Computational Linguistics

This programme is taught in Czech.

The criteria for admission for studies are the results of the written Field of Study Examination. Applicants may also be admitted based on other criteria, see Admission without the Entrance Examination. The Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University disregards the results of SCIO National Comparative Examinations.

You can file your e-applications for studies from 1 November to 28 February.
Field of Study Examinations will be held from 22 April to 27 April.
The date and time of the examination will be stated in the electronic invitation for the examination, which will be uploaded to your e-application. The faculty will not be sending paper invitations. Applicants applying for the major study plan and minor study plan in a combined study must comply with the conditions for admission into both plans.

Learning Potential Test (TSP)

For admission for studies in this degree programme, you do not need to take the TSP.

Field of Study Examination

This examination is only in Czech. It is intended to check the applicants’ knowledge of the given field of study. It is done in the form of a written test.

Basic description of the Field of Study Examination:
the field of study test includes questions from Czech, mathematics, and English, to the extent of a secondary school curriculum. For a sample of one of the previous field of study tests click here. Applicants whose mother tongue is not Czech are expected to have knowledge of the Czech language at least at the C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Admission without the entrance examination

You may be exempt from the entrance examination based on at least one of the following criteria:

1. Czech language or Maths Olympiad;
2. secondary school results from profile subjects of Czech (Slovak) language, English, information technology, maths.

Secondary school results may be applied for an exemption from the entrance examination by those applicants whose average grade was 1.5 or higher in each of the four profile subjects. The total average result in all subjects is not taken into consideration. Secondary school seminars are also disregarded. The average grade of each profile subject is calculated based on the results of the last four years of study in the following way: the mid-year grade is calculated from the final year, whereas the final grades are calculated from the previous three years. It is also necessary that applicants have studied each of the profile subjects for at least two years during the last four years.
Enter your grades in your e-application. Then print the grades out and let your secondary school certify them with a stamp and a signature. Upload the scan of the certified grades into your e-application. You can also upload officially certified school reports or any other documents certifying your school results.
Please upload the officially certified documents directly to your e-application in the section Application for the Exemption from the Entrance Examination no later than 28 February.

• Total number of points in the Field of Study Examination: 100
• Limit for successfully passing the Field of Study Examination: 50

Points are not deducted for incorrect answers.

The Computational Linguistics program bridges the education in humanities and natural science and offers introduction to both of these worlds. The aim is to train linguists with knowledge of general and development patterns of the language (reflected primarily on the Czech language), with a focus in computational linguistics, qualified in relation to the field of information technologies and capable of algorithmic thinking.

Teaching takes place at the philosophical faculty in courses provided by the Institute of the Czech language. These courses provide description of Czech language and language generally and fundamental knowledge of computational and corpus linguistics as well as basics of mathematics and statistics, specially designed for the needs of humanities. Students are also offered specifically selected courses from Faculty of Informatics MU which are utilizable for computer linguistics. The language skills of the students are strongly emphasized, particularly the ability to use both written and spoken forms of Czech excellently. Good knowledge of English and other languages is also encouraged.

Throughout the study, emphasis is placed on linking theoretical knowledge with their practical application. The study program includes excursions to academic and commercial workplaces, lectures by invited speakers, workshops and the participation of students in research and application projects. It also emphasizes teamwork on specified tasks.

A positive aspect of the study program is an extensive contact with organizations and companies focusing on similar topics, especially in the South Moravian region. Students can participate in these organizations during their studies as interns. The graduates of the three-year bachelor program are thus well prepared for study of follow-up master program as well as for entry into practice.

This is the only study program in the Czech Republic, in which you can study computational linguistics in humanities-oriented undergraduate degree program.

The study program is recommended for high school graduates who are interested in Czech / languages generally, mathematics, and informatics at the same time, and in the search of intersections between seemingly different areas and breaking the myths of their incompatibility.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• apply basic knowledge about the language, particularly Czech, its structure and development;
• apply in practice the basic knowledge from the area of computational linguistics, corpus linguistics, computer science, mathematics and statistics;
• understand the terminology and methodology of linguistics and computational linguistics;
• use their extensive knowledge of the literary language, and great skills of written and spoken language (with an emphasis on professional style);
• manage work with language corpora, and with computer-based tools for natural language analysis;
• use programming knowledge in practice.

The graduates can perform in very broad area. Students usually gain first work experience during their bachelor’s study by engaging in research and commercial projects and internships in the cooperating companies. An ideal job for the computational linguistics graduates are in companies from the field of information technology focused on using natural language, for example Google, Seznam or Moravia.

Students inclining to the linguistic part of the education may work e.g. as proofreaders, copywriters or editors. Those students inclining to the computer science may found job in the IT businesses processing language data or work in positions of annotators or documentation writers. The graduates are appreciated for very good knowledge of the Czech language, communicativeness, the ability to work both independently and as members of the team and good orientation in mathematics and IT (from the informed overview to knowledge of programming).

For the application in practice good knowledge of English and possibly other languages is of great advantage. The employability of graduates is significantly increased by possibility of combining the study of computational linguistics with a different language or with the study at FI MU.

Students engage in practice during the study in the form of both internal and external practice and internships. The internship can be recognised and valued 4 credits as the PLIN060 - Intership for Bachelor's Degree after confirmation of at least 40 hours worked in a given calendar year, with one or more employers. The content of the internship is consulted with teachers of the PLIN060 course, which at the same time provide necessary help with obtaining the internships.

Bachelor theses in the field of computational linguistics are targeted mostly on application. Another possibility is theoretical thesis. Students can choose between topics focused more on linguistics or IT in connection with the choice of the thesis supervisor being either from the Faculty of Arts or from Faculty of Informatics MU. The theses connecting linguistics with computer science typically have also a consultant thus ensuring the quality in both fields. Emphasis is placed on the detailed contextualization of the topic in linguistics, computational linguistics or computer science, processing of empirical data and the appropriate use of computer tools and processing methods.

Bachelor thesis shall comply with the requirements on this type of output, which includes a good text structure, clarity and conciseness, clear interpretation of results, adequate typographical quality, and list of bibliographic sources.

A student may, after graduating from the bachelor program in Computational Linguistics continue the follow-up master program or in other programs, in particular at the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Informatics MU.