Master of Social Work - Traditional
The traditional Master of Social Work (MSW) program at the University at Buffalo is des...
M.S. in Computational Linguistics
Buffalo, New York
INTAKE: Jan & Aug
Program Overview
The M.S. in Computational Linguistics at UB is a 36-credit hour program that generally takes two years for full-time completion. The program's mission is clear: to prepare students for professional careers in the Human Language Technologies industry. It emphasizes a strong foundation in both the intricacies of human language (syntax, semantics, phonetics) and the computational methods (machine learning, information retrieval, programming) needed to process and understand it. The program culminates in a capstone project that involves a significant amount of programming, allowing students to specialize in particular techniques or research areas. This program is STEM-designated, which can offer additional benefits for international students.
Curriculum: The 36-credit curriculum is balanced between required courses from Linguistics and Computer Science and Engineering, along with electives. Required Linguistics courses include "Phonetics (LIN 531)," "Syntax I (LIN 515)," an "Advanced Syntax" course, "Semantics I (LIN 538)," and "Semantics II (LIN 543)." Required Computer Science courses include "Introduction to Computer Science for non-majors I (CSE 503)," "Information Retrieval (CSE 535)," "Machine Learning (CSE 574)," "Computational Linguistics (LIN/CSE 567)," and "Advanced Topics in Computational Linguistics (LIN/CSE 667)." Students also choose electives, which can include topics like "Statistics," "Fundamentals of Programming Languages," "Analysis of Algorithms," "Advanced Machine Learning," "Data mining and bioinformatics," and "Corpus Linguistics." The program concludes with a capstone project (LIN 600).
Research Focus: The M.S. in Computational Linguistics at UB has a strong research focus, particularly in areas relevant to the Human Language Technologies industry. Faculty within both the Linguistics and Computer Science and Engineering departments are actively engaged in cutting-edge research in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Examples of ongoing research include the development of empathetic chatbots that leverage large volumes of dynamic content for more productive conversations (e.g., related to health), and other projects that often lead to published papers. The required capstone project allows students to conduct independent research, specializing in specific techniques, methodologies, or research questions within computational linguistics, often with practical applications.
Industry Engagement: The program is explicitly designed to prepare students for careers in the Human Language Technologies industry. UB actively encourages and facilitates industry engagement. Students are encouraged to seek internships through the university's career services platform, Bullseye. Additionally, there are local summer internship opportunities in the Natural Language Understanding Laboratory within the Department of Biomedical Sciences. The university also has a relationship with companies like Comcast's Applied AI group as a potential source for summer internships for M.S. students. This strong emphasis on practical experience and connections with industry ensures graduates are well-prepared for roles in companies like Google, Amazon, Grammarly, and Duolingo.
Global Perspective: The M.S. in Computational Linguistics at UB inherently possesses a global perspective due to the universal nature of human language and the global reach of technology. The study of computational linguistics involves analyzing and processing languages from around the world, making the field intrinsically global. The University at Buffalo itself is a large public research university that attracts a diverse international student body and faculty from over 104 different countries. This rich multicultural environment fosters diverse perspectives on language and computation, preparing graduates to work in an increasingly interconnected global industry where multilingual capabilities and cross-cultural understanding are valuable assets.
Location
Buffalo, New York
Score
IELTS 6.5
Tuition Fee
USD 28210
Postgraduate Entry Requirements
Academic Qualifications: Applicants for postgraduate programs typically require a minimum academic achievement of 70% or above in their bachelor's degree.
English Language Proficiency:
- IELTS: Overall band score of 6.5 or 7.0 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component.
- TOEFL: Overall score of 90 or higher.
- PTE: Overall score of 61 or higher.
- DET (Duolingo English Test): Minimum score of 120.
The University at Buffalo (UB) offers a variety of scholarships and financial aid opportunities specifically aimed at supporting international students who wish to pursue their studies in the United States. These scholarships are designed to reward academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement, helping to make education more affordable for talented students worldwide.
Merit-Based Scholarships: UB provides competitive merit scholarships to outstanding international undergraduate and graduate students. Awards such as the International Student Academic Excellence Scholarship recognize high-achieving students based on their academic records, standardized test scores, and extracurricular involvement.
Graduate Fellowships and Assistantships: Graduate international students can apply for teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships which offer tuition remission and stipends. These opportunities allow students to gain valuable teaching and research experience while offsetting the cost of their education.
Departmental Scholarships: Many academic departments at UB offer scholarships tailored to students in specific programs or fields of study. These awards may consider academic merit, research interests, or financial need.
External Scholarships: UB encourages international students to explore external scholarship options from private organizations, governments, and international foundations that support study in the U.S. The university’s International Student Services office provides guidance on identifying and applying for such funding sources.
A Master of Science (M.S.) in Computational Linguistics from the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) provides graduates with a unique and highly sought-after blend of linguistic expertise and advanced computational skills. This interdisciplinary program, administered jointly by the Departments of Linguistics and Computer Science and Engineering, is specifically designed to prepare students for the rapidly evolving Human Language Technologies (HLT) industry. Graduates are equipped with a strong theoretical understanding of human language coupled with practical programming and machine learning abilities, making them ideal candidates for roles at the intersection of language and artificial intelligence.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) Engineer/Scientist: This is a core role for computational linguistics graduates. They design, develop, and implement algorithms and models that enable computers to understand, process, and generate human language. They work on applications like chatbots, virtual assistants (e.g., Siri, Alexa), sentiment analysis tools, and language translation systems for tech giants, startups, and various companies.
Computational Linguist: Many companies, particularly in the tech industry, hire dedicated computational linguists. These professionals apply their linguistic knowledge to improve the accuracy and efficiency of NLP systems. They may be involved in data annotation, designing linguistic rules, evaluating model performance, and ensuring that AI systems accurately reflect human language nuances.
Machine Learning Engineer (NLP Focus): Given the strong machine learning component of the UB program, graduates can specialize in building and deploying machine learning models specifically for natural language tasks. They work on predictive text, speech recognition, named entity recognition, and other AI-driven language applications.
Data Scientist (Text/Language Data): With their strong background in data analysis and linguistics, graduates can work as data scientists focusing on unstructured text data. They extract insights from large volumes of text, perform sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and build predictive models based on linguistic patterns for various industries.
Voice User Interface (VUI) Designer: As voice technology becomes more prevalent, VUI designers create intuitive and natural conversational experiences for voice-controlled devices and applications. Computational linguists' understanding of dialogue, pragmatics, and human-computer interaction is invaluable in this role.
Applied Scientist: In research and development departments of major tech companies or specialized AI firms, applied scientists bridge theoretical research with practical application. They often work on cutting-edge problems in NLP, developing new algorithms and pushing the boundaries of what AI can do with language.
Linguistic Annotation Specialist/Manager: These roles involve creating and managing high-quality linguistic datasets used to train machine learning models. Computational linguists define annotation guidelines, perform linguistic tagging, and ensure data consistency, which is crucial for the performance of NLP systems.
Information Retrieval Specialist: Graduates can work on improving search engine capabilities by applying linguistic principles to optimize query understanding, document indexing, and relevance ranking. They help ensure that search engines provide more accurate and contextually relevant results.
Technical Writer/Editor (with NLP Tools): For those with strong writing skills, a computational linguistics background can lead to roles in technical writing, particularly where complex NLP concepts or software need to be documented. They may also use NLP tools to analyze and improve the clarity and readability of technical documents.
Academic Researcher / Doctoral Student: The M.S. program provides a solid foundation for those wishing to pursue a Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, or Linguistics, leading to careers in university-level teaching and advanced research, pushing the theoretical and applied boundaries of the field.
