Language use and linguistic data are essential in various disciplines today and in all areas of our digitalized society. It is widely recognized that society needs people who understand language as data, who can analyze linguistic data systematically. Master’s Degree Programme in Linguistic Data Sciences focuses on the interfaces between languages and digitalization in today’s world.
This Master’s degree programme, taught entirely in English, provides an opportunity to study language in today’s digitalized society from a variety of perspectives: sociolinguistics, language technology, and translation. The core of this programme consists of a set of courses in empirical linguistics (syntax, phonetics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, contact linguistics, translation studies, language technology) that offer various areas of specialization for the students. In addition, we cross disciplinary boundaries and collaborate with computer science as well as data sciences and statistics. This means that students are encouraged to choose from optional modules that be used to tailor the programme to suit individual needs. Many of the courses focus on text and speech data mining and big data analytics.
Key questions that students encounter in this programme include:
- How does digitalization change languages?
- What types of digital tools are used to study languages?
- What kinds of text and speech data mining tools are available today?
- How are these digital tools and resources used?
- What types of everyday applications and assistive technologies for special needs (i.e. synthetic speech, augmented translation) built on these tools exist?
- How can they benefit our daily life?
- How is language and its variation modelled quantitatively?
- How can geospatial modelling or multivariate analysis help modelling variability?
- What technological solutions are used in translation and multilingual communication today and what is their role in the future?
For instructions on how to apply and a direct link to the application form on Studyinfo, please scroll down. The application period is open until 22 January 2025.
Key information
- Level of degree: Master's degree
- Programme duration: 2 years / 120 ECTS credits
- Language of instruction: English
- Application period: 8.1.2025 - 22.1.2025
- Programme start: September 2025
- Tuition fee: EU/EEA nationals no tuition fee; non-EU/EEA nationals 10,000 €/academic year
- Tuition waivers available
- Study campus: Joensuu
Why study with us?
- This programme provides an opportunity to study language in today's digitalized society from a variety of perspectives.
- You are able to tailor the programme to suit your individual needs by choosing from optional packages.
Studies
The curriculum consists of
- Compulsory Introductory Courses (20 cp)
- Main Subject Studies (80 ECTS)
- Finnish Studies (4 ECTS)
- Elective Studies (16 ECTS)
Compulsory Introductory Courses (20 ECTS)
These courses contain a considerable selection of basic courses in Linguistics and Language Technology.
Main subject studies (80 ECTS)
Main subject studies include the MA Seminar (5 ECTS) and MA Thesis (30 ECTS) and a combination of compulsory and optional courses in Linguistics and Language Technology.
Finnish Studies (4 ECTS)
Finnish studies will introduce you to the Finnish language. You can complete 4 - 16 ECTS credits of Finnish.
Elective Studies (16 ECTS)
Elective studies include courses that serve to deepen students' expertise and/or promote to the topic of the Master's thesis. They can be chosen from the other sub-programme, from other international study programmes, or they can be general knowledge courses.
Elective studies may vary according to the students' academic or personal interests.
For more detailed information concerning the structure of the programme, please see the degree structure (academic year 2024-2025) in Peppi.
Join our webinar 22 November
We warmly welcome you to our webinar, where you get to learn more about our programme, the admission requirements and meet our staff and students.
How to apply?
Eligibility
A previous bachelor's degree corresponding to at least 3 years of full-time academic studies from an institution for higher education is required from all master's degree applicants. The degree must be awarded by an internationally recognized university.
In this degree programme, a recognized Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in the area of linguistics, language studies, or translation studies is required.
English proficiency
(1) Applicants who hold one of the following do not have to take an English language test
- Previous education or higher education completed in English in an EU/EEA country, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or Switzerland.
- A university degree completed in Finland with English as a major subject.
Online studies or studies completed on offshore campuses outside the accepted countries cannot be used to indicate language skills, even if the degree-awarding institution is in one of the accepted countries.
(2) All other applicants have to take one of the following language tests
- TOEFL iBT, overall score 100, min. 24 in writing
- IELTS (academic) overall score 7.0, min. 6.5 in writing
- PTE (academic), overall score 68, min 59 in writing
- C1 Advanced overall score C or 185, with min. 176 in writing
- C2 Proficiency overall score level C1 or 185, with min. 176 in writing
Language test certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued, and they have to be valid during the application period.
No other proofs of language proficiency are accepted and no exemptions are granted.
Application procedure
Applications are submitted through the national Studyinfo portal (studyinfo.fi). The application period is 8 January 2025 8:00 –22 January 2025 15:00 (EEST). Once the online application has been filled out, required enclosures must be uploaded to the application by 29 January 2025 15:00 (EEST).
Should you have any questions about completing your application, please contact our admissions office, admissions@uef.fi, tel. +358294458990.
Required documents
1. Degree certificate(s). The degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, the name of the degree and the name of the degree holder.
2. Transcript of academic records. The transcript should include full titles and completion period of the units that the student has completed for the degree (or at the very least the overall study time at the institution), grades and credit points obtained together with information on the grading scale used at the institution at the time of study. The transcript must cover the full length of studies.
3. Certificate of English proficiency. For detailed information about submitting the language test reports, see here.
4. Copy of the identification page of passport or other ID.
5. Motivation letter. The letter should depict the applicant’s study plans and academic goals, future career plans and professional goals and their applicability carefully considering them in relation to the profile areas of the subject at UEF. They should also contain a clear description of the personal and/or academic motivation for applying for this particular programme.
During the application period, only scanned copies of original documents are required. If educational documents are issued in a language other than English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of them to one of these languages are required.
All documents are compulsory. Incomplete applications will not be processed.
If educational documents are issued in a language other than English, Finnish or Swedish, official translations of them to one of these languages are required.
Selection process
The admission process in the Master's Degree Programme in Linguistic Data Sciences aims at fair selection of high-quality applicants. Student selection is based on the application documents and evaluation of how the applicant’s skills and competences gained by the previous academic studies correspond to the Master's studies applied for. Meeting the minimum application requirements does not guarantee acceptance to the programme.
Applicants will be ranked according to the selection criteria. The best 20 applicants will be accepted to the programme and the rest of the applicants will be rejected. Applicants are not placed on the waiting list.
Ranking of applications
Applications will be graded using the following criteria:
- Academic performance (60%):
Suitability and content of the previous studies in the area of language studies, linguistics or translation studies, and applicant’s success in the previous studies: 0-5 points (0 = poor, 5 = excellent) - Motivation letter (40%):
Applicant’s own explanations about their motivation to apply for studies: 0-5 points (0 = poor, 5 = excellent)
The purpose of the motivation letter is to provide a fuller picture of the applicant’s previous studies and background, which enables the programme to assess the applicant’s suitability for the Linguistic Data Sciences programme.
Conditional acceptance
All accepted applicants need to provide officially certified copies of their degree certificate and transcript if they cannot authenticate their degree electronically when applying. Accepted applicants are conditionally accepted until they have provided certified copies of their educational documents. Country-specific requirements are in use in the situations when the applicant cannot provide the documents electronically. The due date when the documents need to be at the university is 30 May 2025. In case the applicants do not deliver the documents by the given deadline, their study right will be cancelled.
If you apply to UEF with a degree that is not finished during the application period, it is required that you deliver officially certified copies of the final degree certificate and the transcript of records to the programme coordinator by 31 July 2025.
Tuition fee
The annual tuition fee for non-EU/EEA students is 10,000 EUR. The fee is paid in two instalments of 5000 euros. There are no tuition fees for students who are citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland.
The best 70 % of admitted applicants (as ranked by the reviewers of the applications) receive a scholarship covering 50 % of the tuition fee. In addition, the highest ranked applicant will be completely exempted from paying the tuition fee.
Applicants subject to tuition fees can apply for tuition waivers and scholarships during the university application process by completing the relevant section on the application form.
Other fees
All degree students of the university are members of the Student Union. The Student Union membership fee is ca. 75 € per academic year. The membership entitles the student to, for example:
- reduced lunch prices at student cafeterias
- discounts on local buses and long-distance transportation
- discounts on many public services and free-time activities
All students also need to pay a healthcare fee, which entitles students to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service. The healthcare fee is ca. 35 € per semester.
Students should be able to cover all the other expenses related to their studying in Finland (500-800 €/month, depending on individual spending habits). The UEF does not offer selected students any additional funding or financial aid.
Application period 2025
Our application period is open from 8 January 2025 to 22 January 2025. The application is completed and submitted online.
Apply via Studyinfo
Studyinfo.fi is the official national admissions portal with all the up-to-date information about study programmes leading to a degree in Finland.
Student stories
Learn more about studying at the UEF, our university and its campuses, and life in Finland!
Contacts
Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you have any questions about our programme.
General information and admissions: lds@uef.fi