Students on campus enjoying the good weather

Application and admission: Research Master in Linguistics and Communication Sciences - national procedure

This is the national application and admission procedure for the Research Master in Linguistics and Communication Sciences.

Please read before continuing

Are you applying with a Bachelor's diploma obtained in the Netherlands? 

Then you must follow the national procedure below.

 

Follow the procedure below

Are you applying with a Bachelor's diploma from a non-Dutch educational institution*?

Then you must follow the international procedure.

 

Go to the international procedure

*including Suriname, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba

a) Check your eligibility

Educational background

Education requirements

You must have completed an undergraduate program in a relevant field with excellent grades (7.5 out of 10 according to the Dutch Grading System) or will complete an undergraduate program before the end of the academic year.

  • You have a Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline with an average score of 7.5 (out of 10) on your preliminary examinations in the second and third years of your completed Bachelor's program, and a minimum score of 8 on your final Bachelor's thesis, or equivalent scores for these study units in a non-Dutch higher education system.
  • Or, you have a Master's degree in a relevant discipline with an average score of 7.5 (out of 10) on your preliminary examinations of your completed Master's program, and a minimum score of 8 on your final Master's thesis, or equivalent.

In certain cases, other factors can be equally decisive. If you want to apply for the program but do not meet the above mentioned criteria, please contact the admissions committee (tshd.admissions@tilburguniversity.edu) to present your situation. The admissions committee may ask you to submit additional information with your application.

b) Remember the deadline

Your application must be submitted before:

  • Starting end of August: July 1
  • Starting end of January: December 1

Are you still finishing your previous program?

Do register in Studielink now. You can send us your diploma later.

Research Master Scholarship

Tuition fee waiver procedure and selection
To support excellent students with potential academic talent who desire to pursue the Research Master in Linguistics and Communication Sciences, Tilburg University grants a maximum of 3 waivers per cohort. Our initiative aims to remove financial barriers, enabling deserving individuals to pursue their educational aspirations.

The tuition fee waiver consists of a waiver up to the statutory tuition fee (€2,530 for the academic year 2024-2025). The waivers are granted for the nominal duration of study (two years). This means that waivers will be renewed for the second year of the master’s program. 

Note: if students face study delay after the standard two-year study period, they can no longer claim the waiver for the remaining time.

Waiver eligibility criteria

  • Excellent students who meet all eligibility requirements for the Research Master, as stipulated on this page, with a start date of September 2024. Students who start the program in February are not eligible for the waiver.
  • Non-EEA nationals
  • Dutch and EEA nationals who already obtained a Master's degree in the Netherlands

Waiver application deadline
Prospective students who wish to be considered for the tuition fee waiver must apply for the program before April 1st 23:59 CET. Selection will only start after the deadline. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered for the waiver. Tilburg University cannot be held responsible for late and/or incomplete applications.

How to apply
Apply online for admission to the Research Master's program at Tilburg University before the aforementioned waiver deadline. 

Waiver Selection criteria
Eligible candidates will be selected for the tuition fee waiver based on the following criteria:

  • Meeting the general eligibility requirements for the Research Master’s program
  • Academic quality and promise in the proposed field of study
  • The academic fit with our Research Master’s program at Tilburg University
  • Your motivation for the Research Master’s program (academic and personal motivation), as expressed in the motivation letter.

Waiver selection process
Step 1: The faculty selection committees will select the candidates who qualify for a waiver and invite them for an online interview. All qualified applicants will receive an interview invitation via email in the first half of May.
Step 2: The interviews will take place in the first half of June. 
Step 3: All applicants will receive an email notifying them whether they have been awarded the waiver in the third week of June. 
Step 4: Students who receive the waiver should accept the offer, by signing and returning the award letter, by July 1st.

c) Follow the procedure for national applicants

Step 1: Register in Studielink

Register in Studielink

You must register in Studielink, the Dutch national registration system for higher education, including the information below. Please do so correctly or we will not be able to process your application.

  • Make sure you register for the correct study program.
    • The name of this Research Master's program in Studielink is:
      M Linguistics and Communication Sciences (research) (CROHO-code: 60960)
  • Add your personal details (including your full name) as stated in your passport. 
  • Add details of all your educational programs leading to your Bachelor's, Master's or PhD degree, even if you have not completed the program of study.
  • Enter an e-mail address that you use regularly. Tilburg University will send you important information via this e-mail address, so please check it regularly.

Register in Studielink

Please note: you must follow the application procedure in the next step to be considered for admission. Registration in Studielink alone is not sufficient. Both processes must be completed by the deadline stated above. 

Step 2: Provide the required documents

In general, the following documents need to be provided:

  • Diploma(s)
    Your Bachelor's (and Master's) diploma(s), if you already have them.
  • Transcript of Records
    This is a list from your University of the courses you have taken in your Bachelor's (and Master's) degree, with the grades you have achieved.  This must be an official list from your University, not your results downloaded from the University’s student system. If you have not yet completed all courses at the time of application, please provide the Transcript plus a list of the courses you still need to complete before graduation.
  • Statement of purpose (motivation letter) - format (pdf).
  • Resume / Curriculum vitae.
  • Statistics checklist. Please complete the checklist (pdf) as requested.
  • One letter of recommendation.
  • A copy of your Bachelor's or Master's thesis (preferably in English) or an essay completed during your studies (only in English and at least 1500 words; if you have not yet written a thesis, you can provide a dedicated writing sample in form of an academic essay or research proposal).
Step 3: Continue your application in our online application system

Application in OSIRIS Aanmeld

Within 1 week of your registration in Studielink, you will receive two e-mails from Tilburg University.  

  • One e-mail contains your Tilburg University account details (your student number and Tilburg University e-mail address). You will not need these details for your application, but please save them carefully, as you will need them at a later stage.
  • The other e-mail contains your OSIRIS Aanmeld account details as well as information on how you can start your application in OSIRIS Aanmeld. If you have not received this e-mail within 1 week of your registration in Studielink, please contact your Education Coordinator.

Upload your documents

Please collect the requested documents and upload them in pdf-format. 

Submit your application before the deadline as stated above

If you submit your application either close to or on the deadline, but have not uploaded the correct documents, Tilburg University reserves the right not to process your application.

After submitting your application

Our Admissions Committee will check that your application is complete, according to the requirements above. 

If your documents are not complete, you will be asked to submit any missing or replace any illegible document(s).  

You can check your application status anytime you log in to your account in OSIRIS Aanmeld. 

Step 4: Admissions Committee's decision

After your application is complete, your application will be assessed to determine whether your academic background meets our admission requirements, based on your application documents.

Within six weeks of the start of this process, you will receive the Admissions Committee's decision by e-mail.

Below are the possible outcomes of your application:

  • Admission to the Research Master's program
    This means that you have been admitted to the Research Master’s program for which you have applied. 
    • Your admission may be conditional upon, e.g.,  your graduation from your current program. All conditions of admission will be detailed in your conditional admission letter. Please read it carefully and contact the contact person mentioned in the letter if you have any questions.
    • After you have met all the conditions of admission, you will receive your unconditional admission letter via e-mail.
  • Rejection
    This means that the Admissions Committee considers your academic background to be unsuitable for admission to our Research Master's program. Your registration in Studielink will be cancelled.
Step 5: Admitted, what's next?

Congratulations on being admitted to Tilburg University, either conditionally or unconditionally! 

You may be wondering what the next steps are. To ensure a smooth (and stress-free) start of your studies, we have prepared a timeline to give you an overview of the things you need to arrange and to guide you through the process of becoming a Tilburg University student. 

On the timeline you can find information about:  

  • Completing your enrollment  

  • Paying your tuition fees 

  • Finding accommodation 

  • Arranging your insurances 

  • Books and schedule 

  • Introduction activities like TOP Week and your (mandatory) Study Program Introduction 

Go to the Welcome page

Tilburg University complies with all the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) regarding all personal information included in the application process, including photocopies of passports/residence permits, etc. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Statement.

Do you have any questions?

Please feel free to contact us for your personal queries. You can contact us on every page of the Master's website.