phd computational linguistics

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

• Undergraduate courses
• Events and open days
• Fees and finance
• Postgraduate courses
• How to apply
• Postgraduate events
• Fees and funding
• International students
• Continuing education
• Executive and professional education
• Courses in education
• How the University and Colleges work
• Term dates and calendars
• Visiting the University
• Annual reports
• Equality and diversity
• A global university
• Public engagement
• Give to Cambridge
• For Cambridge students
• For our researchers
• Business and enterprise
• Colleges & departments
• Email & phone search
• Museums & collections
• Course Directory

PhD in Computation, Cognition and Language

Postgraduate Study

• Why Cambridge overview
• Chat with our students
• Cambridge explained overview
• The supervision system
• Student life overview
• In and around Cambridge
• Leisure activities
• Student unions
• Music awards
• Student support overview
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Disabled students
• Accommodation
• Language tuition
• Skills training
• Support for refugees
• Courses overview
• Department directory
• Qualification types
• Funded studentships
• Part-time study
• Research degrees
• Visiting students
• Finance overview
• Fees overview
• What is my fee status?
• Part-time fees
• Application fee
• Living costs
• Funding overview
• Funding search
• How to apply for funding
• University funding overview
• Research Councils (UKRI)
• External funding and loans overview
• Funding searches
• External scholarships
• Charities and the voluntary sector
• Funding for disabled students
• Widening participation in funding
• Colleges overview
• What is a College?
• Choosing a College
• Terms of Residence
• Applying overview
• Before you apply
• Entry requirements
• Application deadlines
• How do I apply? overview
• Application fee overview
• Application fee waiver
• Life Science courses
• Terms and conditions
• Continuing students
• Disabled applicants
• Supporting documents overview
• Academic documents
• Finance documents
• Evidence of competence in English
• AI and postgraduate applications
• Terms and Conditions
• Applicant portal and self-service
• After you apply overview
• Confirmation of admission
• Student registry
• Previous criminal convictions
• Deferring an application
• Updating your personal details
• Appeals and Complaints
• Widening participation
• Postgraduate admissions fraud
• International overview
• Immigration overview
• ATAS overview
• Applying for an ATAS certificate
• Current Cambridge students
• International qualifications
• Competence in English overview
• What tests are accepted?
• International events
• International student views overview
• Akhila’s story
• Alex’s story
• Huijie’s story
• Kelsey’s story
• Nilesh’s story
• Get in touch!
• Events overview
• Upcoming events
• Postgraduate Open Days overview
• Discover Cambridge: Master’s and PhD Study webinars
• Virtual tour
• Research Internships
• How we use participant data
• Postgraduate Newsletter

Primary tabs

• Overview (active tab)
• Requirements
• How To Apply
• Testimonials

Linguistics at Cambridge is unique in the UK in that study and research in theoretical and applied linguistics are integrated within in a single academic unit. We provide great variety and flexibility in course contents as well as subject-specific training and diversity of intellectual interactions.

The PhD in Computation, Cognition and Language is a PhD track for students who conduct basic and applied research in the computational study of language, communication, and cognition, in humans and machines. This research is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on methodology and insights from a range of disciplines that are now critical for the further development of language sciences, including (but not limited to) Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology and Neuroscience. A variety of PhD topics that fall within this remit are accepted. Our current primary areas of research are:

• natural language processing

• computational and corpus linguistics

• computational models of human language acquisition and processing

• information extraction, mining, and presentation

• multilingual technology

• educational and assistive technology

• text data technology for health

• computational digital humanities

• computational approaches to the analysis of speech

• digital forensic speech analysis

In British universities, the PhD is traditionally awarded solely on the basis of a thesis, a substantial piece of writing which reports original research into a closely defined area of enquiry. The completion of the PhD thesis is generally expected to take three to four years, and most funding is based on this assumption.  It is also possible to take a part-time route, and the expected timeframe would be five to seven years.

While the PhD is not a taught course, students will benefit from the availability of courses and seminars offered both within the MMLL Faculty and by other departments concerned with language science in Cambridge (e.g. Computer Science and Technology, Education, Engineering, Psychology, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit). All research students also benefit from a programme of professional training run at various levels within the University and enabling cross-disciplinary interactions. The programme includes seminars and workshops on e.g. giving conference papers, publishing, applications and interviews, teaching skills, and specialist linguistic training. If you wish, you are likely to be given the opportunity of gaining experience in small group teaching for colleges. There may also be opportunities to gain some experience in teaching in the Faculty.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the programme, candidates will have acquired excellent skills, experience and knowledge to undertake postdoctoral work (research and teaching) or another related profession.

For Cambridge students applying to continue from the MPhil by Advanced Study to PhD, the minimum academic requirement is an overall distinction in the MPhil.

For Cambridge students applying to continue from the MPhil by Thesis to PhD, the usual academic requirement is a pass in the MPhil.

All applications are judged on their own merits and students must demonstrate their suitability to undertake doctoral level research.

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the  Postgraduate Open Day  page for more details.

See further the  Postgraduate Admissions Events  pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

• Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics
• Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

Key Information

3-4 years full-time, 4-7 years part-time, study mode : research, doctor of philosophy, department of theoretical and applied linguistics this course is advertised in multiple departments. please see the overview tab for more details., course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, lent 2024 (closed).

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Michaelmas 2024

Funding deadlines.

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.

Similar Courses

• Computer Science PhD
• Linguistics: Theoretical and Applied Linguistics PhD
• Machine Learning and Machine Intelligence MPhil
• Advanced Computer Science MPhil

Postgraduate Admissions Office

• Admissions Statistics
• Start an Application
• Applicant Self-Service

At a glance

• Bringing a family
• Current Postgraduates
• Cambridge Students' Union (SU)

University Policy and Guidelines

Privacy Policy

Information compliance

Equality and Diversity

Terms of Study

About this site

About our website

Privacy policy

© 2024 University of Cambridge

• Contact the University
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Privacy policy and cookies
• Statement on Modern Slavery
• University A-Z
• Undergraduate
• Postgraduate
• Research news
• About research at Cambridge
• Spotlight on...

• Graduate Studies
• Five-Year Bachelor's/MS Program
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Advising Information for Current CL MS Students
• Student Handbook
• Google Drive Folder for Current Students (requires Brandeis login)
• PhD Studies in Computational Linguistics
• Faculty and Staff
• Current Students
• Research Program
• Industry Connections
• Linguistics and Computational Linguistics Home
• Department of Computer Science
• Degree Programs
• Majors and Minors
• Graduate Programs
• The Brandeis Core
• School of Arts and Sciences
• Brandeis Online
• Brandeis International Business School
• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
• Heller School for Social Policy and Management
• Rabb School of Continuing Studies
• Precollege Programs
• Faculty and Researcher Directory
• Brandeis Library
• Academic Calendar
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Summer School
• Financial Aid
• Research that Matters
• Resources for Researchers
• Brandeis Researchers in the News
• Provost Research Grants
• Recent Awards
• Faculty Research
• Student Research
• Centers and Institutes
• Office of the Vice Provost for Research
• Office of the Provost
• Housing/Community Living
• Campus Calendar
• Student Engagement
• Clubs and Organizations
• Community Service
• Dean of Students Office
• Orientation
• Hiatt Career Center
• Spiritual Life
• Graduate Student Affairs
• Directory of Campus Contacts
• Division of Creative Arts
• Brandeis Arts Engagement
• Rose Art Museum
• Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts
• Theater Arts Productions
• Brandeis Concert Series
• Public Sculpture at Brandeis
• Women's Studies Research Center
• Creative Arts Award
• Our Jewish Roots
• The Framework for the Future
• Mission and Diversity Statements
• Distinguished Faculty
• Nobel Prize 2017
• Notable Alumni
• Administration
• Working at Brandeis
• Commencement
• Offices Directory
• Faculty & Staff
• Alumni & Friends
• Parents & Families
• 75th Anniversary
• New Students
• Shuttle Schedules
• Support at Brandeis

Graduate Studies in Computational Linguistics

Brandeis offers a doctoral degree program in computer science within which students can work on a range of topics in theoretical and applied computational linguistics. Students benefit from close relationships with and mentoring by faculty, and participate in grant-funded research from the start of their studies. PhD students form an integral part of the computational linguistics community at Brandeis.

Applications to the PhD program are encouraged from students in our computational linguistics master's degree program, as well as outstanding students applying from outside Brandeis.

Helpful Links

• Requirements for the the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science
• Application Information
• Master of Science in Computational Linguistics

PhD Students and Researchers

PhD students

• Ricky Brutti
• Jayeol Chun
• Eben Holderness
• Kelley Lynch
• Chester Palen-Michel
• Jonne Saleva
• David Tresner-Kirsch
• Jingxuan Tu
• Bingyang Ye

Senior Research Scientist

• Marc Verhagen, PhD

• College of Arts & Sciences
• Graduate Division
• College of Liberal and Professional Studies

• Computational Linguistics

Computational linguistics is a field at the intersection of linguistics and computer science concerned with applying methods from the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning to problems involving language

Computational linguistics is exceptionally well represented at Penn, both at the Department of Linguistics and at the Department of Computer and Information Science . Weekly meetings, such as "Clunch" (computational linguistics and lunch) and XTAG , for ongoing work in tree adjoining grammar, as well as the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science , provide students and faculty the opportunity to work together and exchange ideas on current research topics. Penn also benefits from its closeness to the Linguistic Data Consortium .

Faculty in computational linguistics often hold joint positions in Linguistics and Computer and Information Science.

Mitch Marcus developed the first computationally tractable parser that reflects the findings of syntactic theory. He also participated in creating the first hand-parsed corpus, the English Penn Treebank , which had a significant impact on the field of computational linguistics. The project has continued ever since, branching out to include a number of other languages (such as Chinese) within the past decade; the Treebank corpora have been used to train automatic taggers and parsers as well as in linguistic research.

Fernando Pereira (Research Director at Google, formerly Penn CIS Professor), whose earlier work highlighted the connections between parsing and deduction, is now a leading figure in the field of machine learning. Those colleagues have devised and teach a full program of courses in computational linguistics which are attended by students from both linguistics and computer science. Robin Clark , Anthony Kroch , Mark Liberman , and other colleagues also teach relevant courses, and the programs in linguistics and computer science have trained large numbers of graduate students with substantial expertise in both areas.

In addition to a secondary appointment in the Computer Science department, Mark Liberman is director of the Linguistic Data Consortium . The LDC constructs online corpora of diverse types in many languages, maintains a digital archive of research papers in computational linguistics, and hosts a variety of seminars and conferences. Liberman has published extensively on the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the LDC's work, especially on the construction of corpora and of formal frameworks for linguistic annotation.

Charles Yang is interested in computational models of language acquisition and language change. Specifically, he studies the interaction between the representation of linguistic information and the mechanisms of language processing and learning, with strong commitment to the empirical findings in the psychology of language.

Phonetics, prosody, natural language processing, speech communication

Natural language processing, corpus-based and statistical models for NLP

Language acquisition, language change, computational linguistics, morphology, psycholinguistics

Graduate Program

The curriculum is designed to assure that Ph.D. students receive an adequate grounding in all of the fundamental areas of linguistics, while leaving them the freedom they need to become independent researchers. The first year is devoted to coursework, which gives students a strong foundation and enables them to quickly begin contributing to the research life of the department. Beyond the core, students are relatively free to design their own program of study both within the discipline and across disciplines, within a framework of requirements set by the field and the Graduate School.

This program is organized in consultation with a Special Committee of the student’s own choosing. Committee members represent the student's major and minor subjects. Minors may be chosen from disciplines other than linguistics, so that it is possible, for example, for a Ph.D. student to major in General Linguistics and minor in such areas as Computer Science, Latin American Studies or Cognitive Science. The Special Committee system makes the Ph.D. program maximally flexible and allows students to avail themselves of the entire university's resources. 

Note on M.A. Program:

We do not offer a Master's program. The exception is through the Employee Degree Program (a benefit for Cornell employees). Contact the Graduate Field Assistant for more information ( [email protected]  or 607-255-1105)

ADMISSIONS REVIEW CONSIDERING COVID-19 DISRUPTIONS

APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 15 (of each year - fall admission only)

Application Requirements

Applicants must have a B.A., B.S. or M.A. degree.

Submitted online:

• Online application found at www.gradschool.cornell.edu/admissions
• Academic statement of purpose
• Personal statement
• One research paper as a writing sample
• Three letters of recommendation
• Application fee: $105
• TOEFL or ILETS scores also required.  For exact details of how to satisfy the English Language Proficiency, please see   https://gradschool.cornell.edu/admissions/prepare/english-language-proficiency-requirement/ .

*The GRE is not required for admission to the Field of Linguistics.

All materials must be uploaded to CollegeNet (see application link above). No hard copy application materials are accepted.

Requests for further information should be addressed to: E-mail :  [email protected] Phone : (607) 255-1105 Notification of Application Status: If any material is missing from your application, you will be notified by email.  Check the status of your application and select "review your activity".

Application and Admission Timeline

December 15 – All application materials are due.

Early February - Applicants are informed of admissions decisions and financial awards by this time. 

April 15 – Admitted students are required to accept or decline their offers by this date.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions 

- What are the strengths of your program? At Cornell, linguistic theory is applied to a broad range of linguistic evidence and tools, augmenting traditional linguistic intuitions. These include experimental/instrumental approaches, corpora, computational methods, and language documentation.

- What are the research interests and theoretical orientation of your faculty? Take a look at our  faculty webpages ! Our faculty cover a wide range of interests within the field of linguistics.

- How long does it take to complete the Ph.D. in Linguistics? Most students take five years. Finishing in this amount of time is contingent on timely completion of the required coursework and the A-exam.

- Can I do a Master's in Linguistics at Cornell University? No. Our program is designed to train students for the Ph.D.

- Can I start the program in the Winter or Spring semester? No. Our program's coursework is designed to start in the fall semester.

- What kinds of jobs do students who receive the Ph.D. in Linguistics have? Our students are successful in obtaining various academic and non-academic positions . See our " MA/PhD Alumni " page for information on the placement of our Ph.D graduates.

- What if I cannot afford the application fee? Please refer to this information from the Cornell University Graduate School: Application fee waivers: Check fee waiver eligibility requirements online before applying . If you are eligible, you can find a link to our fee waiver request form on the payment page of the online application form. You must submit your application and the fee waiver request at the same time. We review fee waiver requests every business day.

- What are the tuition costs? The tuition cost set for the 2023-24 academic year is $24,800. More detailed information on tuition & stipend rates and other fees (student activity fee and health insurance).

- What financial aid is available? Are international students eligible for financial aid? Two types of financial support are available through Cornell: merit-based (fellowships, assistantships, and tuition awards) and need-based (loans). Please visit our " Financial Support " section below for more information. Unless you choose otherwise, students are considered for merit-based aid, regardless of citizenship, as part of the admissions process—no special application is required. Applicants are notified of merit-based awards at the same time admissions offers are made. You must notify the Graduate School by April 15 if you plan to accept the offer.

- What does the admissions committee look for when reviewing applications? Simply stated, we are looking for talented students who are a good match for our program.

- How many students are accepted to the program per admission cycle? Our target class size is six. 

- What do my GRE scores and GPA have to be? We do not set specific minimums for GRE scores and GPA. GREs and GPA are only one consideration in evaluating applications for admission. Note that for the 2022-23 admissions cycle, the GRE test has been waived due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Who should my letters of recommendation come from? Generally, academic references are from professors you have worked with during your undergraduate or master’s program. If you are not coming straight out of an academic program, these may also include references from your employers. Simply put, we are looking for letters from people who know both the applicant and our program and can tell us that the applicant will do well in our program.

- What should I include in my statement of purpose? A statement of purpose should be a well-written statement (of about 2 pages in length) that tells us why you have chosen to pursue linguistics as a field of study and why you have chosen to apply to Cornell. It should include your reasons for undertaking graduate work and an explanation of your academic interests, including their relation to your undergraduate study and professional goals. If possible, include the names of the Cornell faculty members whose research seems to match your own interests, and briefly discuss the connections you see. Also describe your relevant research experience, and note any publications you have authored or co-authored

Ph.D. Requirements

Progress towards the degree is attained by

• Completing the core course requirements
• Passing the Qualifying Exam (Q-exam), results reported to Field
• Passing the Admission to Candidacy Exam (A-exam), results reported to Grad School (form A4)
• Defending the prospectus (P-exam), results reported to Field
• Completing and defending dissertation (B-exam), results reported to Grad School (form A4)

Brief Ph.D Progress Checklist (For details on the requirements, see below. Italicized items are new Graduate School policies that apply to students beginning with those admitted for Fall 2014.)

1st year: 

• Apply for an NSF or other national fellowship in the fall semester, if eligible (usually only US citizens and resident aliens are eligible). 
• Make significant inroads on completing the core courses 
• Have two meetings (one per semester) with your Advisory Committee
• File academic plan with Graduate School describing anticipated summer activities and outcomes (due May 1, required for summer funding)

Select a Special Committee for your Q-paper by September 1st

• Submit a Q-paper proposal to your Special Committee by December 1st

Continue taking core courses, seminars

Complete any ancillary skills courses your committee requires (if any)

• Take Research Workshop (LING 6603) in spring

Take Q-Exam, committee reports results to GFA

The Q-Exam should be attempted before the end of the 4th semester. Summer funding for the second summer will be contingent on having attempted the Q-Exam by this deadline. To qualify for summer funding at the end of the fourth semester, it is essential that you schedule your Q-Exam no later than May 1st, and that the date of the exam be no later than May 14th.

• File academic plan with Graduate School describing anticipated summer activities and outcomes (due May 1, required for summer funding)​
• Select a Special Committee for your A-paper by September 1st
• Submit an A-paper proposal to your Special Committee by December 1st

Take Research Workshop (LING 6604) in fall semester

Take seminars to further research goals

Schedule A-Exam (form A3)

Take A-exam (report results with form A4, eligibility for 3rd summer funding is contingent on passing A-exam or filing a scheduling form indicating an intention to take the exam for the start of the 7th semester)

N.B. The dissertation-year fellowship will be available only to students who attempted their A-exam prior to the seventh semester of enrollment (a requirement of the Code of Legislation) and have passed the A-exam. In addition, students seeking the dissertation-year fellowship must have written and submitted an external fellowship or grant proposal within their first four years of enrollment, to encourage all students to pursue external funding. (In exceptional cases for which there may be no logical external funding organization to which it would be appropriate to write a proposal, the student may write a proposal for an internal Cornell award such as a Graduate School or Einaudi travel grant or may petition for permission to complete an alternative professionalization activity.)

• A-exam should be done by the beginning of the 7th semester!
• Select Special Committee for your dissertation by September 1st
• Write your dissertation proposal
• Take P-Exam (defense of prospectus) by end of fall semester, committee reports results to GFA
• Work on dissertation
• Apply for dissertation year fellowships (usually done in fall) and other post-A-exam funding
• 4th year summer funding is available by application only; students who have not passed their A-exam are not eligible. Applications for summer funding are due May 1 at the Graduate School.

 5th year:

• Apply for jobs, postdocs, etc.
• Finish dissertation
• Schedule B-Exam (form A3)
• Take B-exam (defense of dissertation, report results with form A4)
• File Thesis, using Graduation Manager

Course Requirements

A. core courses.

To assure that Ph.D. students receive an adequate grounding in all of the fundamental areas of linguistics, the field has defined a set of core requirements in the areas of Syntax, Phonology, Semantics and Historical Linguistics. The general expectation is that all students will take all core courses. If a student requests an exemption on the basis of comparable graduate-level coursework at another institution, this exemption can only be granted after consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and the instructor of the relevant course. Beyond the core courses, Ph.D. students are expected to attend advanced linguistics courses (topics courses and seminars) not only in the areas in which they write their research papers and thesis but in areas that will provide sufficient breadth as advised by the Special Committee.  

Students are required to complete courses equivalent to the following: 

• Historical Linguistics (LING 6314)
• Phonology I and II (LING 6401/6402)
• Syntax I and II  (LING 6403/6404)
• Semantics I (LING 6421)
• Research Workshops (LING 6603/6604): This course provides students with an opportunity to develop an original research paper through a number of revisions, some of which are presented to an audience of fellow students. The final version is presented at a semester-end conference.  Offered both fall and spring.
• At least one course from the following subfields:  computational linguistics, historical linguistics (beyond Ling 6314), morphology, phonetics, semantics and pragmatics.
• Advanced courses: all students are required to take at least four (4) seminars or topics courses for credit. These are courses at the 6600-level or higher. 

B. Ancillary skill sets

In the course of research a student may need to master one or more ancillary skill sets. These might be familiarity with languages of scholarship or training in statistics, logic, field methods or programming. The student, in consultation with his/her committee, is expected to determine which skills need to be acquired and how and when this should be done.

Q- and A-Exams (admission to candidacy):

Admission to candidacy in the field of Linguistics consists of writing two research papers which are evaluated in two exams, the Q-exam and the A-exam.  The Q-exam is taken by the end of the second year, and the A-exam is taken by the end of the third year.  Graduate School regulations require that all doctoral students must take the Examination for Admission to Candidacy before beginning their seventh semester of registration unless special permission is obtained from the Dean.  The format of the Q- and A-exams varies from case to case, depending on the expectations of the Special Committee.  The Field requires that the candidate submit to the committee in advance of the exam a research paper of high quality (see the deadlines above).  The papers for the two exams must be in two distinct subfields, with a distinct Special Committee devoted to each paper.  The Special Committee for each exam will normally ask the candidate to prepare written answers for one to two questions.    

P-Exam (defense of prospectus):

Following successful completion of the A-exam, a Special Committee for the dissertation is selected and the P-exam is undertaken by the fall of the fourth year.    

B-Exam (thesis defense):

The B-Exam is taken after completion of the Ph.D. dissertation.  The B-Exam includes a presentation of the highlights of the dissertation followed by questions from the committee and others in attendance. 

Financial Support

We typically offer guaranteed five-year full financial support to students we admit into the graduate program, regardless of the student's citizenship. Two of those years (SAGE Fellowship: the first-year and the "dissertation year" in which students are not expected to work as a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant) are through fellowships, and the other three years are through other sources of support, typically teaching assistantships or research assistantships. The five year funding package covers: tuition and fees, student health insurance and a nine-month stipend for living expenses. Funding is contingent on satisfactory academic performance, and beginning with the 2014-15 academic year, the Graduate School has instituted progress requirements for continued funding.

Teaching/Research Assistantships

The studies of all graduate students are funded in part by Teaching Assistantships (TA). In the Department of Linguistics, most Teaching Assistantships involve helping a professor in an undergraduate course; responsibilities may include leading discussion sections, meeting with students, helping grade papers and exams. Every effort is made to match teaching assignments with graduate student interests and to make sure that each Teaching Assistant receives a variety of teaching experiences while at Cornell. Teaching assistants work on average 15 hours per week and do not usually exceed 20 hours in any given week.

A student holding a TA-ship may work total of 20 hours per week as a combination of the TA responsibilities and employment elsewhere, either on- or off-campus.  Students holding a University fellowship, external fellowship, or GRA may also be employed on- or off-campus for no more than 8 hours per week, as long as this does not conflict with the terms of the external funding agreement.

A research assistantship (RA) entails work on a faculty research project not necessarily related to the student's dissertation. RAs work 15 to 20 hours per week. If the research project directly relates to the student's dissertation, then the appointment is a graduate research assistantship, in which case the time spent on research connected with the project is expected to be significant.

The  John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines  allots the Linguistics department TA-ships for our graduate students to teach a First-Year Writing Seminar. This program emphasizes the humanities and social sciences and provides graduate students in all fields the opportunity to lead small undergraduate writing seminars and even to develop their own unique course syllabi. All graduate student instructors of First-Year Writing Seminars are required to take Writing 7100: Teaching Writing, a summer or fall semester one-credit course that provides a thorough pedagogical and experiential grounding in teaching. The department of Linguistics has approved courses that are offered as a writing seminar. If you would like to propose a new writing seminar, you will need to fill out the pre-EPC form.

Students may serve as language instructors for their TA-ship.  These also involve 15-20 hours a week.  Students with appropriate language background who are given such assignments are required to fulfill the respective department's training requirements.

Fellowships

The Graduate Field now requires all graduate students to apply for external funding at some point in their first four years. Students in the field of Linguistics are encouraged to apply for a variety of fellowships such as the National Science Foundation and the Social Science Research Council Fellowships. Also, the area programs at Cornell (East Asian, Southeast Asia, South Asia and European Studies) offer federally supported Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships to students whose research focuses on any of these areas.

Many of these non-Cornell sourced external fellowships are intended for students who are U.S. citizens or nationals or permanent residents of the United States. Applicants from foreign countries should seek aid from their own governments, universities, corporations or from a U.S. agency operating abroad, such as the Institute for International Education or the Fulbright-Hays Program.

Under certain conditions, external funds can be used to extend the package of guaranteed support from the Field or used in place of the teaching assistantship or research apprenticeship to allow the recipient to focus on research. The Graduate School and Field policies on modifying the initial package are available from the Director of Graduate Studies. Currently, students who are awarded these fellowships receive the two "free" years of SAGE funding (i.e., the first year and the dissertation year), but not the University-funded RA or TA stipends in the years that are covered by the external fellowship. 

The East Asian Program offers the following fellowships that have no citizenship restrictions. These three typically provide tuition and stipend for one semester. 

Einaudi Center Funding-East Asia Program Fellowships

• Robert J. Smith Fellowships in Japanese Studies
• Starr Fellowships
• Lee Teng-hui Fellowships in World Affairs

Einaudi Center grants: http://einaudi.cornell.edu/student-funding Cornell's Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS), Fulbright-Hayes Awards, Fulbright Program, International Research Travel Grants: The Mario Einaudi Center and its associated Programs offer a wide range of support and assistance to graduate students in search of funding for their international research, study and scholarship. See web site for deadlines, usually late January.

Graduate School Fellowship Database: http://gradschool.cornell.edu/fellowships/ A searchable database of fellowships of all kinds - well worth a look!

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSFGRFP):   http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6201 The National Science Foundation funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering. For U.S. citizens and permanent residents, these are very competitive, but they provide a multi-year package of fellowship funding. College seniors, first- and second-year students with no more than 12 months of graduate study (i.e. no MA/MS degree) are eligible. It is most advisable to apply in your first year, if you are eligible. Even if you feel you do not have much linguistics research experience, the experience of writing the proposal is worthwhile. You will also get feedback from the NSF Fellowship Panel, which you can incorporate into an improved application the following year, if you do not succeed the first time. If you wait until your final year of eligibility to apply, you cannot take a second chance.

Social Science Research Council fellowships:  https://www.ssrc.org/fellowships-and-opportunities/ Most support from the Council goes to predissertation, dissertation and postdoctoral fellowships, offered through annual, peer-reviewed competitions.

NSF dissertation improvement grants (DDRIG):  http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505033&org=SBE&sel_org=SBE&from=fund These are for post-A-exam dissertation writers. There is no U.S. citizenship requirement. The grants supply up to $12,000 for research-related expenses. Deadlines are July 15th and January 15th of each year. The Principal Investigator should be the student's dissertation advisor, and the student should be the Co-Principal Investigator. It is expected that the student (Co-PI) will author the proposal, which will then be submitted through the university by the dissertation advisor (PI).

Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships: http://www.acls.org/programs/dcf

Recently Offered Seminars

The department of linguistics offers a wide variety of graduate-level seminars. Seminar topics vary each semester based on the research interests of the graduate students and faculty.

• Finite State Methods
• Optimality Theory
• Neuro-linguistics
• Old Iranian
• Sanskrit Historical Grammar
• Phonetics in the Lexicon
• Timing and Weight in Phonology and Phonetics
• Information Structure
• Modality, Negative Polarity
• Polarity, Alternatives, Modality, Pragmatics
• Aspect of Interface between Syntax and Morpho-Phonology
• Relation Based Syntax
• Peripheries

Research Facilities

The Computational Linguistics Lab focuses on the statistical parsing of large data samples, including grammar development, parameter estimation, and acquisition of lexical information from corpora.

The Language Documentation Lab provides resources and laboratory space for research involving language documentation, description, and analysis, with an emphasis on understudied languages.

The Phonetics Lab offers state-of-the-art facilities for research in articulatory movement tracking, ultrasound, electroglottography, and speech aerodynamics. The phonetics lab is part of the Cornell Speech Imaging Group (SIG), a cross-disciplinary team of researchers using real-time magnetic resonance imaging to study the dynamics of speech articulation. 

Faculty and students in the Computational Psycholinguistic Discussions research group (C.Psyd) are interested in the intersection of computational linguistics and psycholinguistics. By building computational models to predict human language processing behavior (e.g., reading times), we can study the linguistic features that impact human processing decisions. Relatedly, C.Psyd members use psycholinguistic techniques to study the strategies used by neural networks to produce high accuracy in different language contexts, which gives us insights as to when different strategies might be employed by humans.

At the Linguistic Meaning (LiMe) Lab we investigate the complex process by which humans assign meaning to utterances. To do so, we combine insights from linguistic theory and cognitive science more broadly with experimental and computational methods. Contact: [email protected]

Cornell Linguistics Circle

The Cornell Linguistics Circle (CLC) is the graduate student group of the Cornell Department of Linguistics.  Students from linguistics and related fields are welcome to attend CLC meetings and participate in planned activities. The CLC serves to promote exchange of ideas among graduate students in the field and to advocate for the graduate student body within the department. Throughout the course of the academic year the CLC invites a series of outside speakers from linguistics departments around the country and the world.  Speakers deliver talks attended by faculty and graduate students (followed by a CLC-sponsored reception, of course!) and are often available for one-on-one meetings with interested students. The CLC also publishes The Proceedings of SALT, which contains articles developed from work presented at the annual Semantics and Linguistic Theory conference. All volumes of the Proceedings of SALT are available online through the LSA.

CLC Officers 2023-24

Computational Linguistics

Computational Linguistics is the scientific study of language from a computational perspective. It is a lively and intellectually vital scientific discipline, generating advances that shed new insight on models of human linguistic abilities, as well as creating opportunities for practical tools that can be of tremendous benefit to society. Computational linguistics faculty and students participate in the interdisciplinary GUCL  community on campus.

Computational Linguistics Faculty

• Nathan Schneider
• Amir Zeldes (Concentration Head)

Cross-listed Faculty

• Paul Portner

Affiliated Faculty

• Trevor Adriaanse
• Austin Blodgett
• Claire Bonial
• Matthew Marge
• Corey Miller
• Shabnam Tafreshi

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

Computational linguistics.

Department of Linguistics | College of Arts & Sciences

Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that addresses the use of computers to process or produce human language. Linguistics contributes to this field an understanding of the special properties of language data, and also provides theories and descriptions of language structure and use. Computational linguistics is largely an applied discipline concerned with practical problems. Typical applications include natural language processing, machine translation (translating from one language to another), speech synthesis, speech production, information retrieval (finding relevant documents or parts of documents in large collections of texts) cognitive modeling, and, in general, almost anything dealing with natural language interfaces.

Ph.D. in Linguistics with a Concentration in Computational Linguistics

Note: these are the most recent requirements updated in 2022-2023..

If you started earlier, please check your year's requirements in the bulletins under "University Graduate School".

The Concentration in Computational Linguistics combines both general linguistic coursework and computational specific coursework.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 90 credit hours, including dissertation. Specific requirements include LING-L545, LING-L645, LING-L615, LING-L555, one graduate-level course each in phonetics, phonology, and syntax, plus at least two additional courses in linguistics at the 600-700 levels.

LING-L555 may be waived if the student has previously completed equivalent coursework. In addition to the required core coursework, a student's advisory committee may assign other courses as appropriate and relevant to that student's particular program. These may include courses such as the following:

• COGS-Q520  Mathematics and Logic in Cognitive Science
• COGS-Q550  Models in Cognitive Science
• CSCI-B551  Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI-B651  Natural Language Processing
• CSCI-B652  Computational Models of Symbolic Learning
• CSCI-B659  Topics in Artificial Intelligence

The choice of a minor field should be agreed to by the student’s advisory committee. The specific requirements for the minor are established by the department that grants the minor. The student is responsible for ascertaining what those requirements are and for meeting them.

Typical minors would include Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Informatics, Information and Library Science, or any of the language departments.

Advisory Committee

All students in the Ph.D. program will select an advisory committee consisting of at least three faculty members, one of whom should normally represent the student’s minor field. The committee must be selected no later than the end of the semester following the completion of the master’s degree at Indiana University, or, in the case of students entering the program with master’s degrees from other institutions, no later than two semesters after matriculation.

Students will plan their programs with the advisory committee, which will be responsible for counseling students with regard to the qualifying examination, setting the examination, and administering it.

Foreign Language Structure

Knowledge of the structure of a language other than English and outside the student’s general language family (choice to be determined in consultation with the student's advisory committee).

This requirement of knowledge of the structure of an "exotic" language can be fulfilled in several ways (1) through a one-semester "structure course" (e.g., "Structure of Mongolian", "Arabic Syntax", etc.); (2) through a two-semester introductory language course (e.g., Beginning Swahili), or (3) through the field methods sequence (LING-L653 to LING-L654). As for what counts as "outside the student’s general language family", this has been interpreted to mean outside Indo-European for English speakers (although Hindi or Bengali might be okay depending on the logic of the student’s program) and outside Semitic for Arabic speakers, to give just a couple of examples.

Research Tool Requirements

The student must demonstrate proficiency (1), in the basics of discrete mathematics or mathematical linguistics, which can be met by courses such as COGS-Q520 Mathematics and Logic in Cognitive Science or L611 Models of Linguistic Structure; and (2) in programming techniques, with working knowledge of at least two programming languages.

Completion of LING-L555 satisfies working knowledge of one programming language. Students then need a second programming language. Preferred languages are either Java or C++. Students should consult their academic advisor about what course would be most appropriate to take.

Qualifying Examination Requirements

The qualifying exam is comprehensive; the examination is on two distinct areas of computational linguistics and/or linguistics. At least one of the qualifying examinations must entail a practical software artifact. The artifact may be a program, a computational grammar, an implemented scheme for corpus annotation, or some other approved artifact. The other examination may take the form of a written paper (of publishable quality) or a written exam. Specific focus and scheduling of the examination is determined by the student's advisory committee.

Research Committee

After nomination to candidacy, the student will select a research committee composed of no fewer than three members of the Department of Linguistics faculty and an outside representative. This committee must approve the proposed dissertation topic.

Final Examination

Oral defense of dissertation. This defense is normally open.

• Joint B.S./M.S.
• Ph.D. Minor

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

• Events and open days
• Fees and finance
• Student blogs and videos
• Why Cambridge
• Qualifications directory
• How to apply
• Fees and funding
• Frequently asked questions
• International students
• Continuing education
• Executive and professional education
• Courses in education
• How the University and Colleges work
• Visiting the University
• Term dates and calendars
• Video and audio
• Find an expert
• Publications
• International Cambridge
• Public engagement
• Giving to Cambridge
• For current students
• For business
• Colleges & departments
• Libraries & facilities
• Museums & collections
• Email & phone search
• Postgraduates
• Postgraduate Study in Linguistics

PhD Programmes in Linguistics

• PhD in Computation, Cognition and Language
• Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
• About overview
• Governance of the Faculty overview
• Governance at MML
• Faculty Board overview
• Board Overview
• Membership and Contacts
• Student Engagement
• Staff-Student Liaison Committee overview
• Committee Overview
• News & Events
• Academic Visitors
• Public Engagement
• IT Services
• The University Library
• Language Centre
• Research Facilities
• MMLL privacy policy
• Health and Safety at MMLL
• Subjects overview
• Modern Greek
• Spanish and Portuguese
• Slavonic Studies overview
• Slavonic Studies virtual event for Years 11 & 12
• Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
• Undergraduates overview
• The Courses: Key Facts overview
• Course costs
• The courses we offer
• The MML Course overview
• MML: The First Year
• MML: The Second Year
• MML: The Year Abroad
• MML: The Fourth Year
• The Linguistics Course
• The History and Modern Languages Course overview
• Course structure overview
• How We Teach
• How You Learn
• Resources for teachers and supporters
• Careers and Employment
• Alumni testimonials overview
• Matthew Thompson
• Rosie Sargeant
• Mark Austin
• Esther Wilkinson
• Katherine Powlesland
• Gillian McFarland
• Katya Andrusz
• Frequently asked questions overview
• Choosing your course
• Applications
• Resources and reading lists for prospective students
• Did you know...?
• Student Perspectives overview
• Alfie Vaughan
• Romany Whittall
• Offer Holders overview
• French overview
• Summer Preparation
• German overview
• Beginners Course overview
• Post A-Level Course overview
• Italian and Greek overview
• Portuguese overview
• Spanish overview
• History & Modern Languages Tripos
• From Our Students
• Current undergraduates overview
• Year Abroad overview
• Current Students
• Thinking about your Year Abroad overview
• Studying overview
• Finance overview
• Turing Scheme
• Safety and Insurance
• Year Abroad FAQs
• Year Abroad Project FAQs
• Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos overview
• MML Part IA List of Papers
• Part I Oral Examination A and B
• MML Part IB List of Papers
• MML IB Assessment by Long Essay
• The Year Abroad Project
• MML Part II List of Papers overview
• MML Part II List of Borrowed Papers
• CS5: The Body
• CS6: European Film
• Oral C Examination
• MML Part II Optional Dissertation
• MML with Classics
• Linguistics within the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos
• Linguistics Tripos overview
• Linguistics Tripos - List of Papers
• Transferable Skills
• History and Modern Languages Tripos
• Marking Criteria
• Supervision Guidelines
• Teaching Provision
• Examinations Data Retention Policy (PDF)
• Learning Resources
• Additional Course Costs
• Faculty guidance on plagiarism
• Translation Toolkit overview
• 1. Translation as a Process
• 2. Translation as a Product
• 3. Equivalence and Translation Loss
• Email etiquette at MMLL
• Overall Degree Classification
• Current postgraduates
• Research in MMLL overview
• Research by Section overview
• Italian overview
• CIRN Home overview
• CIRN Events overview
• CIRN Annual Lecture 2015
• CIRN Annual Lecture 2016
• CIRN Annual Lecture 2017
• CIRN Annual Lecture 2018
• CIRN Annual Lecture 2019
• CIRN Annual Lecture 2019-20
• CIRN Annual Symposium 2015
• CIRN Annual Symposium 2016
• CIRN Annual Symposium 2017
• CIRN Annual Symposium 2018
• CIRN Annual Symposium 2019
• CIRN News and Events archive
• Slavonic Studies
• Research by Language overview
• Research by Period overview
• Medieval and Pre-Modern
• Early Modern
• Eighteenth Century
• Nineteenth Century
• 1900 - 1945
• 1945 - present
• Research by Thematic Field overview
• Literature, Visual Culture and the Arts overview
• Colonial, Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies
• Contemporary Culture and Society
• Drama, Music and Performance
• Environmental Criticism and Posthumanism
• Film and Visual Culture
• Gender, Feminism and Queer Studies
• Intellectual and Cultural History
• Literary Theory, Philosophy and Political Thought
• Material Culture and History of the Book
• Poetry, Rhetoric and Poetics
• Language and Linguistics overview
• Comparative Syntax
• Computational Linguistics
• Dialectology
• Experimental Phonetics and Phonology
• Historical Linguistics
• Language Acquisition
• Language Change
• Language Contact
• Multilingualism
• Psycholinguistics
• Semantics, Pragmatics and Philosophy
• Translation Theory and Practice
• Funded Projects
• Apply for Research Funding overview
• Research Strategy Committee
• Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships
• British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Management of Ongoing Grants
• Funding Opportunities
• Centres overview
• Cambridge Film and Screen
• Cambridge Italian Research Network (CIRN)
• Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS)
• Cambridge Language Sciences
• Cambridge Endangered Languages and Cultures Group (CELC) overview
• Seminar Series
• Past conferences
• Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies
• Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement
• Equality and Diversity overview
• EDI Committee
• Accessibility Statement
• Accessible Materials
• Recording Lectures
• Athena SWAN
• Mentoring and Career Development
• Parents and Carers
• EDI Related Links
• Harassment and Discrimination
• Outreach overview
• Resources overview
• Open Day Resources for Prospective Students
• CCARL A-level Resources overview
• Why Not Languages? resources overview
• Student Q&A
• Events for Students overview
• Events for Teachers overview
• Diversity in French and Francophone Studies: A CPD workshop series for teachers of French
• Diversity in German Studies - CPD Workshop series aimed at secondary teachers of German
• Workshop for Spanish Teachers
• Workshop for Teachers of German: Diversity in German Culture
• Access and Widening Participation
• Faculty Home
• About Theoretical & Applied Linguistics
• Staff in Theoretical & Applied Linguistics overview
• Staff and Research Interests
• Research overview
• Research Projects overview
• Current projects overview
• Expressing the Self: Cultural Diversity and Cognitive Universals overview
• Project Files
• Semantics and Philosophy in Europe 8
• Rethinking Being Gricean: New Challenges for Metapragmatics overview
• Research Clusters overview
• Comparative Syntax Research Area overview
• Research Projects
• Research Students
• Senior Researchers
• Computational Linguistics Research Area overview
• Members of the area
• Experimental Phonetics & Phonology Research Area overview
• EP&P Past Events
• Language Acquisition & Language Processing Research Area overview
• Research Themes
• Mechanisms of Language Change Research Area overview
• Mechanisms of Language Change research themes
• Semantics, Pragmatics & Philosophy Research Area overview
• Group Meetings 2023-2024 overview
• Previous years
• Take part in linguistic research
• Information for Undergraduates
• Prospective Students overview
• Preliminary reading
• Part I overview
• Li1: Sounds and Words
• Li2: Structures and Meanings
• Li3: Language, brains and machines
• Li4: Linguistic variation and change
• Part II overview
• Part IIB overview
• Li5: Linguistic Theory
• Part IIB Dissertation
• Section C overview
• Li6: Phonetics
• Li7: Phonological Theory
• Li8: Morphology
• Li9: Syntax
• Li10: Semantics and Pragmatics
• Li11: Historical Linguistics
• LI12: History of Ideas on Language
• Li13: History of English
• Li14: History of the French Language
• Li15: First and Second Language Acquisition
• Li16: Psychology of Language Processing and Learning
• Li17: Language Typology and Cognition
• Li18: Computational Linguistics
• Undergraduate Timetables
• Postgraduate Study in Linguistics overview
• MPhils in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics overview
• MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics by Advanced Study overview
• Michaelmas Term Courses
• Lent Term Seminars overview
• Computational and Corpus Linguistics
• Experimenting with Meaning
• French Linguistics
• Historical Linguistics and History of English
• Psychological Language Processing & Learning
• Syntactic change
• Topics in Syntax
• MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics by Thesis
• PhD Programmes in Linguistics overview
• PhD in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
• Life as a Linguistics PhD student
• Current PhD Students in TAL
• Recent PhD Graduates in TAL
• News and Events overview
• News and Events
• COPiL overview
• All Volumes overview
• Volume 14 Issue 2
• Volume 14 Issue 1
• All Articles
• TAL Talks Archive
• Editorial Team
• Linguistics Forum overview
• Schedule of Talks
• Societies overview
• Linguistics Society
• Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics
• Prospective Students
• Equality and Diversity
• MPhils in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

PhD in Computation, Cognition and Language (MLAL211)

The PhD in Computation, Cognition and Language is a PhD track for students who conduct basic and applied research in the computational study of language, communication, and cognition, in humans and machines. This research is interdisciplinary in nature and draws on methodology and insights from a range of disciplines that are now critical for the further development of language sciences, including (but not limited to) Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology and Neuroscience. A variety of PhD topics that fall within this remit are accepted.

Our current primary areas of research are:

• natural language processing
• computational and corpus linguistics
• computational models of human language acquisition and processing
• information extraction, mining, and presentation
• multilingual technology
• educational and assistive technology
• text data technology for health
• computational digital humanities
• computational approaches to the analysis of speech
• digital forensic speech analysis

In British universities, the PhD is traditionally awarded solely on the basis of a thesis, a substantial piece of writing which reports original research into a closely defined area of enquiry. The completion of the PhD thesis is generally expected to take three years, and most funding is based on this assumption. While the PhD is not a taught course, students will benefit from the availability of courses and seminars offered both within the MMLL Faculty and by other departments concerned with language science in Cambridge (e.g. Computer Science and Technology, Education, Engineering, Psychology, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit). All research students also benefit from a programme of professional training run at various levels within the School of Arts and Humanities, and enabling cross-disciplinary interactions. The programme includes seminars and workshops on e.g., giving conference papers, publishing, applications and interviews, teaching skills, specialist linguistic training. If you wish, you are likely to be given the opportunity of gaining experience in small group teaching for colleges. There may also be opportunities to gain some experience in teaching in the Faculty.

Academic Requirements

Applicants for this course must have a UK First-class Honours Degree or equivalent in linguistics, computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, computer science, or a related discipline.  However, a first-class (distinction level) Masters-level degree is required. The degrees must testify to the applicant's substantial background in linguistics.  Applicants are expected to demonstrate clear evidence of research potential.  Well-developed programming skills are presumed.

Supervision

The Degree Committee for the Faculty appoints a primary supervisor and an advisor for each research student. In some cases, a second, co-supervisor, may be appointed, especially when the research topic is strongly cross-disciplinary. Research students in CCL will have daily contact with the research group within which they are placed. In addition, they should expect a meeting with their supervisor(s) at least once a month. The University of Cambridge publishes an annual Code of Practice which sets out the University’s expectations regarding supervision.

Prospective applicants can get an idea of the range of topics which can be supervised from the following lists of people:

• Staff and their Research Interests
• Full Section Staff List
• Members of the Faculty
• Current PhD Students

Research students are expected to attend weekly research seminars and discussion groups in their research group. They may also attend other relevant research seminars offered by Linguistics or other language science departments in Cambridge. Research students must attend training in research skills. These are offered by Sectional PhD training seminars and the Researcher Development Programme of the University.

There is a normal word limit for the thesis of 80,000 words (including footnotes and appendices but excluding bibliography). The thesis should represent a significant contribution to learning through the discovery of new knowledge or through the connection of previously unrelated facts, or the development of new theory, revision of older views or some combination of these. In writing the thesis you are expected to take account of previously published work on the subject and the thesis should be clearly and accurately written, paying due attention to English style and grammar. Candidates for the PhD in Cambridge are guided by a supervisor, though they will normally also discuss their work with a number of other experts in their field. Following submission of the thesis, an oral (viva) examination is held.

Annual progress interviews constitute a system for the formal monitoring by the Degree Committee of the progress of all students working towards a PhD. Termly progress interviews take place in the fourth year of the PhD.

Postgraduate students are admitted in the first instance for a probationary period during which they are not registered as a candidate for the PhD degree. The first-year interview is the context in which registration as a candidate for the PhD is formally considered. Satisfactory progress is a condition for being registered as a doctoral student and for remaining on the register.

Search form

Linguistics links.

• Online Timetable
• Polyglossia
• Guidelines for Incoming Erasmus Students
• Green Matters

Related links

• Student Support
• Wellbeing at Cambridge
• Year Abroad FAQ
• Polyglossia Magazine
• The Cambridge Language Collective
• Information for current undergraduates
• Visiting and Erasmus Students

Keep in touch

• University of Cambridge Privacy Policy
• Student complaints and Examination Reviews

© 2024 University of Cambridge

• University A-Z
• Contact the University
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Terms and conditions
• Undergraduate
• Spotlight on...
• About research at Cambridge

• Utility Menu

Department of Linguistics

Ph.d. program.

The main components of the Linguistics Ph.D. program are as follows:

• Course Requirements
• Language Requirement
• Generals Papers
• Dissertation
• Extra Funding Availability

All requirements, including two generals papers, should ideally be completed by the end of the third year, but in no case later than the end of the fourth. The dissertation prospectus is due on October 15 of the fall term of the fourth year. Failure to meet program requirements in a timely fashion may result in termination of candidacy. 

First-year students are advised by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) until they select a major field from the regular departmental faculty. Thereafter, progress toward completion of the Ph.D. requirements continues to be monitored by the DGS, but primary responsibility for overseeing study shifts to the major advisor. Students are free to change their major advisor at any time. By the end of the second year they should also select a co-advisor, who serves as a secondary advisor and faculty mentor.

Harvard Linguistics Graduate Student Handbook

Progress to the Degree (updated 7/1/2015)

A B+ average must be maintained in each year of graduate study. Grades below B- cannot be counted toward departmental requirements; two grades below B- in required courses will result in termination of candidacy. Ordinarily, a grade of Incomplete can only be converted into a letter grade if the work is made up before the end of the following term. No grade of Incomplete can be used to satisfy a departmental requirement.   No two programs of study are alike, but students should typically plan to complete the requirements for the degree according to the timetable below. Departures from this schedule must be approved by the main advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.   Years G1 and G2: Course requirements are satisfied. By the end of the G2 year, the first generals paper should be well underway.   Year G3: Teaching duties begin. The first generals paper should be defended before the end of the fall term, and the second generals paper by the end of the spring term.   Year G4: Teaching duties continue. A thesis prospectus, naming a dissertation committee, is due on October 15 of the fall term; the committee must be chaired or co-chaired by a member of the Department of Linguistics and must include at least two members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Dissertation Completion Fellowship applications are due at midyear.   Year G5: The thesis is completed and defended in the spring.

A.M. Degree  (updated 7/1/2015)

Graduate students who have completed two years of residence, who have fulfilled all the course requirements and language requirements for the Ph.D., and who have successfully defended one Generals paper, are eligible to petition for a Master’s (A.M.) degree.  

Note that there is no master’s program in Linguistics.                     

• Courses 2023-24 AND Fall 2024
• Undergraduate
• Generals Papers (updated 7/1/2015)
• Extra Funding
• Secondary Fields
• Recent Dissertation Titles
• Financial Aid

Course Descriptions

Full course descriptions, fall 2024 courses are subject to change, fall 2024 courses, fall 2024 course schedule, fall 2024 asl course schedule, spring 2024 courses, spring 2024 course schedule, fall 2023 courses, fall 2023 course schedule, american sign language (asl) at harvard.

• Skip to Content
• Skip to Main Navigation
• Skip to Search

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

The College of Arts & Sciences

• Department of Linguistics
• Student Portal

Ph.D. Degrees

Our ph.d. programs.

Ph.D. candidates have been completing their doctorates in our department every year since 1956. We offer a Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics with multiple concentrations.

Ph.D. in Linguistics

Doctoral students in Linguistics establish themselves as experts in specific areas of language investigation, building on coursework comprising the M.A. program. An unusual feature of Linguistics at Indiana University is the requirement of a substantive minor outside of the department, which establishes each student with a research relationship with faculty outside the department. Students commonly are on the ground-floor of creating cross-disciplinary research agenda, opening up new ways of looking at language.

Doctoral students develop research skills to open up investigation into an aspect of language. Since the doctoral program is one of the largest in the nation, our students are developing expertise in many different areas, ranging from acoustics to speech motor control, to logic and discourse representation, from how languages adapt words from other languages to how speakers adopt patterns to move across language groups, from grammatical theory to learning a second language.

Ph.D. in Linguistics with a Concentration in Computational Linguistics

Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which addresses the use of computers to process or produce human language. Linguistics contributes to this field an understanding of the special properties of language data, and also provides theories and descriptions of language structure and use. Computational linguistics is largely an applied discipline concerned with practical problems. Typical applications include: natural language processing, machine translation (translating from one language to another), speech synthesis, speech production, information retrieval (finding relevant documents or parts of documents in large collections of texts), cognitive modeling, and, in general, almost anything dealing with natural language interfaces.

Ph.D. in Linguistics with a Concentration in African Languages and Linguistics

Since our Linguistics department has a long history of research and teaching of languages from all over the continent of Africa, we offer a doctoral concentration specifically to support students who are developing expertise in linguistic inquiry into the languages of Africa. The program, though similar to the general Ph.D. program, requires engagement in offerings specifically targeting African linguistics, and is administered by our faculty who are leaders in the study of the languages of Africa.

Find more information about Ph.D. degrees in our Student Portal

Professionalization

As part of our graduate program, we offer professionalization workshops every 3-4 weeks. To quickly develop a sense of professional opportunities in our field, incoming students are strongly encouraged to attend. These workshops introduce you to a range of extracurricular topics, including:

• What it means to be a professional linguist
• Conferences
• Publications
• Grants and funding
• Job-seeking
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols

Learn more about career preparation

All Ph.D. students are required to engage in research, and master’s students are encouraged to do the same. This work is often facilitated by research groups and labs.

Student spotlight: Jeremy Coburn

Fieldwork with the Hadza: At Home and Abroad

In order to mitigate the difficulties (and expense) of frequently traveling to northern Tanzania to study the language of the  Hadza , Jeremy collaborated with the Hadza community to develop a community-based remote fieldwork methodology.

Learn more about Jeremy's fieldwork

Interested in applying to IU's Department of Linguistics?

Learn how to apply

• Faculty + Staff Intranet

Department of Linguistics social media channels

• College of Arts & Sciences

• Linguistics B.A.
• Linguistics & Anthropology B.A.
• Computational Linguistics B.S.
• Computational Linguistics B.S. & M.S.
• Minor in Linguistics
• Minor in Computational Linguistics
• Honors Thesis Guidelines
• Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Program
• Master's Degrees
• Qualifying Exams
• Ph.D. Minors
• IU Linguistics Club

Navigation auf uzh.ch

Department of Computational Linguistics

Quicklinks und sprachwechsel, main navigation.

Ordinance on obtaining a doctoral degree 2019 (PromVO 2019)

The ordinance on obtaining a doctoral degree from 1 October 2018 (PromVO 2019) replaces the ordinance from 8 July 2009.

PhD students who started their doctorate before this date can either transfer to the new ordinance or finish their doctorate according to the old ordinance from 2009 (see below) until 31 July 2023.

More Information on obtaining a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Arts: Doctorate and Graduate School

For organisational and administrative questions regarding your PhD at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, please contact our PhD coordinator Sascha Völlmin .

International students: Please have a look at the International Scholars Center .

For subject-matter related questions, please contact your supervisory committee / professor. 

A list with open, assigned and completed dissertation and habilitation projects can be found here .

There are no doctoral scholarships or graduate programmes at the University of Zurich. Doctoral students must, therefore, provide their own funding

• Employees of the University of Zurich can apply for a scholarship for their dissertation project with the Research Fund of the University of Zurich.
• In some cases, there may also be employment opportunities for ongoing or new projects of the department.
• Various foundations provide goal-orientated dissertation grants.

As a general rule for a PhD study, four to five years of full-time work is estimated. If the doctorate studies follow-on from a completed master's or another graduate project, three to four years may be sufficient. 

In cases where external full-time or part-time employment is undertaken, especially if this employment is not closely related to the dissertation project or outside the university, the duration of a PhD will be accordingly prolonged. In such cases the chances of successful completion of the dissertation are also dramatically reduced.

If you are interested in pursuing a PhD programme at the University of Zurich, please take a moment to inform yourself on this  website  about the general requirements and prerequisites for a doctoral programme at the University of Zurich.

Below you will find additional and subject-specific provisions for the two possible types of doctoral programmes.

Prerequisites

Doctoral studies in 'Computational Linguistics' or 'Computational Linguistics and Language Technology' may be accepted, if:

• they have obtained a Master’s degree diploma from a state-accredited university.
• they have obtained a binding consent of two professors to supervise your PhD.

There is no general entitlement to be admitted to the program, even if all requirements are fulfilled.

Supervisors may also specify additional requirements which doctoral students have to fulfill during their degree.

Candidates which require a student visa must be able to prove to the immigration authorities of Switzerland (with bank statements, etc.) that they able to financially support themselves for the duration of the doctoral studies, usually at least 4 years. As the cost of living in Zurich is relatively high, a minimum of 36,000 Swiss Francs per year is recommended.

Academic Achievements and Examinations

• For the successful completion at the general doctoral level, modules amounting to 12 ECTS credit points must be completed.  Please see below for rules regarding the acquisition of ECTS credits.
• The dissertation is to be written in the form of a monograph. A cumulative dissertation is possible in agreement with the supervisor.
• The doctoral examination consists of a colloquium in the field of the dissertation and lasts 60-90 minutes. The doctoral colloquium is open to all members of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Earning ECTS Credit Points

All doctoral modules of the UZH can be credited according to the Course Catalogue . Furthermore, it is generally possible to credit any MA module to the doctorate.

In addition to the UZH modules, the following can be credited:

• Transferable Skills
• Language courses of the Language Center (are also considered as Transferable Skills ). However, the languages cannot be German, English, or language(s) of the dissertation.

External creditable events are:

• Summer/Winter Schools
• Courses/Workshops
• external Transferable Skills (university courses)

In most cases, a certificate of attendance or a transcript from another university is required.

There is no minimum or maximum number of Transferable Skills , however, there is minimum of subject-specific ECTS credits (8 ECTS) to be earned.

Regulations

The regulations for the doctoral degree can be found here .

Weiterführende Informationen

Information on obtaining a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Arts: Doctorate and Graduate School , PhD coordinator Sascha Völlmin

Student Consultation

For questions that are not answered in the guidelines and study regulations , read the FAQ first. Please also consult the site Student Services of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

If a question remains unanswered, please contact the Student Advisor for Computational Linguistics .

International students

Information for International students: International Scholars Center

For detailed information on what you need to take into account upon relocating to Switzerland, please refer to  Before and After Arrival .

Download guidelines and other important documents here .

CL Mailing List

Information (important announcements, excursions, courses, vacancies for tutors, job offers) is distributed to our students via our mailing list .  

We collect web-based demos of different applications. Try out what language technology systems can do!

CL@UZH Instagram

Bereichs-navigation, unterseiten von doctorate.

• To prospective PhD students
• Text Technology Colloquium
• Phonetics Colloquium

Graduate Program

The graduate program in Linguistics at Berkeley combines mentoring from faculty members in the department, coursework, research training, and professional development opportunities.

Faculty expertise in the department spans an unusually diverse range of endeavors. The graduate program accordingly includes a broad range of advanced seminars, along with coursework focusing on analyzing linguistic structure (e.g. syntax, semantics, phonology, phonetics), language ecologies (language variation and change, language and cognition), and methods (including field methods, archival research, experimental and corpus-based analyses, and computational modeling).

Graduate students have published their research in numerous journals, including Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Glossa , Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America , Language Documentation & Conservation , Linguistic Inquiry , and Phonology ; and regularly present their work at conferences, including the Annual Meeting on Phonology , the Manchester Phonology Meeting , New Ways of Analyzing Variation , the Cognitive Science Society Conference , the CUNY Conference on Sentence Processing , LabPhon , the Acoustical Society of America Meeting , the Linguistics Society of America ,  NELS , Sinn und Bedeutung , the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas , among others.

Graduate students actively participate in working groups, reading groups, and other activities, including Fieldwork Forum, Phorum, Syntax & Semantics Circle, and TABLE .  These groups contribute to the strength of the program as hubs of intellectual exchange, professional networking, and community building.

Graduate students in the Linguistics department are eligible to apply to two Graduate Designated Emphases : the Designated Emphasis in Indigenous Language Revitalization , and the  Designated Emphasis in Cognitive Science .

Our graduates build exciting careers in research labs, for-profit businesses, non-profits, government agencies, and higher education, among others.

Detailed description

The particulars of this program, describing the exact course requirements, details about the exams and required research papers are available in the  Linguistics Graduate Program description  (updated 2023). This document changes from time to time. Get previous versions of the program description for 2022 ,  2020 ,  2019 ,  2018 , and 2017 .

The UCLA Linguistics Department’s normal business hours are M-F 8am-12pm, 1-4pm. Office schedule and availability may change based on UCLA protocol ( www.covid-19.ucla.edu). Masks are optional but strongly recommended indoors. All UCLA affiliates and visitors must self-screen for symptoms before coming to campus.

The Department of Linguistics

• The Graduate Program

Graduate Student Support

Courses and degree requirements.

• Getting in touch with us

UCLA’s Linguistics Department began as an interdepartmental graduate M.A. program in 1960; a Ph.D. program was introduced in 1962, and a B.A. program in 1965. The department was established in 1966, and has flourished ever since.

At the undergraduate level , the department currently administers twelve majors: Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Linguistics and Anthropology, Linguistics and Asian Languages and Cultures, Linguistics and Computer Science, Linguistics and English, Linguistics and French, Linguistics and Italian, Linguistics and Philosophy, Linguistics and Psychology, Linguistics and Scandinavian Languages, and Linguistics and Spanish. The department also offers a linguistics minor and a Specialization in Computing.

At the graduate level , the department offers M.A. and Ph.D. degree programs in Linguistics, and its faculty participate in interdepartmental Ph.D. programs in  Biomedical Engineering , American Indian Studies , Asia Insititute and African Studies . Our faculty and graduate program are internationally acclaimed, and we attract some of the best and brightest graduate students from this country and abroad, with a current graduate student population of between 40 students from ten countries.

The goal of the UCLA Linguistics Department’s program is to provide a basic education in the nature of human language and linguistic theory for undergraduates, and to train graduate students as university teachers and as researchers in the major areas of linguistics.

Theoretical Orientation

The department has a strong theoretical orientation committed to research in formal linguistic theory, addressing questions in the fields of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, and at the interfaces of these fields with the fields of psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, mathematical linguistics, historical linguistics, and the linguistic study of particular language areas (especially African languages and American Indian languages). A number of factors distinguish the UCLA linguistics department from other departments with similar emphases.

Linguistics as an empirical science uses cross-linguistic evidence to develop and test theories of human language. In keeping with this goal, the UCLA program is committed to training its graduate students to analyze primary data in the Field Methods sequence, in which the students work with a native speaker consultant of a little-studied language. Substantial opportunities to develop fieldwork skills and to test theoretical ideas against novel data are provided, along with department funding for native speaker consultants. Several of the faculty have long experience in fieldwork and provide practical guidance to students embarking on their own field study. Los Angeles is probably the most linguistically diverse city in the United States, thus providing a living laboratory for field work research.

Graduate Student Career Development

The UCLA Linguistics Department emphasizes the development of professional skills among its graduate students, particularly in presenting their own research at conferences and for publication. The present department budget offers travel funding for students to present papers whose work has been accepted for presentation at regional, national, and international conferences. The department also offers some funding to its graduate students to pay for native speaker consultants, experimental subjects, and other research expenses.

The Linguistics Department undertakes to provide support packages for all the students that it admits, with a support commitment five years, subject to maintenance of satisfactory academic standing. All support packages include the cost of tuition, fees, and a salary or living stipend; consult the department for current stipend levels. Almost all support packages involve a mixture of fellowship, Research Apprenticeship (RA), and Teaching Apprenticeship (TA) positions, spread out over the five year period.

We admit only as many students as can be supported. Prospective applicants should apply for an extramural fellowship (such as a Mellon Fellowship , Jacob K. Javits Fellowship , or National Science Foundation Fellowships (NSF) ; or an equivalent type of fellowship from another country, such as the Canadian SSHRC  fellowship) where possible. Prospective applicants who have been granted such fellowships generally have an excellent chance of admission.

Available financial awards vary from year to year. The following outlines the principal sources:

Fellowships

UCLA Fellowships – Pauley Fellowships, Cota-Robles Fellowships, and Departmental Fellowships are combined with a mixture of TA and RA appointments to make up the full support package. All students who have been advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. are also eligible to apply for Dissertation-year Fellowships for their fifth year; these are awarded on a competitive (university-wide) basis. In recent years UCLA Linguistics graduate students have had considerable success in winning these fellowships.

National Resource Fellowships (Title VI) –for language and area studies: e.g. Africa, the Near East, Latin America, East Asia. Applications are selected by the relevant area studies centers and the department. (For information see the admissions packet.) Title VI fellowships require students to enroll for one 4-unit course per quarter in the relevant language area and include a stipend which is supplemented by additional departmental support (RAship, TAship, etc.) to bring them up to the general annual support level.

Teaching Apprenticeships

These are awarded to students on the basis of admissions fellowship commitments, timely progress in graduate work, student specialization, and need. They are normally available only to students in the second year of graduate study and beyond.

Upper Division Undergraduate Courses , some of which may be taken by students to make up deficiencies, include courses in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, syntactic typology and universals, language change, child language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and language disorders.

Graduate Courses   cover every major area of linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, morphology, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, field methods, historical linguistics, and language areas and language structures.

Proseminars  are advanced graduate special-topics courses in the areas mentioned above. Most faculty offer proseminar courses in their area approximately once per year, often on the topic of their current research.

Area Seminars are informal talk series, meeting once per week, in which faculty and students present their current research to colleagues for comment and discussion. Currently, there are active area seminars in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, psycholinguistics, and Native American languages.

Additional courses in various topics, including thesis preparation, college teaching practicum and practical phonetics, are also regularly offered.

Degree Requirements

Although the department offers both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, each with its own set of requirements, completion of the M.A. degree is normally just a milestone towards the completion of the Ph.D. requirements. We normally admit students to the graduate program only if they have the Ph.D. as their ultimate degree objective, and new graduate students are normally admitted directly into the Ph.D. program, regardless of whether they have already completed an M.A. elsewhere.

Furthermore, all students, including those who already have an M.A. degree, are normally expected to complete all of the M.A. degree requirements at UCLA, as part of the normal progress toward the Ph.D. The M.A. requirements include six obligatory core courses, three additional courses selected by the student from a list of survey courses covering various areas of the field, and completion of an M.A. thesis or M.A. paper (an original work of research of approximately 50 double-spaced pages). Students who choose to withdraw from the program and who wish to receive a terminal M.A. degree may elect to undergo a comprehensive oral exam instead of completing an M.A. paper.

The Ph.D. requirements involve taking a few additional courses, including our two-quarter sequence in Field Methods and various seminar and proseminar courses selected by the student. Other requirements include delivering a department colloquium , and completion of the Ph.D. dissertation.

Typical Progress

Most of our students take about five years to complete the full graduate program. Of course, students’ backgrounds and work patterns are diverse; some take less time and others take more.

Since the normal course load for graduate students is three courses per quarter, it is usually possible for students to complete all or most of the M.A. course requirements within the first year of the program. Students who enter the program with deficiencies in certain areas may need to take longer to satisfy the M.A. course requirements, since they may have to enroll in certain upper-division undergraduate courses during their first year.

All students must have completed the M.A. paper and all other M.A. requirements by the end of the spring quarter of the second year. Third-year students are encouraged to explore the field, take advanced seminars, prepare original research for publication or presentation at conferences, etc.

By the end of the third year, students should have a good idea of the area they plan to concentrate on for their dissertation, and they should have a Ph.D. committee assembled before the end of the spring quarter. Fourth years students should be advanced to candidacy before the end of the fall quarter; this entails the completion of all Ph.D. requirements other than the dissertation, including defense of a prospectus of their dissertation in an oral exam conducted by their committee.

The last two quarters of the fourth year, as well as the entire fifth year, is devoted to the completion of the dissertation and job-market activities.

More details about the graduate sequence can be found here .

Click on the links below for descriptions of department research facilities.

• Language Acquisition Lab
• Language Processing Laboratory
• Phonetics Laboratory
• Psycholinguistics Lab

We have a conference room on the second floor (2122) and a lounge on the third floor (3103C). Each floor has its own seminar room (the Syntax/Semantics Seminar Room in 3103D, the Phonetics Lab in 2101K).

Other resources

The strong research culture of the UCLA Linguistics Department is supported in many tangible ways by the department and by the university:

• Free statistics consulting on campus
• Free poster printer
• Experimental subject pool
• Phonetics Lab staff engineer
• Weekly research group seminar meetings
• Access to undergraduate RAs
• Access to laboratory facilities
• Staff assistance with IRB applications

and specifically for grad students:

• Funding for subjects/consultants
• Ladefoged Scholarship (research support for grad students)
• Funding for conference travel
• Experimental methods courses offered in both phonetics and psycholinguistics
• A Professional Development course (Ling. 444)

In addition, the Linguistics Department maintains a  department library , and provides office space to its graduate students.

The library system at UCLA, with over nine million volumes and extensive online offerings, is ranked in the top ten university libraries in the United States, and has strong collections in linguistics and language description.

Getting In Touch With Us

For information about applying to our graduate program, please visit our Graduate Admissions Information page.

• Department Overview
• Job Opportunties
• Graduate Students
• Ph.D. Recipients
• Faculty Office Hours
• TA Office Hours
• In Memoriam
• What is Linguistics?
• Prospective Students
• Majors and Minor
• Opportunities
• American Sign Language
• Bruin Linguists Society
• Student Resources
• For Prospective Students
• For Current Students
• Course Schedule
• Undergraduate Courses
• Current Proseminars
• Archive of past proseminars
• Summer Courses
• Course Technology Requirements
• Overview of Research
• UCLA Working Papers
• Psycholinguistics Laboratory
• Digital and other research resources
• Visiting Scholar Requirements
• Room Reservation Request
• Key Loan Request
• General Information for Students
• For Department Members

Quick links

• Directories
• Make a Gift

Ph.D. in Linguistics

Ph.d. in linguistics (general linguistics track) .

Note that the required courses and language requirement differ between the curriculum instituted Sept. 2018 and the prior curriculum. All other requirements are the same.

1A. Required courses (30 credits): Curriculum instituted Sept. 2018 

One graduate-level course in each of the following sub-disciplines:

• Syntax: LING 507 “Syntactic Theory I”
• Sociolinguistics: LING 532 “Sociolinguistics I”
• Language Processing and Development: LING 541 or 542 (“Language Processing and development I or II”)
• Phonology LING 552 (“Phonology II”)
• Phonetics LING 550 (“Introduction to Linguistic Phonetics”)
• Semantics LING 479 or 579 ("Semantic Theory I or II")

1B. Required courses (35 credits): Prior to Sept. 2018 

• LING 507 ("Syntax I")
• LING 508 ("Syntax II")
• LING 532 ("Sociolinguistics I")
• LING 551 ("Phonology I")
• LING 552 ("Phonology II")
• LING 550 or 553 ("Phonetics I or II")
• LING 578 or 579 ("Semantics I or II")

If a student has taken an equivalent course elsewhere, the requirement to take this course can be waived. The waiver needs to approved by the faculty in the relevant area and the GPC. Such waivers do not change the total number of credits required by the Graduate School for graduation.

2. Credits of study:

Additional courses for a minimum of 90 credits (27 of which are LING 800) to be determined by specialization and consultation with the advisory committee.

3A. Language knowledge requirement: Curriculum instituted Sept. 2018

General Linguistics Track students must satisfy one natural language requirement for the PhD. The choice of the language needs to be approved by the student’s advisory committee. The language requirement may be satisfied in one of the following three ways:

• One year of study at the university or community college level. Students who are language instructors in other UW departments can use their language teaching experience to satisfy one language requirement.
• A major research project that involves significant primary data collection that includes substantial structural analysis and results in a major paper such as a generals paper.

3B. Language knowledge requirement: Prior to   Sept. 2018

General Linguistics Track students must satisfy two natural language requirements for the PhD. Those may be satisfied in the following ways:

• Translation exam to demonstrate the ability to read linguistic literature in a foreign language; only one of the two language requirements for the PhD can be satisfied through the translation exam.

4. Colloquium conference talks:

Two papers delivered at a colloquium or conference.

5. Constitution of PhD committee:

By the end of the second year of study.

6. Generals Papers:

Two generals papers in different areas (normally 10cr LING 600). What counts as a different area is determined and needs to be approved by the student's committee.

7. General Examination:

An oral examination, in which the candidate is questioned on the two papers. The oral examination may not be scheduled until the committee has read the two papers and approved them as passing.

8. Dissertation Prospectus:

Within 6 months of the oral examination, the student will present a formal dissertation proposal to the subset of PhD committee members who constitute the reading committee, along with a proposed calendar for completion of the dissertation.

9. Final Exam:

A Final Exam on the dissertation attended by the candidate’s Supervisory Committee and open to others interested.

10. Dissertation:

A dissertation suitable for publication.

11. ABD (all but dissertation) requirement:

All degree requirements except for the dissertation and the two colloquia must be completed before the General Exam.

Ph.D. in Linguistics (Computational Linguistics Track)

The requirements for students on the computational linguistics track will meet all the same requirements as students in other specializations except :

1. Required courses:

• 2 syntax courses from among: LING 566, 507, 508
• 2 phonetics/phonology courses from among: LING 550, 551, 552, 553
• 1 semantics course from among: 578, 579
• 1 sociolinguistics course from among: LING 532, 533
• 3 Computational Linguistics courses from among: 567, 570, 571, 572, 573

3. Language knowledge requirement:

Students in Computational Linguistics must fulfill only one language requirement, but may not use a translation exam to do so. The language must be typologically substantially distinct from the student's native language; for example, a native English-speaking student would need to select a non-Indo-European language. Please refer to Language Requirements for details.

6. Generals papers:

Same as for the General Linguistics program except a Master’s thesis completed as part of the CLMS program may count as one of the two generals papers.

How to make the CLMS to PhD transition

M.A. in Linguistics

The M.A. is not required as a prerequisite to Ph.D. study.  Students enrolled in the PhD program may get an MA degree when they pass the general exam and file a request for an MA degree with the graduate school.  Students who have taken all the required courses for the PhD CompLing track may analogously file a request for an MS degree with the Graduate School, under either model A or B below. Students who would like to get an MS degree have to get their advisor's approval before filing an official request with the Graduate School.

A. Non-thesis model:

The Generals papers and Exam constitute the capstone project necessary for a master’s degree (or the student may complete the thesis model below).

B. Thesis model: 

• Required courses: Same as the required courses in PhD General Linguistics Track. 
• Language requirement: Same as the language requirement in PhD General Linguistics Track. 
• Thesis:  A thesis, written under the supervision of a Linguistics faculty member, and accepted by a second faculty reader. Normally the work is completed in 10 credits of LING 700.

Remarks on Graduate School Requirements

Students are advised to become familiar with Graduate School requirements, as well as those described on this website. If there are any questions, the student should contact the Graduate School, the Graduate Program Coordinator or the chair of the Supervisory Committee. Once admitted to the program, students should make it a regular practice to see the Graduate Program Coordinator about their progress at least once a year. All graduate students must be either registered or officially on leave. Failure to register or go on leave is interpreted as resignation from the Graduate School. Information on the Graduate School is available at http://www.grad.washington.edu . If you have any further questions or comments please contact us at [email protected]

•   Facebook
•   Twitter
•   Newsletter

University of Rochester

Search Rochester.edu

Popular Searches

Resources for

• Prospective students
• Current students
• Faculty and staff

School of Arts & Sciences

Department of Linguistics

• Graduate Program
• MS in Computational Linguistics

Master of Science in Computational Linguistics

The computational linguistics master's program at Rochester trains students to be conversant both in language analysis and computational techniques applied to natural language. The curriculum consists of courses in linguistics and computer science for a total of 32 credit hours.

Graduates from the computational linguistics program will be prepared for both further training at the PhD level in computer science and linguistics, as well as industry positions. A number companies such as Google, Amazon, Nuance, LexisNexis, and Oracle are searching for employees with advanced degrees in computational linguistics for positions ranging from speech recognition technology to improving translation systems to developing better models of language understanding.

The curriculum consists of courses in linguistics and computer science, in roughly a 50/50 mix, for a total of 32 credit hours. Four courses (16 credits) are required in linguistics and four courses (16 credits) in computer science. The degree also requires a culminating special written project on a topic relevant to the student's interest and in consultation with individual advisors.

This program’s coursework can typically be completed in three full-time semesters. A fourth semester is for students to prepare their program’s final assignment, project, or thesis.

Linguistics Courses

Prerequisite.

Students are required to have completed the following prerequisite course, or its equivalent.

• LING 110: Introduction to Linguistic Analysis

Track Courses

Within linguistics, students will work with an advisor to create a “track” for their coursework in one of three areas:

• Sound structure (LING 410, 427, 510)
• Grammatical structure (LING 420, 460, 461, 462, 520)
• Meaning (LING 425, 465, 466, 468, 525, 535)

Students will be encouraged to take LING 450 and LING 501 as it suits their programs.

At least one of the following:

• LING 410: Introduction to Language Sound Systems
• LING 420: Introduction to Grammatical Systems
• LING 425: Introduction to Semantic Analysis

Plus at least two from the following:

• LING 427: Topics in Phonetics and Phonology
• LING 450: Data Science for Linguistics
• LING 460: Syntactic Theory
• LING 461: Phrase Structure Grammar
• LING 462: Topics in Experimental Syntax
• LING 465: Formal Semantics
• LING 466: Pragmatics
• LING 468: Computational Semantics
• LING 481: Statistical Methods in Computational Linguistics
• LING 482: Deep Learning Methods in Computational Linguistics
• LING 501: Linguistics Graduate Proseminar
• LING 520: Syntax
• LING 525: Graduate Semantics
• LING 527: Topics in Phonetics and Phonology
• LING 535: Formal Pragmatics

Computer Science Courses

Prerequisites.

• CSC 171: The Science of Programming
• CSC 172: The Science of Data Structures
• CSC 173: Computation and Formal Systems
• MATH 150: Discrete Math
• MATH 165: Linear Algebra with Differential Equations 
• LING 424: Introduction to Computational Linguistics
• CSC 447: Natural Language Processing
• CSC 448: Statistical Speech and Language Processing

Plus at least two of the following:

• CSC 440: Data Mining
• CSC 442: Artificial Intelligence
• CSC 444: Logical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
• CSC 446: Machine Learning

Program Faculty

Linguistics:

• Ash Asudeh , Professor and Director of the Center for Language Science
• Scott Grimm , Department Chair and Associate Professor
• Aaron White , Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

Computer science:

• James Allen
• Ehsan Hoque
• Len Schubert

Linguistics

The Stanford University Department of Linguistics is a vibrant center of research and teaching, with a thriving undergraduate major and a top-ranked PhD program.

Our program emphasizes intellectual breadth, both disciplinary—integrating diverse theoretical linguistic perspectives with empirical investigation across languages—and interdisciplinary—drawing on perspectives from the other cognitive, computational, and social sciences, and the humanities.

Degree Programs

Research Areas

Grad Admissions

A Department Tradition: Annual hike in honor of Roman Jakobson’s birthday.

Recent News

Qp fest is next friday, tilly brooks selected as knight-hennessy scholar and edge fellow, hermosillo awarded dare fellowship, upcoming events.

• Construction of Meaning Workshop

An Unexpected Case of Indexical Shift in Marathi

Qp fest 2024: the 21th annual qp fest.

• Linguistics Colloquium

Linguistics Colloquium: Mia Gong, Title TBD

• Schools & departments

PhD Studentships in Computational Linguistics, Speech Technology and Cognitive Science

The Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation (ILCC) at the University of Edinburgh invites applications for three-year PhD studentships starting in September 2024. ILCC is dedicated to the pursuit of basic and applied research on computational approaches to language, communication and cognition.

Primary research areas

Primary research areas include:

• Natural language processing and computational linguistics
• Machine Translation
• Speech technology
• Dialogue, multimodal interaction, language and vision
• Computational Cognitive Science , including language and speech, decision-making, learning and generalization
• Social Media and Computational Social Science
• Human-Computer interaction, design informatics, assistive and  educational technology
• Information retrieval and visualization

Approximately 10 studentships from a variety of sources are available, covering both maintenance at the research council rate of GBP 19,162 (2024/25 rates) per year and tuition fees. Awards increase every year, typically with inflation.  Studentships are available for UK, EU, and non-EU nationals. 

Requirements

Applicants should have a strong undergradudate degree or equivalent in computer science, cognitive science, AI, or a related discipline.

For a list of academic staff at ILCC with research areas, and for a list of indicative PhD topics, please consult:

http://web.inf.ed.ac.uk/ilcc/people/academic-senior-research-staff

http://web.inf.ed.ac.uk/ilcc/study-with-us/possible-phd-topics-ilcc

How to apply

Details regarding the PhD programme and the application procedure can be found at:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/postgraduate/research-degrees/phd

There are TWO DEADLINES for applications to receive full consideration:

round 1: 24th November 2023

round 2: 26th January 2024

The link to the application portal is:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees/index.php?r=site/view&edition=2024&id=491 

We strongly recommend that non-UK applicants submit their applications in round 1, to maximise their chances of  funding. Please direct inquiries to the PhD admissions team via the link below.    

Contact the PhD admissions team

IIIT Hyderabad has announced suspension of the course work with immediate effect on 14th-March-2020 and has made it mandatory for all undergraduate students (first year to fourth year batches) and postgraduate students (MTech first and second year batches) doing only course work to return home by 18th-March-2020; research students (MS, PhD and Dual Degree students registered for thesis credits) can choose to stay and continue their research work. Institute will announce plans for finishing the Spring semester's coursework by 20th-March-2020.

PhD in Computational Linguistics

About the program.

PhD (CL) is a three to five year program which admits students from varying backgrounds, computer-science and non-computer science which includes science, humanities and social science.

There are two streams of students:

Stream 1 This stream consists of two sub-streams of students: Stream 1A: Students coming from Computer science / technology bacground Stream 1B: Students coming from Science/Maths/ECE background or equivalent

Stream 2 Students coming from Linguistics, humanities and social science background belong to this stream. If you wish you to apply through Stream 2, you have to apply via a Standing Committee portal which will be open  in  throughout the year.

The goal of the programme is to give a general high level breadth in the area of Computational Linguistics and its related disciplines, and to carry out original in-depth research work on a problem in Computational Linguistics.

Advantages (for the student)

Students can pursue their academic career as a faculty or researcher in India or abroad. They can also contribute in research and development activities in industry.

Three to six years

Stream 1 (Students coming from Computer Science/Science/Maths/ECE background or equivalent)

Eligibility:  B.E/B.Tech/M.E/M.Tech in CSE or ECE branches, M.Sc, MCA

Admission Process: Visit https://www.iiit.ac.in/admissions/pgee

Stream 2 (Students coming from Linguistics, humanities and social science bacground)

Eligibility: MA/Mphil in linguistics, langauges and other related areas. Sanskrit students or individuals with an aptitude in language analysis are encouraged to apply. Admission Process:   Standing committee portal will be open in  in  throughout the year.  

Breadth Courses for Stream 1

a.        Students from Computer Science background (any three)

1.       CL3.401 - Computational Morphology and Syntax

2.       CL3.402 - Computational Semantics and Discourse Processing

3.       CS1.304 - Data Structures and Algorithms for Problem Solving

4.       CS7.501 - Advanced Natural Language Processing

b.       Students from Science/Maths/ ECE background (all three)

1.          CL3.401 - Computational Morphology and Syntax

2.          CS0.301 - Computer Problem Solving

3.          CS7.401 – Introduction to Natural Language Processing

Breadth Courses for Stream 2

Students from Linguistics/Humanities/Social Science background (all three)

1.       CL4.401 - Mathematics (for CL)

2.       CL4.406 - Computer and Scripting I(H) and CL4.407 - Computer and Scripting II(H)

3.   CS7.401 – Introduction to Natural Language Processing

Depth Courses for both the streams

Three courses should be from level 400 and above. One project/Independent Study is allowed in place of a depth course. These courses should be advised/approved by the thesis advisor.

Click here  for Detailed Curriculum Document

Regulations:

https://www.iiit.ac.in/academics/programmes/phdreg

Admission procedure

Visit https://pgadmissions.iiit.ac.in/

http://ltrc.iiit.ac.in

https://www.iiit.ac.in/people/faculty

Research Centers

https://www.iiit.ac.in/research/centers

Page last updated on February, 2024

A Bachelor of Arts with a major in linguistics ensures that you receive the proper training and knowledge to have a successful career in the field of linguistics. The curriculum allows you to immerse yourself in the study of language and to understand its structure, use, design and application.

Degree requirements

The following requirements must be satisfied for a Bachelor of Arts with a major in linguistics and a concentration in computational linguistics. 

Hours required and general/college requirements

A minimum of 120 semester hours, of which 36 must be advanced, and fulfillment of degree requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree as specified by the University Core Curriculum    in the Academics section of this catalog and the College of Information requirements.

Major requirements, 42 hours

Required courses, 18 hours.

• LING 3070 - Introduction to Linguistics
• LING 3080 - Language and Society
• LING 4040 - Phonetics and Phonology: The Sound Patterns of Language
• LING 4055 - Syntax
• LING 4090 - Semantics and Pragmatics
• LING 4950 - Senior Capstone Field Experience and Methods

Computational linguistics, 9 hours

• LING 4130 - Discovering Language from Data
• LING 4135 - Python Programming for Text
• LING 4140 - Computational Linguistics

Plus 15 hours selected from

• LING 1020 - Speech for International Students
• LING 2040 - Endangered Languages
• LING 2050 - The Language of Now: Pop Culture, Technology and Society
• LING 2060 - Language and Computers
• LING 2070 - Language and Discrimination
• LING 3010 - African American English
• LING 3020 - Forensic Linguistics
• LING 3040 - The Politics of Language
• LING 3050 - Communication Across Species
• LING 3090 - Discourse Analysis: Talking and Telling
• LING 4010 - Language Variation
• LING 4050 - Morphology
• LING 4060 - Scientific Methods
• LING 4070 - History of the English Language
• LING 4100 - Poetics
• LING 4120 - Migration and Language Contact

Foreign language, 3-12 hours

Students must attain Intermediate II (2050) level (prerequisite for 2050 course is 2040; prerequisite for 2040 course is 1020; prerequisite for 1020 course is 1010).

Linguistics majors who would like to study cutting-edge practices and technologies managing linguistic data for computational and quantitative analysis may choose to minor in information science.

Hours required for electives may vary based on course selection and the University Core Curriculum requirements. Electives may be required to satisfy the advanced hour requirement (36) and/or the minimum total hours required for the degree. For specific information, see an academic advisor in the College of Information.

Other requirements

A minimum grade point average of 2.5 is required on all courses counted toward the major.

• BA Linguistics
• BA Speech Sciences
• Diploma in Linguistics
• Opportunities
• Beyond the BA
• Masters’ Programs
• PhD Program
• Theses & Dissertations
• Continuing Education
• Graduate Students
• In Memoriam
• Labs & Groups
• First Nations Languages
• Research Interest Registration
• Field Methods Class
• Publications
• Recurring Events
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Job Opportunities

2024 Alumni Q&A

May 8, 2014

Six recent undergrad and grad alumni tell us what they’re currently up to, what surprises them about their current work, what they’ve found valuable from their training as a UBC linguist, and what they miss most since leaving.  

Blake Allen (Ph.D. 2016)

Nowadays I’m a Director within the engineering organization at Yelp: my group handles consumer-facing UX feature development across phone and website platforms for the high-traffic screens like the home screen, search results, and business details pages. Apparently my work at UBC on digital language corpora (especially PCT with Kathleen) and the statistical/computational content from my dissertation work were enough to get my foot in Yelp’s door!

Blake Allen as David Bowie

This might sound cheesy, but it surprises me sometimes how much my grad school experience prepared me to be a manager in industry. I don’t get to directly do anything related to linguistics (unfortunately!) but all the formal systems thinking that goes into building linguistic theory was definitely a good framework to build on. And as a manager, 80% of what I do involves fostering better communication and collaboration, which I remember being so critical in grad school.

I really miss how connected UBC linguistics people were with lots of collaborators outside UBC! It was so exciting getting to meet someone from totally different universities when I was at conferences, and then kicking off unexpected collaborations. In industry, each company tends to only work within itself (or in very structured ways with specific partner companies) so I look back really fondly on this openness.

Lauren Denusik (B.A. Hon. Speech Sciences, Minor in Commerce, 2020)

I am in my fourth year of a five-year combined Masters/PhD program at Western University in London, Ontario. In December 2023, I completed all the requirements for my clinical Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology and started working part-time as a speech-language pathologist, while continuing to work on my doctoral research in Speech and Language Sciences. For my PhD, I am completing a variety of practice-based research projects focused on the role of SLPs supporting young autistic children and their families. I have been teaching a course in my department on Developmental Speech Disorders.

Lauren at SRCLD 2023

The best and also most surprising thing [about my current work] is the opportunities I have to integrate my clinical work and research. Having the opportunity to work directly with families and clinicians has helped guide new research projects and motivates me to continue my research, as I can see the need and impact it can have on families. Although it can be tiring to balance multiple demands, it is extremely rewarding.

What I miss the most is the community of students and faculty. Although UBC is a large school, the Linguistics department always felt like a small community … Also I miss Vancouver sushi daily.

Khia Johnson (Ph.D 2021)

Khia wearing RayBan Meta smart glasses

I’m currently working as a UX Research Scientist in the Reality Labs Research division at Meta.  I conduct lab and survey based studies to explore and evaluate novel audio technologies and experiences for smart glasses, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

I was initially surprised at just how much money companies will spend on user studies! Which is a lot, but perhaps still just a drop in the bucket for Meta-sized budgets. One of the challenges has been getting used to the faster pace, and learning to prioritize what I’m working on ruthlessly. But I love that I get to do impactful research that has a chance of reaching millions of consumers.

[What was valuable in my training?] Lots of things! Experimental design and statistics, but importantly, being able to tell a story and communicate my findings to people outside of my narrow discipline. I’m also in the unusual position of being able to use my speech perception and production subject matter expertise.

Paris Gappmayr  (B.A. Hon. Speech Sciences, 2020)

I’m currently a fourth -year PhD student at Boston University in the Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences program, studying the acquisition of American Sign Language (ASL). My dissertation will use eye-tracking technology to study how signers shift their visual attention between the face and hands during ASL perception. I’m particularly interested in whether gaze patterns differ between deaf vs. hearing signers and/or signers who acquired ASL early in their life vs. later.

Paris at ASHA 2023

The best thing about my current path is that I get to spend my time learning more about an understudied language and modality that I am deeply interested in exploring. I work in a signing lab, with many Deaf colleagues, so I have been immersed in ASL. […] The most surprising/challenging thing has been learning how much of the academic career path relies on un- or under-paid labour. At the time of writing, my grad-worker colleagues and I are on strike due to ongoing unfair labor practices, while we negotiate our first union contract. I have been surprised by how transparently administrations treat university institutions like corporations instead of places of education.

My undergraduate coursework prepared me incredibly well for my grad school classes, in areas from formal/theoretical linguistics to applied psychology. In addition to coursework, my experience of completing an Honours thesis in Speech Science—from conceptualizing a hypothesis, to writing the results—offered incredible preparation for my research in grad school.

Alexander Angsonga (Ph.D, 2023)

I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of African Studies (Linguistics & Literatures) at the University of Vienna, Austria. I currently teach two courses: Language Diversity, and Language and Politics in Africa. Here I am also part of an ongoing research project which focuses on standard orthographies and tone phenomena of Mabia (Gur) languages.

The best part [of my new job] has to be the opportunity to work in a new and completely different environment and share research ideas with new people. It has also been quite challenging, working in a new place where I basically know no one, but again I take it as a positive challenge because I feel like it will push me out of my comfort zone to blend with my new society.

Alex hard at work

My most valuable UBC training was in conducting independent research, benefiting from the patience, understanding and the professional attitude of my supervisors and instructors. The experience of working as a teaching assistant has also been so valuable in my current role. These were some of the most valuable aspects of my time at UBC Linguistics and now I am striving to replicate that experience with the students I teach.

What I miss most is the regular presence and support of my supervisors. Sometimes, we take for granted such things until we step into the next phase of our lives. The feeling of having someone to talk to, someone to advise and guide your research process is simply priceless! I also miss the random linguistic conversations I had with student colleagues in the department.

Yurika Aonuki (MA, 2021)

Yurika gives a talk

I’m a second year PhD student in linguistics at MIT. I’m still working on semantics in Gitksan (a huge thank you to the Gitksan Lab for their continuing support!) and Japanese. I’m currently thinking about degrees and conditionals.

The most valuable part of my UBC training was the emphasis on fieldwork and collaboration. I had the best training I could have ever asked for. I really miss the department community, including all the animal friends!

Recent News

Ife successfully defended her dissertation.

Grace Bengtson and Yadong Liu won best poster presentations

Jian Zhu receives Hampton Grant

Yale Linguistics

You are here

Yale represented at acal 55.

Yale faculty, undergraduate students, and graduate students recently presented their work on Loma, Akan, and Yorùbá at The 55th Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL 55), held at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) from May 2nd - 4th, 2024.

Natalie Weber (faculty) gave a talk “Lexical and prosodic conditioning of consonant lenition in Loma”. 

Jem Burch (undergraduate student) gave a talk “Trans-Lexical Uniformity in Inflectional Paradigms: Evidence from Loma”.

Isaiah Suchman  (undergraduate student) gave a talk “The “definite” is not a definite: The semantics of the Loma determiner”.

Comfort Ahenkorah (graduate student) gave a talk “The Split Number Analysis for Plural Morphology in Akan”, and a joint talk with Ka-Fai Yip “Two types of subject resumption in Akan”.

Ka-Fai Yip and Olabode Adedeji (graduate students) gave a joint talk “Exclusive focus particles in Yorùbá”.