Announcement for Cognitive Scientists 8.12.2015
Cognitive Science as Part of Faculty Restructuring and the Big Wheel
The Big Wheel initiative and faculty reforms underway at the University of Helsinki are causing changes that significantly affect some disciplines. Cognitive science is one of these fields. The situation is currently still uncertain, but promising steps toward decisions have already been taken.
Background
With psychology and logopedics transferring to the Faculty of Medicine and phonetics moving to the Faculty of Arts, cognitive science also faces pressure for change as it would be left nearly alone at the Department of Behavioural Sciences. Remaining in the current department or faculty is not an option for the discipline, so new directions have been explored during late spring and autumn. Early in the process, the Faculty of Medicine (following psychology), the Faculty of Arts (where cognitive science was before Behavioural Sciences), and the Faculty of Science came into discussion. Of these, the Faculty of Medicine has already been ruled out and the Faculty of Arts seems unlikely.
In the near future, the university faces extensive changes from the Big Wheel project. In the university-wide framework, bachelor's programs are intended to number 50-60, compared to about 300 currently. More about the Big Wheel and its effects on the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences can be found on the info page maintained by Conductus student representatives: https://kayttispyora.wordpress.com/.
Current Situation
The Faculty of Science is a viable option for the development of cognitive science, and the move has been negotiated during the autumn. The Dean of the Faculty of Science has now conveyed a message that the faculty is ready to receive cognitive science. This can be considered a significant step in the desired direction. However, financial aspects related to the faculty transfer have not yet been negotiated, so the move to the Faculty of Science cannot be considered certain.
Discussions have also been held regarding a gap year in admissions for cognitive science for 2016. The Department Council decided in its meeting on 24.9.2015 to propose to the Faculty Council the following admission places for cognitive science for 2016: bachelor's degree students 0, master's degree students 5. The admission question has not yet been addressed in the Faculty Council. The Intelligenzia Board is investigating what this means for the future.
What's Next?
The university-wide Big Wheel reform also naturally affects the Faculty of Science as pressure to combine majors into broader degree programs. With this in mind, student organization activists from cognitive science and computer science have collaboratively created a proposal for a joint bachelor's program that comprehensively combines content from both fields. The proposal will be sent to the Faculty of Science leadership, and the hope is that it will be received as a viable Big Wheel-compliant degree program. At this stage, the proposal is not intended for public distribution, but student opinions will be sought through discussion sessions once the future becomes clearer. The faculty transfer would mean that cognitive science in its current form would change significantly and computer science studies would increase. Considering the growing effects of AI, robotics, and digitalization, combining cognitive science and computer science can be well justified also for the growth of the discipline.
The next step is a meeting with the deans before Christmas or early in the new year. After that, we will hopefully know more about the timeline and internal changes in the receiving faculty, which will undoubtedly also affect cognitive science's placement in the faculty.
Best regards, Board of Intelligenzia ry