Program Overview

Introduction to the Master's Programme in Natural Language Processing

The University of Groningen offers a prestigious Master's programme in Natural Language Processing (NLP), which combines Linguistics and Computer Science to study human language technologies in a multilingual setting. This international Double Degree track is part of the Erasmus Mundus programme, allowing students to spend the first year in Groningen and the second year at one of the partner universities.

Programme Overview

• The programme is a research master, focusing on the theoretical and practical aspects of NLP.
• It is a 24-month programme (120 EC) with a Croho code of 60817.
• The language of instruction is English.
• The programme is offered by the Faculty of Arts.

Why Study this Programme in Groningen?

• Unique combination of theoretical linguistics and computer-science research in a multilingual setting.
• Rapidly evolving area of study with excellent career opportunities, both in industry and academia.
• Erasmus Mundus Master's Programme.

Programme Structure

Year 1

• Advanced Topics in NLP
• Advanced Machine Learning (FSE) (5 EC)
• Language Models and Applications (10 EC)
• Linguistic Analysis (10 EC)
• Societal Aspect of NLP (5 EC)
• Advanced Topics in NLP (5 EC)
• Corpus Linguistics (5 EC)
• Language Brain and Cognition (10 EC)
• Research Training (5 EC)
• Language Technology Project (5 EC)

Year 2

• Semantic Web Technology (5 EC)
• Research Seminar (5 EC)
• Research Training (or Internship) (10 EC)
• Deep Learning (FSE) (5 EC, optional)
• LOT Winter / Summer School (5 EC, optional)
• Thesis

Programme Options

• Master's placement (specialization) for 10 ECTS credit points.

Study Abroad

• Study abroad is required, with the second year spent at one of the partner universities.

Entry Requirements

• Dutch diploma or international diploma.
• Prospective students with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics or another Bachelor's degree with a substantial linguistics component are admissible to this master's track.
• Examples of these types of Bachelor's programmes are:
  • Computer Science
  • (Computational) Linguistics
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Digital Humanities
  • Language Technologies
  • Cognitive Science
  • Mathematics, or relevant disciplines

Admission Requirements

• Excellent academic record.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV).
• Additional English language requirement: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 100 (with a minimum score for speaking and writing of 25 (each)), or an IELTS score of 7 (with a minimum of 6.5 on all items).
• Two personal letters of recommendation from staff members who can comment on the students' affinity with and capacities for research.
• A letter outlining the prospective student's motivation for selecting the programme and Research Master's track, including their expectations and interests.

Transfer Options

• Transferring from other research universities is possible, with additional requirements.

Registration Procedure

• The application deadline for both EU and non-EU students is 28 February 2025, for a start date of 1 September 2025.
• It's not possible to start in February.

Tuition Fees

• EU-students: 4250 € per year.
• Non-EU students: 8500 € per year.

After Your Studies

• Job prospects: After graduation, you are well prepared for a career in Information Technology, with possible roles including:
  • Data Linguist
  • Computational Linguist
  • Knowledge engineer
  • Data Manager
  • Software engineer
  • Data Analyst/ Data Scientist
  • Language engineer
• You can also continue your career in research, for instance as a PhD student at a university.

Research

• The EM LCT courses are predominantly taught by researchers from the computational linguistics group of the Centre for Language and Cognition.
• The group specializes in automatic syntactic analysis, automatic semantic interpretation, machine translation, and authorship studies.

Student Testimonials

• Anna Smirnova: "I gained a lot of experience and confidence in designing and implementing my own research projects."
• Maria Francis: "The NLP Master’s programme provided me with a strong foundation in both research and practical skills, making me well-prepared for both industry and academia."
• Sara Nabhani: "This Master's programme played a major role in preparing me for a PhD, giving me the research foundation, technical expertise, and professional connections that made the transition into academia seamless."