Graduate School Empirical and Applied Linguistics
Start: winter or summer semester
Application deadline is on May 30 for winter semester and on November 30 for summer semester.
Duration: 6 semesters, 12 semesters in part-time
Languages
of instruction: German and English [more on this here]
Degree: Dr. phil.
Tuition fees: none
The Graduate School Empirical and Applied Linguistics offers promising young researchers an interdisciplinary PhD. program with a focus on linguistics. Professors from the following broad range of subjects are participating, thus ensuring multidisciplinary collaboration.
- General Linguistics (Typology, Language Documentation and Description, Theoretical Linguistics)
- Second Language Acquisition/Applied Linguistics
- German Linguistics
- English Philology
- Romance Linguistics (French)
- Romance Linguistics (Italian)
- Romance Linguistics (Spanish)
- Dutch Philology
- Scandinavian Studies
- Slavic Studies
- Egyptology
- Coptology
- Arabic Languages and Islamic Studies
- Indo-European Studies
- Greek Philology
- Byzantine Studies
- Latin Philology
- Medieval and Modern Latin Philology
- Psychology (Psycholinguistics)
- Anthropology
The doctoral students in the PhD program Empirical and Applied Linguistics can write their dissertation on any linguistic subject area, including applied linguistics, second language acquisition and a linguistic topic within the framework of a specific philology. The student can choose whether to focus on a more theoretical or a more applied topic, provided that the dissertation has a solid empirical basis. The goal of the PhD. program is to ensure that the doctoral student is proficient in various methods of linguistic data collection and analysis and can therefore use these methods in a critical and reflected way.
All doctoral students will receive individual supervision from 2 faculty members. In order to enable a well supervised and efficiently completed PhD. program, a written supervision agreement, detailing the student's goals and a time-frame, will be drawn up before the doctoral student takes up her or his studies.
All doctoral students will meet on a regular basis in an informal type of colloquium called Werkstatt in order to discuss methodological and theoretical issues. They also have to attend the more formal Colloquium of the Doctoral Students where they have to report on progress in their dissertation research and preparation on three different occasions: 1) proposal defense, usually at the end of the first semester; 2) mid term review, usually towards the end of the third semester; 3) thesis defense at the end of the 5th semester.
In addition to these obligatory courses, the program comprises elements that can be tailored to meet each student's individual preferences and needs:
- an individually planned obligatory study program covering 10 ECTS-points
- an elective course from the element Teaching, Lecturing, Publishing, covering at least 8 ECTS-points.
- an elective course from the element Organization of Scientific Activities and Supplementary Studies, covering at least 12 ECTS-points.
Studying at the Graduate School thus involves the constant exchange of ideas with the other doctoral students and exposure to the everyday workings of scientific enquiry. Because of its flexibility, the program can accommodate each student's individual interests and plans for the future.
The
WestfälischeWilhelms-Universität Münster does not consist of a single
campus, but instead has its departments spread all over town, making
the university an integral part of the city. Because of the high
percentage of students (15%), living and studying (http://www.uni-muenster.de/leben/)
in Münster have strongly influenced each other. In 2004, Münster won
the LivCom-Award and was named The world's most livable city. Last but
not least, Münster is famous for the fact that the bicycles are the
main mode of transport. This greatly adds to its attractiveness for
students.
No tuition fees are charged for the Graduate School Empirical and Applied Linguistics.