Ph. D. in Cognitive Sciences & Technology

Program Background

"There are two types of education: education for a living and education for life. When we study in college, striving to become a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer, that is education for a living. But education for life requires an understanding of the essential principles of spirituality; it is about gaining a deeper understanding of the world, our minds, our emotions, and ourselves."

- Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

We at AMMACHI Labs (Amrita MultiModal Applications and Human Computer Interaction) of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India’s #1 Private University, and Institute of Eminence (IoE), are a multi-disciplinary research and development lab with a focus on technologies for inclusive empowerment through skill development. AMMACHI labs aims to bridge the national skill gap, between a dearth of skilled labor and the lack of skills training infrastructure, developing and utilizing technology enabled learning and teaching solutions to provide vocational and life skills training. We work to strengthen the nation’s economic fiber and contribute to its social stability by empowering individuals with an emphasis on targeting vulnerable populations such as rural women, migrant workers, and at-risk youth.

We believe that excellence in science finds its highest expression of virtue by serving others, especially underserved populations.

Our Fellowship in Cognitive Sciences & Technology utilizes a problem-driven approach to research, by designing, developing and implementing technologies for the purpose of improving teaching and learning outcomes of skills development (both physical and cognitive skills).

Program Overview

Our Chancellor’s exemplary vision and unwavering endeavor to care for and address the needs of people underserved, drives the program’s comprehensive yet flexible curriculum. We enroll and cater to candidates from various disciplines and work towards skill development.

Program Highlights

• Joint and Dual PhD program possibilities in affiliation with international universities 
• Engagement with industry 
• Projects funded by the UN, Government of India, etc. 
• Join world class research centers and work with distinguished international scientists and professors

Research Disciplines

• Interdisciplinary studies in Cognitive Sciences
• Interdisciplinary studies in Engineering and Robotics

Research Topics

The offered research context of Skill development is interdisciplinary and includes three components:

• Skill capture and analytics
• Skill transfer capture and analysis
• Skill transfer technologies

Our research and development projects will be done by interdisciplinary teams of students and expert researchers by using methodologies from neuroscience, artificial intelligence, technology environments (e.g., virtual reality and augmented reality), computer science, cognitive psychology and education.

Curriculum & Faculty

Amrita’s PhD program in Cognitive Sciences and Technology is a multidisciplinary and theory-into-practice program. It is designed to provide an interdisciplinary grounding with its integrative courses.

We offer this program in two modules:

1. Academic Learning Module:

   The academic learning module will be designed and tailored to suit proposed research and development context. The module will constitute a set of Core courses and Elective courses. Wherever applicable, we will arrange:

   • International faculty lectures to offer various specialized courses and academic workshops;
   • Technical workshops from industries to enhance technical knowledge and
   • Allow taking MOOC courses from reputed universities with transferable credits

2. Experiential Learning Module:

   All PhD students will work on topics with the goal of creating tangible community impact, through intervention or product research & development. The Experiential Learning Module includes:

   • Organized community visits
   • Theory-into-practice approaches to effective community/ industry engagement
   • Developing technology solutions to community identified problems

The modules include interdisciplinary studies in Cognitive Sciences, Engineering, and Robotics

1. Interdisciplinary studies in Cognitive Sciences:

   • Learning Sciences
   • Neuroscience
   • Educational Sciences
   • Pedagogy & Psychology
   • Philosophy & Anthropology (with emphasis on cultural anthropology)

2. Interdisciplinary studies in Engineering and Robotics:

   • Virtual Reality/ Augmented Reality for education and training
   • Brain Computer Interfacing
   • Machine and Deep Learning
   • Computer Vision
   • Human Robot Interaction
   • Cognitive Robotics
   • Developmental Robotics

The course structure is designed to combine flexibility to pursue an individual field of study, with the development of broad-based skills and knowledge in relation to cognitive sciences and technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence. The students should maintain at least an overall average of B+ with no grade lower than a B in any of the core classes.

Faculty at Amrita

• Dr. Bhavani Rao
• Dr. Sidney Strauss
• Dr. Meltem Alkoyak-Yildiz
• Dr. Sophia von Lierres
• Dr. Malini Frey
• Dr. Shyam Diwakar
• Dr. Praveen Pankajakshan
• Dr. Anand Anandkumar
• Dr. Kesavan Varadarajan

Who Can Apply?

International and Indian-citizen students can apply for the program. Fellowships can be requested through the online registration form. Applicants from a wide range of academic disciplines can apply, including:

• Computer Science
• Electronics and Communication and Instrumentation Engineering,
• Mechanical Engineering,
• Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning
• Neuro Cognition
• Robotics
• Biomedical engineering
• Brain and cognitive science

Eligibility Criteria

• Completed a Master's degree or must be in their final semester of Master’s program in any of the academic disciplines mentioned in the above section.
• Bachelors in Computer Science may also be considered.
• CGPA above 8.0 at the preceding degree (mandatory for fellowship)
• Age limit: Below the age of 50 years (exceptions could be made upon discretion by the Admissions Committee)
• A statement in English explaining why the candidate wants to study in our program.
• Three letters of recommendation in English.

Applicants must have:

• Good communication skills
• Capacity to work in an interdisciplinary team
• Experience related to social work is helpful but not mandatory
• Willingness to work in rural communities of India
• We welcome applications from prospective full-time students ONLY. This PhD program will take 4 years to complete when enrolled as a full-time student.

Funding Information

Amrita is currently offering 6 fully funded fellowships for international and Indian students who wish to join for a full-time PhD program. The fellowships will be awarded purely based on academic excellence.

Funding for International Candidates

• All international students who successfully enroll in the Ph.D. program at Amrita will acquire the International Fellowship.
• Each fully funded fellowship will include:

• **Not exceeding a maximum of INR 25,000 per month. This amount more than covers the basic living expenses at Amritapuri, Kollam.
• *** The additional funding will be provided by AMMACHI Labs based on a review and selection process. In addition to the research travel and seed funding, there will also be opportunities to apply for a teaching assistantship and taking part in funded research and development projects.

Terms and Conditions:

• All costs towards the PhD be borne by the University, considering the following:
  • The Fellowship is valid for a minimum of 3 years and can go upto a maximum of 4 years based purely on academic evaluation. Credibility of the candidates and competency of the projects will be given top priority.
  • It is mandatory that each PhD candidate’s research work (awarded with fully funded fellowship) results in the implementation of a sustainable technological solution,
  • Minimum performance criteria is met

Funding for Indian candidates:

• All Indian students who successfully enroll in the Ph.D. program at Amrita will acquire the Fellowship.
• Each fully funded fellowship will include:

• **Not exceeding a maximum of INR 25,000 per month. This amount more than covers the basic living expenses at Amritapuri, Kollam.
• *** The additional funding will be provided by AMMACHI Labs based on a review and selection process. In addition to the research travel and seed funding, there will also be opportunities to apply for a teaching assistantship and taking part in funded research and development projects.

Terms and Conditions:

• All costs towards the implementation of the proposed solution in communities will be borne by the University, considering the following: 
  • The Fellowship is valid for a minimum of 3 years and can go upto a maximum of 4 years based purely on academic evaluation. The credibility of the candidates and competency of the projects will be given top priority.
  • It is mandatory that each PhD candidate’s research work (awarded with fully funded fellowship) results in the implementation of a sustainable technological solution,
  • Minimum performance criteria is met

Other Funding Available

Amrita also offers a wide range of partially funded scholarships for ALL students. They are open under:

• Dean’s scholarships
• Department scholarships
• Short-term scholarships
• Industry sponsored scholarships
• Research and Teaching assistantships
• Funded Research and Development projects