Neuro-Cognitive Psychology

Neu­ro-Cog­nitive Psy­cholo­gy is an inter­disci­pli­nary re­search and train­ing field that ap­proaches basic issues of cogni­tive psy­cholo­gy (e.g., how does memory work?) not only using meth­ods and con­cepts of exper­imental psy­cholo­gy, but also those of neuro­sci­ences. The focus of the Elite Grad­uate Pro­gram “Neu­ro-Cog­nitive Psy­cholo­gy” is on this inte­gra­tive ap­proach to­wards a neurosci­entifi­cal­ly-ori­ented exper­imental psy­cholo­gy.

The Elite Graduate Program at a glance

DegreeMaster of Science
Duration of studyFour semesters
Place of studyMunich
Admission requirementsBachelor of Science
Language of instructionEnglish
Application deadlineFebruary 15th
Apply now
Begin of studiesWinter semester
HeadProf. Dr. Simone Schütz-Bosbach
CoordinatorLisa Beckmann
Contact the coordinator
Further informationWebsite Neuro-Cognitive Psychology

Excellent training in neuro-cognitive psychology

The Elite Grad­uate Pro­gram “Neu­ro-Cog­nitive Psy­cholo­gy” pro­vides a sta­te-of-the-art train­ing in the con­tents/concepts and meth­odo­logical ap­proaches of exper­imental psy­cholo­gy and cogni­tive neuro­sci­ences. In doing so, the Elite Grad­uate Pro­gram “Neu­ro-Cog­nitive Psy­cholo­gy” offers excel­lent train­ing in key quali­fica­tions as well as guid­ance to­wards post-graduate/ doc­toral stud­ies in Mu­nich (e.g., GSN-LMU) or na­tional or inter­na­tional uni­versi­ties/ re­search insti­tu­tions. About 95% of the NCP stu­dents em­bark on a PhD ca­reer.

International, interdisciplinary and research-oriented

The Elite Grad­uate Pro­gram “Neu­ro-Cog­nitive Psy­cholo­gy” re­cruits stu­dents from around the world. An excel­lent stu­dent-staff ratio guar­antees inten­sive indi­vidu­alized super­vision. Each year, only about 15 na­tional and inter­na­tional stu­dents are admit­ted to NCP; some 50% of the stu­dents come from abroad (coun­tries of origin in­clude Cana­da, China, Fin­land, India, USA, etc.). The NCP pro­gram is, by de­sign, an inter­disci­pli­nary study pro­gram, with course offer­ings from the brain re­search-orient­ed sub-disciplines of psy­cholo­gy (in­clud­ing Neu­ro-/Biology) as well as from medi­cine and com­puting sci­en­ces.

A core fea­ture of NCP is its re­search orien­tation: it is in­tend­ed to equip stu­dents with the con­ceptu­al knowledge and meth­odo­logical skills for a career in basic and ap­plied sci­ence at uni­versi­ty/research insti­tu­tions or in indus­try. Of par­ticular im­portance in this con­text is a thor­ough grounding in neuro­scien­tific meth­od­olo­gy.


To this end, NCP offers meth­odo­logical train­ing in gen­eral exper­imental de­sign, behav­ioral tech­niques (men­tal chro­nometry and psy­cho­phys­ics), the re­cord­ing and analy­sis of brain-imaging (EEG and fMRI) data, and the math­emati­cal/(neuro-) com­puta­tional mod­elling of large data sets. The em­phasis is on hands-on re­search expe­rience, real­ized, e.g., by stu­dents under­taking two labor­atory intern­ships during the breaks be­tween lecture peri­ods.

Portrait photo: Prof. Dr. Hermann J. Müller

Our study program is designed to provide a highly selected group of inter-/national students with an advanced, research-oriented education in this rapidly expanding field at the inter­section between experimental psychology and cognitive neurosciences.

Prof. Dr. Hermann J. Müller

The phi­loso­phy be­hind these labor­atory pro­jects is that stu­dents can bene­fit the most by work­ing along­side a team of scien­tists in third-party-funded re­search (e.g., pro­jects fund­ed by the Ger­man Re­search Foun­da­tion/DFG).

In the sec­ond, ad­vanced stage of the NCP course, stu­dents are pro­vided the oppor­tunity to ex­tend and deep­en their knowledge in basic-science and ap­plied-research areas of spe­ciali­zation, such as “neu­roim­aging” or “neu­roen­gi­neer­ing”.

Snippets of the program

Active Perception

Students benefit from the second funding period of the research group “Active Perception”.

Read the report

Close-up of an investigation by means of electroencephalography for which electrodes, mounted in elastic caps, are placed on the scalp.

New brain imaging lab

A new MRI scanning facility has been established at LMU Campus Innenstadt and Department of Psychology. 

Read the report

Close-up picture of an MRI scanner with tube and scanner couch.

Snippets of the research

Social Perception

In her master’s thesis Erica Westenberg used eye-tracking to examine (patho-)physiological processes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Transsaccadic memory

In her master’s thesis Lisa Kröll investigated the properties of transsaccadic memory.

Memories for future actions

Daniela Gresch investigated in a research project the relation between memories and future actions.