Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics

European Masters Program in Language and Communication Technologies (LCT)

The European Masters Program in Language and Communication Technologies (LCT) provides students with profound knowledge and insight into the various disciplines that contribute to the methods of language and communication technologies, and it strengthens their ability to work according to scientific methods. Moreover, the students acquire practice-oriented knowledge by choosing appropriate combinations of modules in Language Technology, Computational and Theoretical Linguistics, and Computer Science.

The program involves studying one year at one of the participating universities, and completing the second year with a stay in the other partner university. After this, the student will obtain two Master of Science degrees with legal value in the countries of issue ...

 

Local Master's Program in Language Technologies and Computational Linguistics - both in Czech and in English

Type of study: University Graduate - Master’s programme of study
Local study programme / Subject of qualification: Computer Science - Language Technologies and Computational Linguistics
Name of the qualification according to the Czech law: magistr
Title conferred: Mgr. (MSc. equivalent)

Faculty Measures regarding the coronavirus SARS‑CoV‑2 and the COVID‑19 disease

LCT program in Prague at a Glance
Study Requirements
Further Links and Contacts
State Final Exam
Diploma Thesis and Its Defense
Tuition Fee for the English Programme
Grading Scheme

 
 
Language Technologies and Computational Linguistics Programme at a Glance

Each student has the following obligations:

• Pass all obligatory courses (5) at the Charles University
• Collect at least 40 ECTS for core elective courses as specified in the Study Guide
• Collect at least 90 ECTS for coursework in total
• Collect 30 ECTS for thesis courses
  • In practice 1 ECTS credit is equal to roughly 25-30 hours of student work (that is, including contact hours, independent or guided study, etc.) (see workload and the calculation of ECTS credits)
• Pass the State Final Exam (registration is possible only after passing all courses as specified above).
• Successfully defend the Master thesis.
• contacts:
  • programme coordinator: Markéta Lopatková
  • Academic and Wellbeing Advisors and Mentors for Computer Science Programmes
  • Student Affairs Department (foreign students: Ms. Solange Petracchi, Ms. Eliška Zábrodská)
• Annual evaluation rule: At least 45 ECTS must be completed within the first year at CUNI (without the required number of credits the study is terminated) (Annual Evaluation of Study)

 
 
Study Requirements

• FAQ on the local admission procedure
• Official Study Guide - study started 2020 and later covers (pdf version here):
  • general information common to all CS
  • list of obligatory courses and list of core elective courses for the programme
  • State Final Exam examination areas
• Note that students can register for further courses offered by the faculty; in particular, several courses intended primarily for our bachelor students can be recommended.
  • NPFL123 Dialogue Systems
  • NPFL124 Natural Language Processing
  • NPFL125 Text processing in UNIX (formerly NPFL092 NLP Technology)
  • NPFL129 Introduction to Machine Learning with Python
  • See SIS for the whole offer.
• Research / Company / Software projects
• The faculty also offers Czech courses (for foreigners) as well as some other language courses - you can find a survey here.
  • Other faculties, esp. Faculty of Arts, offer many language courses as well - some of these courses are available for our student, too. Note that registration must be typically approved by respective lecturer.   

 
 
Further Links and Contacts

• Official Study Guide - study started 2020 and later
• FAQ on the local admission procedure
• Incoming students - Charles University web page
• Living in Prague - faculty information
• Counselling services - Carolina Centre, Charles University
• Detailed Academic Calendar 2021/22
• Faculty web portal for students in English programmes, including
  • General rules for Master's Programmes, and in particular:
    • Courses Enrolment
    • Annual Evaluation of Study (including a minimum number of credits for enrolment to the second year)
  • How to close the first year and enroll in the second year?
  • How to register for the state exam and/or for the defense (help in Czech)
    • the registration is through the SIS - module Final state exams.
      The module shows an overview for which parts of the final state exams you meet the conditions for.
      The evaluation is performed automatically and can be done repeatedly. After meeting the conditions,
      write down the "courses" you want to apply for.
  • See also section Regulations at the MFF web portal here
  • Faculty forms (as Request, ...)
• Student Information System (SIS)
• Student Affairs Department (foreign students: Ms. Solange Petracchi, Ms. Eliška Zábrodská), including contacts and opening hours
• Charles University Regulations

 
 
State Final Exam

Two specializations are available for the State Final Exam:

• Computational and Formal Linguistics
• Statistical and Machine Learning Methods in Natural Language Processing

A student selects one of two available specializations when s/he registers for the State Final Exam. 

The State Final Exam consists of one obligatory examination area for both specializations (Area 1), one obligatory area dependent on the selected specialization (Area 2 or Area 3), and one elective examination area (Area 4 and Area 5). As the last examination area, the student may also select the obligatory area of the other specialization of this study programme. In total, each student gets questions from three examination areas.

1. Fundamentals of Natural Language Processing (obligatory for both specializations)
2. Linguistic Theories and Formalisms
3. Statistical Methods and Machine Learning in Computational Linguistics
4. Speech, Dialogue, and Multimodal Systems
5. Applications in Natural Language Processing

Lists of topics covered by the examination areas, as well as recommended courses are provided in the Study Guide - study started 2020 and later (Czech version here).

• More detailed list of topics here.

Registration for the state exam and/or for the defense:

• How to register for the state exam and/or for the defense (help in Czech)
  • the registration is through the SIS - module Final state exams. The module shows an overview for which parts of the final state exams you meet the conditions for. The evaluation is performed automatically and can be done repeatedly. After meeting the conditions, write down the "courses" you want to apply for.
• You can enroll separately for the state exam and for the diploma defense.
• Note that you have to finish all your courses and get necessary credits, including credits for  diploma thesis (120 ECTS) before you are allowed to registered for the state exam and/or for the defense (typically in mid summer, see the academic calendar)!

 
 
Diploma Theses and Its Defense

• submission deadlines: (exact dates will be provided for academic year 2021/22)
  • May (with defense and/or state exams in June);
  • July (with defense and/or state exams in September)
  • January (with defense and/or state exams in February)
• Guidelines for Registering, Writing, and Submitting a Master Thesis
• Regulations concerning Diploma Thesis and its layout
• Master thesis and its defenses (unofficial notes for students)
• Archive of Diploma Theses - SIS

Registration for the state exam and/or for the defense:

• How to register for the state exam and/or for the defense (help in Czech)
  • the registration is through the SIS - module Final state exams. The module shows an overview for which parts of the final state exams you meet the conditions for. The evaluation is performed automatically and can be done repeatedly. After meeting the conditions, write down the "courses" you want to apply for.
• You can enroll separately for the state exam and for the diploma defense.
• Note that you have to finish all your courses and get necessary credits, including credits for  diploma thesis (120 ECTS) before you are allowed to registered for the state exam and/or for the defense (typically in mid summer, see the academic calendar)!

 
 
Tuition Fee for the English Programme

The student obliges him/herself to complete the program requirements within the deadline specified in the academic calendar (typically the end of September). If the student fails to meet this deadline (s)he can ask for a program extension.

In case of the extension, the Charles University local fee will be demanded from the student according to the local regulations specified at the faculty webpage. If the student has finished his/her coursework and (s)he is just working on his/her master thesis, (s)he can ask for 80% reduction of the local fee (in written).

 
 
Grading Scheme

seminar	C = credited (i.e., requirements of a course are fulfilled)		Czech abbrev. Z
	MC = requirement with assessment      1 = excellent   (~ A/B ECTS grade)      2 = very good (~ C/D ECTS grade)      3 = good         (~ E ECTS grade)      4 = fail            (~ FX/F ECTS grade)	Czech abbrev. KZ
lecture	Ex = exam      1 = excellent   (~ A/B ECTS grade)      2 = very good (~ C/D ECTS grade)      3 = good         (~ E ECTS grade)      4 = fail            (~ FX/F ECTS grade)		Czech abbrev. Zk

Learn  more on ECTS here!