework, these important, real-world engagement opportunities have lasting positive impacts on the personal growth, career, and research trajectories of U-M’s cognitive science students.
“When I entered University of Michigan as a freshman, I thought that I wanted to major in neuroscience. However, throughout the course of my first semester, I found myself searching for other, more versatile majors. Finding the cognitive science major along with joining Dr. Reuter-Lorenz’s cognitive & affective neuropsych lab has fostered growth in my knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive processes, through course work and hands-on experiences. The lab is promoting me completing an honors thesis, allowing me to cultivate past and present research into my own body of scientific work. [and] I have developed a deep understanding and respect for the amount of research that is incorporated within clinical studies.”
–Hattie Benedetti, Class of ’23
“Thanks to the support of the Weinberg Cognitive Science Graduate Research Fund, I was able to travel to the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology Conference in Mobile, Alabama, and give a talk about my paper, “Acceptance as Doxastic Response Modulation." This conference turned out to be very valuable for my progress on this paper (which is one of my dissertation chapters); I was able to meet other scholars with similar interests, and also got really helpful feedback from my presentation. Additionally, my paper was awarded the conference prize for best early career paper in philosophy. As someone who works at the intersection of philosophy and psychology, this conference is one of only a small number that brings together researchers in both my disciplines, and it was so great to get to meet and talk to other people who have a foot in both fields. Having enough funds to travel to conferences as a graduate student can be tough; and yet the experience of traveling to conferences is so important both because of the connections you make with people outside of your program and because it offers you a chance to get new feedback and hear new perspectives on your research. I am extremely grateful for the support and the opportunities it made possible.”
–Laura Soter, Ph.D. ’22
Giving Opportunities
Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Strategic Fund (324436)
The Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Strategic Fund provides funding support for various programs and initiatives that support community and engagement within the Institute, including undergraduate education programming support, opportunities to connect with peers and alumni, and other mission-driven support for the program.
