Linguistics (research) (MA)

Career preparation

Our goal is to prepare you to make a difference in your future career.

Knowledge and skills

The development of in-depth knowledge in the field, and the ability to think critically and analytically are key goals of this programme. The research master in Linguistics will introduce you to the history, basic concepts, research methods, and recent developments in linguistics, including historical, descriptive, theoretical, experimental and corpus-based studies. You will learn to use linguistic concepts and approaches in researching and analysing data. Your thesis work will give you the opportunity to apply these methods in your own research.

We also provide opportunities for you to broaden your experience and professional skills in preparation to excel in a career inside as well as outside of academics.

Internships

During your studies you have the opportunity to gain experience studying, working, or conducting research at an organisation or institution. Some of our students choose to do an internship during their study. Internships are a great way to gain invaluable first-hand experience in your area of interest before you decide on making it a career.

In recent years, students from the Research Master have participated in internships at:

Meertens Instituut
Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
Koninklijke Brill NV
Nederlands Kanker Instituut
Huygens ING
CALDI Centre for African Language Diversity
Koninklijke Auris Groep
Museu Emílio Goeldi
Nederlands Helsinki Comité
Tatung University
Summer Institute of Linguistics - Papua New Guinea

Humanities Career Service

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at Humanities Career Service provide all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

Online Career Week

The first Online Career Week was organised in May 2020. Every day there were 2 events that students could sign up for.

For example, there was a Q&A with interns. Three interns working for respectively Philips, the Dutch Mission to the UN, and the World Economic Forum provided the participants with information on their internships, the application processes and working from home. In addition, a live webinar CV writing took place, and students were able to schedule an appointment with a career counselor for personal advice.