Established pursuant to the Decree of the 7th November 2013, the Specialised Master’s Degree in Language Sciences aims to provide students with high-quality training to ensure mastery of language sciences in general as well as expertise in a particular sector. Besides a core curriculum, the programme includes various training routes, each structured around an option, either as preparation for research in a specific sector of language sciences, or for one of the various occupations in the field of language.
Obtaining a Specialised Master’s Degree in Language Sciences requires at least one year of study. The course can, however, be spread over a longer period.
The programme comprises a total of 60 credits distributed as follows:
Core curriculum: 30 credits
A thesis is part of the core curriculum. This is a scientific project characterised by the originality of the subject, the approach taken, the results, and the summarised report. It can have an observational, literary, experimental, or an R&D nature, and can raise exploratory or nomothetic issues from both a speculative and a clinical point of view. It meets the usual scientific criteria of the research domain.
The student submits information on the theme of their thesis and the name of the Director to the Secretariat of the Research Institute for Language Science and Technology by the 31st January after having receiving explicit approval from the Director. The Board responsible for assessing the thesis is composed of at least 3 members, including the Director and at least one member from one of the universities of the former Brussels Alliance for Research and Higher Education (AUWB) who is the primary Director.
The specific terms regarding the supervision and assessment of the thesis are set by the Board for the Master’s Degree in Language Sciences.
Optional module: 15 credits
Within the programme, the student chooses a specific theme, developed as part of an option, constituting a coherent set of specific learning activities worth 15 credits, which characterises their programme cycle.
For more information on each option, please refer to the programme.
Compulsory modules: 15 credits
The student is free to choose a set of subjects that account for 15 credits from a list of courses associated with their option, in compliance with the prerequisites outlined in the course description and provided that the courses chosen are not included in compulsory courses of the programme.
There are many career opportunites after the Master's. Depending on the chosen field of specialisation, many sectors are accisble, including speech-language therapy, education, business, culture, international relations, among many more. In addition, students who decide to take the scientific route are able to prepare for the PhD in this domain. Research in the field of language sciences covers a vast territory, enabling all students to discover crucial elements to their research.