Educational Neuroscience

The Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) Program opened its doors to the first class of Ph.D. students in Fall 2013. This is Gallaudet’s first interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, and its administrative home is the Visual Language and Visual Learning Research Center, VL2. In 2025, the program expanded to include the Certificate in Educational Neuroscience (CEN).

In our pioneering programs in Educational Neuroscience, students will learn how humans learn, with particular focus on the neuroplasticity of visually guided learning processes. While Cognitive Neuroscience includes studies of learning and higher cognitive processes across the lifespan, its sister discipline, Educational Neuroscience, includes intensive study of five core domains that are crucial in early childhood learning, including language and bilingualism, reading and literacy, math and numeracy, science and critical thinking (higher cognition), social and emotional learning, and includes study of action and visual processing.

Gallaudet University offers two levels of immersion in the field of Educational Neuroscience:

• Ph.D. level training in PEN where students become experts in one of the world’s cutting-edge neuroimaging methods in the discipline of Cognitive Neuroscience (e.g., fNIRS, EEG, fMRI, and beyond), study Neuroethics, gain robust critical analysis and reasoning skills in science, and develop expertise in one of the core content areas of learning identified above. While becoming experts in contemporary neuroimaging and behavioral experimental science, students also learn powerful, meaningful, and principled ways that science can be translated to benefit education and society today.
• Certificate in Educational Neuroscience: This in-person program provides graduate level training where students acquire foundational knowledge in the field of Educational Neuroscience. Taking three foundational courses and three elective courses, students will gain an understanding of the dynamic interplay between neuroscience and education. All credits are designed to potentially be completed in one academic year of full-time study, or students can complete the requirements for the Certificate in Educational Neuroscience part-time or in combination with another program of graduate-level study, allowing students to flexibly tailor their studies to transform their approach to neuroscience and education.

See individual pages below for application deadlines and requirements.

The PEN and CEN programs benefit from the Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) and its partner research and translation labs providing students with a rich experience on how science can benefit society.