寄托天下 | 2015-12-31 14:13 | 我要评论 | 浏览7908次 |
15fall申请总结原帖戳:
http://bbs.gter.net/thread-1836211-1-1.html
在格大刚刚过完第一个学期(虽然圣诞假归来还有一堆最后的essay和project),简单分享一点LCT项目的体验。半年来持续有申请者通过这个帖子找到我,询问申请事宜,所以一直有规律地登陆论坛,尽量可以帮助到一些打算申请的同学。希望这段后续能让大家更了解这个项目。
关于项目内容:
LCT的全称是Language Communication Technologies,但实质上是Computational Linguistics,计算机专业的同学更熟知的名字就是NLP(自然语言处理)。至于CL和NLP到底有什么区别,有很多人会认为它俩就是同一个东西(个人感觉NLP的学习者更可能这么理解)。我个人的看法是两者看待问题的维度不同:computational linguistics的终极目标是解决语言学领域的问题,而计算方法是解决问题的工具;而NLP更聚焦在改进方法最终更好地运用在语言处理上。LCT项目给自己的定义还是CL,但其实很难把CL和NLP的定义完全分割开。有趣的是,项目将各成员校分割成了两个阵营:Language Technology(LT)和Computer Science(CS)。其中,Saarland,Groningen和Charles Prague属于LT,其他成员校在CS分支下,这也一定程度暗示了课程重点和研究方向。但大体来看,语言学和计算机科学都有单独涵盖,而更多的是两者结合的课程学习,侧重点的话依课程不同各有倾向。因此,无论是纯CS出身还是纯语言学甚至是语言文学出身的同学,LCT都能够提供很好的机会让学习者入门而不会有太强的跳跃感。
关于课程:
以Groningen为例,第一年的必修只有三门:basic statistics, Corpus Linguistics和Linguistic theory: Semantics and Syntax. 个人觉得设置还是很合理的。因为项目的负责老师觉得我的数学背景已经够够的了(数学成绩和建模的奖唬人),我免修了统计,因而整年只有15学分必修,另45学分完全自由选修。目前看来这个免修意义重大,借此学分空余我有机会选了我现在的导师的课,接触了他的课题以及后续成功申请他的RA项目。另外,还可以通过做intern来获得学分(一般为10ECTS),所以选课和学习计划的自由度非常高。
LCT在格大属于Research Master (Linguistics),和另一个研究型硕士项目Language and Cognition共享课程,所以可选课程里有偏psycholinguistics的Language Cognition and Brain,Pragmatics and Discourse,也算是格村特色…… 另外比较常选的还有computational semantics/discourse和information retrieval的课程,算是比较符合项目内容的课程了。学生还可以从人机交互,人工智能等项目里选择合适的课程,可以完全依据自己的兴趣,反正第一学期里我和项目里的同学们都有过只身一人前往他系课程的经历…… 但大家都非常满意这样的机制,也避免了课程太艰难或太偏离兴趣而心生抑郁的现象发生。
另外值得一提的是,格大的课的规模都非常非常小,且几乎都是seminar。整个学期我上过最大的课不过15人的课堂,最小的甚至只有5人。好处当然就是,交流多,以及,老师非常容易记住你。如果觉得对大课堂模式比较厌倦,格大会是一个很不错的选择。
关于选校:
一般首推Saarland……虽然我不在那儿,但毕竟欧陆做CL最好的学校之一,有单独的department,教学和研究资源最丰富(毕竟主办校),几乎涵盖所有的分支。我是一个很奇怪的同学,对德国一直不感冒,虽然之前一度很想换去Saarland,但更多是经济因素驱使……(我还是心心念trento)
格大是个好地方。上面说到了Research master,这个名号带来的直接好处就是,系里能帮助提供project和internship机会(譬如我下个学期的internship就是通过系主任找到的)。另外还有一个非常难得的机会是Research assistant,整个faculty给所有的研究型硕士项目提供总计12个RA职位,提供每月津贴,通过学术背景、动机信和面试情况筛选(简直是再次做一次申请)。我运气颇好最终中了彩票。所以事实证明千万不要把经济因素摆在第一位,因为后续可能有更多获取经济补助的机会。另外,除去选课自由度这个因素,课程难度和考核方式也相对宽松,如果担心入学不适应或者跨度较大,格大是很不错的第一年选择。
布拉格查理是个好学校,就是课程太theoretical,或者说计算机和数学的比重很重,导致我的教授都曾默默吐槽很多第二年去布拉格的同学都过得十分地艰难。有兴趣的话可以去看看他们的课程列表,个人觉得还是一个门类比较丰富的学校。我目前的第二年学校还是Prague,需要必修的是数据结构和计算原理两门课。所以我觉得把布拉格放在LT而非CS的列表里,很可能是项目复制粘贴错位置了【【【【【
Trento就是那个在cognitive/psycho Linguistics里颇有建树的学校(为什么在CS下),由于我接下来做的RA的内容就是psycholinguistics和conversation/discourse analysis相关的东西(真的很有趣),所以已经着手申请换到Trento了。如果有兴趣做cognition和psychology相关的东西,Trento就是首选。
最后扯一下我的同学们:
因为annual meeting下学期才举办,所以目前我能了解到的同期的项目学生信息几乎仅限于格大。正如预测的情况,我们中有CS相关的背景的同学(譬如我这种[相关])还有本科在格大读English Literature的同学(我们一直在为这位少女的计算机课程保驾护航)。很惊讶的是,也有本科项目就是Computational Linguistics的同学,实力超群是肯定的,基本上叱咤每一门课程。噢当然,她就是全奖得主之一(跪)。所以拿奖的话,我的感觉是,背景匹配尤其重要。但是,录取的话还是为各种学科背景的申请者敞开大门。但我也不能确定门槛能放低到什么程度,因为这一级的三个(包括我在内)中国学生都是985高校背景…… 有申请打算的同学还是好好写写文书吧……
最后附一个项目负责人让我们宣传的邮件……请大家……看清项目内容之后……有兴趣就来申请吧!
The Erasmus Mundus Masters Program in Language and Communication Technologies (EMMLCT)
http://lct-master.org
invites applications for Erasmus-Mundus scholarships from both European and non-European students for start in fall 2016.
Key facts:
+ duration 2 years (120 ECTS credits)
+ in-depth instruction in computational linguistics methods and technologies
+ scholarship scheme from the Erasmus Mundus Program of the European Union for EU and non-EU students
+ study one year each at two different partner universities in Europe
+ double degree
+ possibility to visit one of two non-European partners for a part of the study
+ courses and academic and administrative support in English
Deadline for scholarship applications is January 10, 2016.
(A later deadline will be announced for self-funding applicants.)
The EMMLCT program is offered by the following consortium of Universities:
European partners:
1. Saarland University in Saarbruecken, Germany (coordinator)
2. University of Trento, Trento, Italy
3. University of Malta, Malta
4. University of Lorraine, Nancy, France
5. Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
6. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
7. The University of the Basque Country / Euskal Herriko University, San Sebastian, Spain
Non-European partners:
8. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
9. The University of Melbourne, Australia
The EMMLCT Program in Brief
The EMMLCT program is an international distributed Master of Science course. It is designed to meet the demands of industry and research in the rapidly growing of language technology. It offers education and training opportunities for the next generations of leaders in research and innovation. It provides students with profound knowledge and insight into the various disciplines that contribute to the methods of language and communication technologies a.k.a computational linguistics a.k.a. natural language processing and 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 each at two different European partner universities. Optionally a stay at one of the non-european partners for some months is possible. After completing all study requirements, the students obtain two Master of Science/Arts degrees: one from each European universities where they studied.
The course consists of compulsory core modules, as well as elective advanced modules in Language Technology and Computer Science, possibly complemented by an internship project, and completed by a Master Thesis.
The EMMLCT program is approved and supported by the Erasmus Mundus Program of the European Union [ http://ec.europa.eu/education/ex ... ammes/mundus_en.htm http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/ ].
Application requirements
Application is made online.
All applicants must satisfy the following prerequisites:
1. Degree: a Bachelor degree or equivalent in the area of (Computational) Linguistics, Language Technology, Cognitive Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, or other relevant disciplines. The degree must be completed before the course starts.
2. Language proficiency: Proof of proficiency in English is required for applicants whose native language is other than English.
Further information about the program and application instructions: http://lct-master.org
Contact email address for further inquiries:
lct-info at coli.uni-sb.de
Program coordination:
Dr. Ing. Ivana Kruijff-Korbayova
Department of Computational Linguistics and Phonetics
Saarland University
Saarbruecken, Germany
http://lct-master.org
最后啰嗦两句:
麻烦大家不要问我怎么申请,这个文件要不要,那个文件怎么准备,文书怎么写,我能不能申请上,我能不能拿到奖,联合项目的学位怎么拿,是不是国内不认可,是不是国际不认可,好不好就业,诸如此类。申请步骤有困难就问小米,录取标准参见官网,未来发展靠个人。我能提供的只有选校建议,学习体验,以及一些有限的前辈信息。希望大家在申请的时候能更聚焦在项目内容上,因为这才是整个研究生生涯结束后你立足的东西。
原帖作者:R_Fletcher
原帖链接:http://bbs.gter.net/thread-1917428-1-1.html
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