The doctoral programme in Linguistics is designed for students who wish to undertake research in applied and theoretical linguistics in the areas of morpho-syntax, semantics and pragmatics, phonetics and phonology, first and second language acquisition, bilingualism, bi(dia)lectalism, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, teaching and education. Students may explore a wide range of topics related to multiple theoretical perspectives and the very latest developments in linguistics and language acquisition research in recent years such as formalist, functionalist and emergentist models of language; generative, psycholinguistic, cognitive, functional, sociocultural, sociolinguistic and educational perspectives of language acquisition and teaching. They may focus on cross-linguistic interference, language development and use, knowledge, comprehension and production associated with memory, cognition and emotion; cognitive processes involved in first, second, third language acquisition, psycholinguistic and neurocognitive underpinnings of language processing; language contact, maintenance and endangerment; different language acquisition contexts and conditions, child and adult language acquisition, heritage language acquisition and language attrition; metalinguistic awareness, speech perception and production, orthography, critical digital literacy; ideologies of language, language planning and policies, family language policy, home literacy environment, code-mixing, code-switching and intercultural communication.

• Letter(s) of Reference
• Resume/Curriculum Vitae
• Statement of Research Interests

Additional Admission Criteria for a Postgraduate Programme are:

The additional admission criteria that may be applied, if specified in the Department’s or the postgraduate programme’s regulations, include:

• Interview.
• Written examination.
• Submission of a preliminary research proposal for admission to a PhD programme.
• Other criteria that may be adopted by each department individually.

Required Levels of English language proficiency for studies in Postgraduate Programmes:

In accordance with the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA), for admission to programmes of study taught in the English language at postgraduate levels at universities, candidate students should provide a certificate of their knowledge of English.

For programs of study at the postgraduate level candidate students are required to have certification for “Very Good Knowledge” of English at level B2-C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). At this level, the users can understand a wide range of demanding, long and complex texts, and recognize implied meanings. The users can express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. They can use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic, and professional purposes. They can produce clear, well-structured, detailed texts on complex topics, demonstrating controlled use of organizational patterns, connecting elements, and coherence mechanisms.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) corresponds to the following specific reference frameworks for international examinations, according to the official pages of the organizations offering these examinations. Indicatively, a score of 5.5 – 6.5 corresponds to knowledge of level B2 (Lower), while score 8.5-9 is level C2 (Proficiency).

Please note that some scores only remain valid for two years. If you apply using a certificate gained over two years ago, you will need to retake the test.