Master in Linguistics
Utrecht, Netherlands
Master degree
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 21 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* Non-EU/EEA students (institutional fee) | Dutch and other EU/EEA students (statutory fee, full-time) 2026-2027: € 2.694
Language research
In this programme everything is geared towards doing actual research: from research that addresses fundamental properties of language to research that applies such fundamental knowledge to resolve practical problems and questions.
The programme offers mandatory courses covering advanced theoretical linguistics (socio-phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, discourse), psycholinguistics (acquisition, processing) and research practice (including computational and experimental methodology). Following the mandatory courses, you choose a series of elective courses in order to specialise in one area. Throughout the programme you will keep on acquiring professional language research skills. The second year is mostly devoted to designing, planning, and carrying out research projects during a team science task, your internship and your thesis work.
Why this programme in Utrecht?
International research environment
The Master is well embedded in the international research community of the Institute for Language Sciences external link. This creates many possibilities for internship and individual supervision, and makes it possible to use the excellent lab facilities external link of the Institute for Language Sciences (eye-tracking, Babylab). We work closely with other linguistic institutes in the Netherlands in the Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT).
Graduates of the programme are highly eligible to operate in the international field of linguistics research and to obtain PhD positions in the Netherlands or abroad. If you decide not to embark on an academic career, you are fully equipped to apply for junior positions where specialised knowledge, research abilities, and insight into the structure of language and its use are relevant. For example:
- a traineeship in the field of language technology (speech recognition, text-to-speech)
- an advisory position in first- and second-language teaching and policy making
- a teaching position in higher education
- a junior project research position in industry
- an assistant position in experimental and computational lab
Courses
Compulsory
- Methods of Language Sciences
- Foundations of Sound Patterns
- Language and its Structure: Syntax
- MA Rotation external link
- Research Skills Seminar
- Foundations of Language Acquisition
- Foundations of Language, Brain & Cognition
- Foundations of Meaning: Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
- LOT Winterschool
- LOT Summerschool
- Internship Linguistics
- Research Thesis Linguistics
Electives
- Topics in Morpho-Syntax
- Topics in Language and AI
- Topics in Language Acquisition
- Topics in Psycholinguistics
- Topics in Discourse and Language Use
- Team Language Science Project
- Experimentation in Psychology, Linguistics & AI
Bright Minds Fellowship
- Number of scholarships: approximately 10
- Available to: EU/EEA students (including Dutch students)
- Scholarship amount: €5,000 or €10,000
- Made possible by: Utrecht University alumni and the Utrecht University Fund
Utrecht Sylff Scholarships
- Eligible candidates: Outstanding University College Utrecht graduates, Outstanding Economics and Business Economics graduates (at Utrecht University)
- Amount of scholarship: At least 25,000 USD per year for non-EU students, but variable; At least 10,000 USD per year for EU students, but variable
- Number of scholarships: Approximately three
- Provided by: Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF)