CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR ENROLMENT INTO THE FIRST YEAR OF THE GRADUATE/MASTERS UNIVERSITY STUDY PROGRAMME
COGNITIVE SCIENCES: COGNITION AND THE MIND
LEADING TO THE ACADEMIC TITLE MASTER OF COGNITIVE SCIENCES
in the academic year 2025/2026
Study programme
The Division of Cognitive Sciences at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka is inviting applications to the graduate/Masters University study programme Cognitive Sciences: Cognition and the Mind. This is an interdisciplinary, research-focused 2-year MSc programme in cognitive sciences with a unique integration of psychology and philosophy, complemented by other disciplines within cognitive sciences. The programme is conducted entirely in English.
Admission will be for the winter semester, which starts in October 2025. The annual tuition fee for this programme is €1,100 (both for EU and non-EU citizens). Three quarters of the first-year tuition fee, €825 (non-refundable) needs to be paid upon receipt of a Conditional Offer of Admission letter to secure a place on the programme. The full annual tuition fee needs to be paid and received by the Finance Office of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences by the date of submitting documentation for enrolment into the programme. Scholarships for this programme are available as advertised on our official website https://cogsci.uniri.hr/.
Applicants with an undergraduate degree (or another degree that qualifies you to apply for a graduate programme – this can be an integrated degree, or another graduate degree) in cognitive sciences or one of the cognitive science disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, linguistics, informatics, biology, biomedicine, and anthropology, are eligible to apply. Applicants with a degree in another discipline are also eligible to apply and are encouraged to contact the Selection Committee at cogsci@uniri.hr or the Head of Studies at lj.ostojic@uniri.hr early to discuss their eligibility. The Selection Committee will consider eligibility of candidates who have a degree in another discipline on an individual basis.
Applicants who are in the last year of their undergraduate programme can apply. If successful, in the Conditional Offer of Admission, one of the conditions will be that they need proof of a completed undergraduate degree as well as proof of academic recognition of their undergraduate degree latest by the time of submitting documents for enrolment in the Masters programme.
Applications
The Standard application deadline is Wednesday, 5 March 2025. We strongly encourage all candidates who are non-EU citizens and need an entry visa into Croatia to apply by this deadline [note that non-EU citizens who already have residency in another EU country do not require an entry visa for Croatia]. The process of obtaining a visa can take a long time and it is important that you start the process early.
Students wishing to be considered for one of our scholarships must apply by this deadline. For all scholarship options, please visit our official webpage at https://cogsci.uniri.hr/fees-and-funding which is updated regularly.
If places remain, there will be a Late application deadline on Wednesday, 14 May 2025, and an Exceptional application deadline on Wednesday, 20 August 2025, may be opened if places remain. Applicants applying at the Exceptional Deadline are advised to complete the academic recognition process before applying OR to submit all documentation needed for the academic recognition, as detailed in the Application Form at the time of applying to the study programme.
Applications, including all requested documents, must be submitted via email to cogsci@uniri.hr before midnight on the day of the given deadline. Only applications submitted in this way will be considered. In the subject line, please write ‘Application for the Masters in Cognitive Sciences’ and for the body of the email, please insert the following text ‘Please find attached my application to the Masters in Cognitive Sciences: Cognition and the Mind for the academic year 2025/2026.’ and add your name and contact details. Please upload all documents as detailed below as attachments. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. If you have any questions, please contact us before the sending your application/before the application deadline. We will confirm receipt of your application within 24 hours.
Documents needed for the application are as follows:
- The filled-out Application Form (available online on https://cogsci.uniri.hr/admissions),
- The filled-out Structured Motivational Letter (available online on https://cogsci.uniri.hr/admissions),
- A copy of the applicant’s CV in English,
- Evidence of your undergraduate degree or any other degree that qualifies you to apply to graduate study, as detailed in the Application Form. Please read the instructions regarding this documentation carefully, and in case of any uncertainty, please reach out to us for help.
A detailed explanation of the application requirements and procedures are posted on the website https://cogsci.uniri.hr/admissions and are constituent parts of this call for applications[1].
Applicants from any country and of any citizenship may apply.
The selection process has two stages. In the first stage, we will shortlist candidates based on their academic performance and motivational letter and will contact all applicants within two weeks after the application deadline. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a short interview. In the second stage, shortlisted candidates will meet with three of our teaching staff online for a short interview through a digital platform. The aim of the interview is to assess proficiency of English and fit for the programme. The interview will involve three questions. The first question will relate to the applicant’s motivation for the programme, the second question will be based around the applicant’s research proposal that they will have submitted as part of the Structured Motivation Letter, and the third question will be a short question about research methods in cognitive sciences. Candidates may find it useful to look through the suggested literature on https://cogsci.uniri.hr/admissions as preparation for the interview.
Please note that we do not require any official English proficiency exams. There are no costs for the application and selection process to this programme!
The final decision will be made within 14 days after the first interview dates and will be published on the official Faculty webpage. We will also email all candidates. The appeal period is 24 hours after the results are announced.
Academic Recognition for Foreign Degrees
Academic recognition of Higher Education degrees for further study at the University of Rijeka are conducted by the Academic Recognition Qualifications Office of the University of Rijeka. Please see the Application Form and the admission section of our website at https://cogsci.uniri.hr/admissions/ for more information. Note that we provide support throughout the whole process of academic recognition (for help, email us at cogsci@uniri.hr or email the Head of Studies at lj.ostojic@uniri.hr).
Enrolment schedule
Submission of documents for enrolment for successful candidates is on 25 and 26 September 2025 at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sveučilišna avenija 4, 51000 Rijeka. All candidates must enrol in person. Enrolment is only valid for one year at a time. There is a standard enrolment fee for each academic year, approximately €50-60. Once this has been set by the University of Rijeka for the academic year 2025/2026, all applicants will be informed of it. Students from countries outside the European Union should contact their local Croatian Embassy as soon as possible to confirm whether they need a visa to travel to and study in the Republic of Croatia and what documentation they need to send for the visa application. Please note that students coming from countries that require full legislation of their documents should start this process early.
[1] The Croatian Ministry for Science and Education plans to open up a centralised, online platform for applications to international Masters degree programmes. If this becomes available, we will assist you in creating a user account and will upload all documentation on your behalf.