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Ph.D. Program in Linguistics

An Overview of the Ph.D. Program

The Ph.D. program in linguistics was established in 1990, and in 2004, we added a Ph.D. specialization in Austronesian linguistics, in collaboration with the Institute of Linguistics at Academia Sinica, Taiwan (Note that as of Fall, 2013, the Ph.D. program with specialization in Austronesian linguistics will stop admitting new students).

Requirements for the Ph.D. Program in Linguistics

To earn a Ph.D. in Linguistics at NTHU, students must complete all the following requirements within seven (7) years:

  1. Course requirements: All students must complete 24 credit hours of course work for a grade.
  2. Thesis credits: In addition to 24 credit hours of course work, students must take 4 credit hours of Thesis.
  3. General Exam: All Ph.D. students must pass a General Exam in the third year. General exam is composed of two parts: (i) the writing of two research papers and (ii) oral exams based on these papers. General exams are given twice a year, March 30 and September 30. The two Generals papers must be original research papers and report research on two distinct topics in two distinct subdisciplines of linguistics. The subdisciplines include (i) Syntax, (ii) Semantics, (iii) Phonology, (iv) Morphology, (v) Others (or, none of the above).
  4. Language proficiency: In addition to English, all Ph.D. candidates must submit proof of having a good command of the second and third "foreign" languages.
  5. Journal publication: A peer-reviewed journal paper (published or accepted for publication)
  6. A doctoral dissertation

Policies and procedures (in Chinese)