Graduate Degrees

(View the Complete Prospectus [PDF format])

UCL General Information
Phonetics & Linguistics at UCL
Scholarships
Part-time Students
Affiliate Studies and Postdoctoral Visitors
Academic Staff and their Research Interests

Taught Master's Degree Programmes PostGraduate Degrees:

Information for current students

University College London

The Graduate School
The aims of the UCL Graduate School are:


All UCL graduate students are members of the Graduate School, which provides a structure to support them. The Graduate School also connects UCL's wide range of disciplines, facilitating new programmes and interdisciplinary collaboration.

For more information about UCL and the Graduate School, visit the UCL website, or download the complete Graduate Prospectus (in PDF format).

Phonetics & Linguistics at UCL

Linguistics is the branch of the human sciences that deals with language ranging from acoustic and physiological studies of the speech sounds, through psychological and sociological studies, to the philosophy of language. All of these topics can be studied at graduate level at UCL. The central core of the work lies in theoretical and descriptive linguistics: the detailed study of the principles of organisation underlying human language. This includes phonetics (see below); phonology (how speech sounds are used in particular languages); syntax (sentence structure); semantics (meaning); pragmatics (how language is used in particular contexts); and the practical examination of the structures of particular languages, including English.

Phonetics is the study of how human beings pronounce languages, how the resultant speech signal is transmitted and how it is perceived, how this human ability may be analysed, described, symbolically represented and modelled, how it can be enhanced for foreign language learning, how sound production can be restored in people with speech and language disabilities, and sound perception improved in people with hearing difficulties, and how spoken language can be exploited in human-machine interaction.

The Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, which has consistently been rated as excellent for its research by the HEFCE, is pre-eminent in theoretical linguistics, especially in pragmatics (specifically Relevance Theory), syntactic and phonological theory, first language acquisition, articulatory phonetics, in speech and hearing sciences and in experimental phonetics.

The department has very active and long-established programmes of work in hearing, speech perception, production, analysis and synthesis. Projects are in progress in collaboration with several teaching hospitals, schools, and large industrial and academic research organisations in the UK and all over Europe.

For the research interests of members of staff visit the About Us pages.

History
Phonetics at UCL can be said to reach back to 1866, when Alexander Melville Bell gave lectures on speech; he was assisted by his son Alexander Graham Bell, then a student at the College, and later to find fame as the inventor of the telephone. Systematic teaching of phonetics started in 1907 with the appointment of Daniel Jones. He became the first professor of the subject in 1921, and by the time of his retirement in 1949 had created a thriving department with a worldwide reputation. As Head of Department he was succeeded by D. B. Fry. In 1953, UCL set up an interdisciplinary Communications Research Centre, which in 1965 was incorporated in a new Department of Linguistics headed by M. A. K. Halliday. The Department of Phonetics and Linguistics was formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of the existing Departments of Phonetics and General Linguistics under A. C. Gimson; he was succeeded as Head of Department by N. V. Smith (1983-90), J. C. Wells (1990-2000), and V. Hazan (from 2000).

Location
The department is accommodated on two sites. Linguistics and Theoretical Phonetics are located in two adjacent houses in Gordon Square, within the College precinct. Experimental Phonetics is housed in Wolfson House a few minutes' walk away.

Facilities
Libraries
UCL's library is a major research library in the sciences and arts located in the midst of one of the greatest concentrations of libraries in the world. The library contains over 1,700,000 volumes and about 15,000 volumes are added each year. Within walking distance of the main library are the University of London Library and the British Library - the latter houses the principal national collection of manuscripts, printed books and various special collections. In addition, there are the libraries of the other Colleges of the University of London, e.g. the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Computers
The department has extensive computer facilities, including a network of PCs available for student use.

Apart from the computers available within the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, students also have access to computers provided by the College. UCL has recently installed new computing facilities and a fast data communications network.

There are 'open access' rooms for students around the campus, each equipped with IBM-compatible PCs and workstations supported by the Computer Centre. These are all single-user systems with their own display screens, keyboards and processors linked via the network to a large filestore for the secure storage of users' programmes and data.

A wide range of software is available on the systems including packages for wordprocessing, electronic mail, graphics, databases, statistical analysis and several programming languages.

As part of their induction course, entrants to the UCL Graduate School will be given an introduction to the Computer Centre and its services.

Laboratories
The Department of Phonetics and Linguistics has perhaps the largest concentration of resources in the UK explicitly devoted to the combined fields of speech perception and production allied with psycho-acoustics. The department has a range of acoustic measurement equipment and speech analysis facilities, speech synthesizers and interactive speech perceptual test facilities, a separate anechoic room building and an ensemble of sound-insulated listening rooms and cubicles. The laboratory work is assisted by four members of staff dedicated to the computing and technical support of research and teaching.

Teaching Aims
In all our teaching, we aim to help students to develop the following:



Scholarships

Important: Please note that before applying for a UCL Scholarship you should apply for a place for graduate study at UCL. If you have not already applied to UCL, please complete a Graduate Application Form and return it to the College Admissions Office at least two weeks in advance of the scholarship application deadline of 15 May 2004.

Information about possible financial support can be found at www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/financial-matters, or in the UCL booklet entitled "Sources of Funding for Graduate Students", which can be obtained from the Admissions and General Enquiries Office, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.

A.C. Gimson Scholarships in Phonetics and Linguistics
Two scholarships of £1,000 are available for MPhil/PhD research in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics.

Departmental Awards for Graduate Students
Three awards of £500 are available for Master's and MPhil/PhD programmes in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics.
Deadline 15 May 2005.

Application Procedure
Applicants should write indicating their intention to compete for the bursaries to:

Ms Stefanie Anyadi
Department of Phonetics and Linguistics
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT

E-mail: s.anyadi@ling.ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7679 7172
Fax: +44 (0)20 7383 4108

Part-time Students

All graduate degrees in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, except the MSc in Speech and Hearing Science, can be pursued part-time. The department welcomes applications from students who wish to attend on a part-time basis.

Affiliate Studies and Postdoctoral Visitors

Affiliate Graduate Students Graduate students studying for a degree abroad or at other universities in the UK can attend courses in the department as affiliate graduate students.

Further information and an application form can be obtained from the International Office, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. The deadline for receipt of affiliate applications for September entry is 31 August, for January entry the deadline is 15 December.

Enquiries should be addressed to the Graduate Secretary, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.

Postdoctoral Visitors The department welcomes enquiries from postdoctoral visitors who wish to spend some time working in London on topics related to current staff interests. A charge is levied by the College on postdoctoral researchers and other academic visitors (to cover library costs and other expenses) except for those who are appointed as Honorary Research Associates.

Enquiries should be addressed to Dr V. Hazan, Head of Department, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.

For More Information

Download the complete Graduate Prospectus (in PDF format), visit the UCL Graduate School website, or contact the departmental secretary:

Ms Stefanie Anyadi
Department of Phonetics and Linguistics
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT

E-mail:
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7679 7172
Fax: +44 (0)20 7383 4108