Schools

PSL voices | 24h in Master’s degree in Cognitive Science

Published November 11th, 2026

Are you interested by one or more branches of cognitive sciences and want to be trained on research ? You have been through the entire website and curriculum of the ENS-PSL Cognitive Sciences Masters Degree but you’d like to know more and discover a typical day ? You’ve come to the right place ! First-year student, I take you with me for 24 hours.

8h30 🌇

After a 30-minute walk through Paris, I arrive at the Pantheon Campus of the ENS-PSL for my first class of the day. The campus is at the heart of the fifth district of Paris, like many other PSL University campuses but I luckily don’t live too far. I have a statistics class for two hours.

After a first semester of common introductory courses, you get to choose your courses in the second semester, à la carte ! All the classes are in English because this Master degree welcomes students from all around the world - not just French speakers. It is one of the advantages of this degree: interacting with people from different backgrounds which is very stimulating.

The courtyard at Ernst (Panthéon Campus of ENS-PSL)

10h30 ☕

Small coffee break in the « K-Fêt » (the associative cafeteria of the ENS for which I’ve been volunteering) before getting back to work. This semester we have the oportunity to do a one-dayand-a-half internship per day, in addition to the classes. Because the lab I intern at is located in Versailles, I mostly work remotely. I work on cognitive factors that influence the pro-environmental behaviors and try to develop scales that measure environmental identity.

12h30 🍽️

Time for lunch ! I meet my classmates for lunch in the cafeteria that offers similar prices as the CROUS. There’s a vegetarian option every day but on Tuesdays, every meal is vegetarian ! On sunny days like today, we eat in the « Courô » or sitting in the grass of the Pasteur courtyard (fun fact: Pasteur was a student in the ENS - PSL)

14h 👩‍💻

This afternoon, I attend a seminar organized by the CERES (Centre d’Enseignement et de Recherche sur l’Environnementet la Société), about the interactions between imaginaries and ecological and social transformations. At the ENS, there are often seminars, roundtables,…on any and every subject possible. No time to get bored !

17h 🖊️

After this fascinating seminar, I go to the National Institute of Public Service, a 15-minute walk from the campus, for a Public Law class. I enrolled in this class for the Public Action minor offered by PSL University.

It’s a good way to blend research and public action and to open myself to new perspectives. The ENS and PSL University offer certified minors on several subjects such as Data, Creative writing, Environment, Europeans Studies, etc.

19h 👟

Time to sit back and relax…with some sport ! I’m part of the cheerleading team of the ENS, the Pompoms. We train three times a week for the TOSS, an interuniversity contest that takes place every month of May. That’s an ideal end of the day, spending time with teammates.

We share the gymnasium with other sports club: Aïkido, Pole dance and Volleyball. The sports options at the ENS along with the PSL Sports ones are immense: everyone can find a suitable match !