Linguistics - Natural Language Processing

University
University of Groningen
City, country
Groningen, Netherlands
Duration
2 years
Fields of study
Language Studies, Languages, Humanities
Price
2695.00 EUR
Study language
English (ENG)
Degree
Master
Study start
2026-09-01
Deadline
2026-04-28
About the program
Entry qualification
Career opportunities

How do you build Large Language Models? How do humans experience Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications in their daily lives? And how can we design language technologies that are transparent, trustworthy, and capable of capturing nuance—whether it is subjective framing, subtle translation errors, or emerging forms of misinformation?

Natural Language Processing is at the core of today's digital world. Machine Translation supports multilingual communication, conversational agents and advanced search systems help us navigate information, and generative AI assists with tasks ranging from creative writing to data analysis. Research in NLP is essential for making these technologies more accurate, responsible, and aligned with human needs.

Our two-year Research Master in Natural Language Processing offers rigorous, interdisciplinary training that integrates Linguistics and Computer Science. You will gain strong technical skills in machine learning, language modelling, text processing, and computational semantics, together with a deep understanding of human language, linguistic theory, and experimental research methods. The programme prepares you to contribute to cutting-edge research in academia or industry, and to critically evaluate the social and ethical impact of NLP technologies.

Entry qualification
  • ECTS transcript – If you are still completing your Bachelor’s degree, upload an ECTS transcript showing the subjects you have studied, your grades, and the number of credits awarded. Your Bachelor’s diploma must be uploaded later, as soon as you receive it.
  • Bachelor’s diploma – If you have already graduated, upload your Bachelor’s diploma. A separate ECTS transcript is not required.

Note: Your Bachelor’s degree must be in the same or a related field as the Master’s programme you are applying for. The university will check whether you have completed enough relevant subjects and ECTS credits.

 

Important! View the full requirements on the university’s official website. Requirements may vary depending where you completed your bachelor education.

 

English language requirements

Applicants have to prove their English language skills either by an internationally recognized language test or upon previous studies. Usually English language skills can be proved by the following documents: 

  • TOEFL iBT*
  • IELTS Academic
  • A Cambridge English qualification
  • Higher education degree completed in English
  • Secondary education completed in English in a country or school qualification accepted by the university
  • An English subject and grade on your secondary school leaving certificate that meet the university’s requirements
  • Other

Important: Accepted methods and minimum results depend on study programme and the country where you completed your education. Check the official requirements for your chosen study programme.

 

*Use the Kastu promo code LTU1000102 when registering for TOEFL iBT and receive a 5% discount.

 

Important requirements

Prospective students with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics or another relevant Bachelor's degree 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
Other requirements
  • Reference letter: Names and contact of two referees;
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Motivation letter 
Job prospects

After graduation, you are well prepared for a career in Information Technology. You can work on subjects such as machine translation, knowledge and data engineering, expert in Large Language Models and Explainable AI, human-computer dialogue systems, machine learning engineer, computational linguist, among others.

You can also continue your career in research, for instance as a PhD student at a university.

Job examples
  • Language engineer
  • Data Analyst/ Data Scientist
  • Software engineer
  • Data Manager
  • Knowledge engineer
  • Computational Linguist
  • Data Linguist