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Postgraduate Research

Master of Arts (Research) (MA)

COURSE COORDINATOR
Dr Monika Bednarek

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
The Master of Arts (Research) is designed to meet the needs of students who wish to extend their studies beyond their undergraduate degree primarily by thesis but do not have an undergraduate Honours degree or other qualification that would allow entry into a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The satisfactory completion of the MA (Research) degree is a qualification for admission to higher degree research candidature.

(1) To be eligible to be admitted to candidature by the Dean or Associate Dean, an applicant must hold or have completed the requirements for a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Sydney or equivalent institution completed with a distinction average.

(2) The Dean or Associate Dean may admit to candidature an applicant who does not meet the requirements of sub-clause (1), provided that the applicant holds a qualification or qualifications that, in the opinion of the Dean or Associate Dean, are equivalent to those prescribed in sub-clause (1).

INTAKE
Applicants are admitted in February and July.

METHOD OF PROGRESSION
The MA (Research) can be undertaken by research and thesis only, or a combination of thesis and coursework, as outlined below. It is not possible to upgrade from an incomplete Master of Arts (Research) degree to higher degree research candidature.

The MA (Research) may be undertaken in the following ways:

  • Two postgraduate units of study (12 credit points) and a thesis of 26,000 – 28,000 words; or
  • One postgraduate unit of study (6 credit points) and a thesis of 28,000 – 30,000 words; or
  • A thesis of 30,000 – 35,000 words.
    The thesis topic must be approved by the Department. Members of staff act as supervisors.

International students are required to be enrolled as full-time candidates.

Master of Letters (MLitt)

COURSE COORDINATOR
Dr Ahmar Mahboob

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
An applicant for admission to candidature for the degree shall:

  • be a Bachelor of Arts of The University of Sydney or equivalent or, in special cases, hold another degree of the University, and
  • have demonstrated high achievement in the undergraduate courses, and
  • have completed courses specified by the department concerned, or courses deemed to be equivalent to those specified.


Upgrade from an MA, MApplLing to an MLitt
Candidates in the degrees of MA, MApplLing may apply to upgrade to the degree of MLitt. Candidates should have a good credit point average result in postgraduate units of study undertaken during their candidature. Upgrade from a Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate is not permitted.

INTAKE
Applicants are admitted in February and July.

METHOD OF PROGRESSION
Research and thesis
The degree comprises 12 units of study (72 credit points), including a treatise of approximately 25,000 words on an approved topic. The treatise is written under the supervision of an academic member of staff, and comprises 2 units of study (Treatise Part 1 and Treatise Part 2), each worth 12 credit points.

International students are required to be enrolled as full-time candidates.

Doctor of Arts

The department does not offer this degree.

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

COURSE COORDINATOR
Dr Monika Bednarek

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Candidates for the MPhil must hold a BA (Honours) in Linguistics or an MA
awarded with merit in Applied Linguistics or Cross Cultural Communication
with merit, including a research component equivalent to at least one unit
of study for which a grade of Distinction or above is awarded, or equivalent
qualification from elsewhere.

Candidates who do exceptionally well may apply to upgrade from MPhil to PhD with Departmental approval after the completion of their first year of candidature.

INTAKE
Applicants are admitted in February and July.

METHOD OF PROGRESSION
Research and thesis
For local candidates, the PhD degree can be undertaken on either a full-time or part-time basis. For full-time PhD candidates the minimum period is three years and the maximum is five years. For part-time PhD candidates the minimum period is usually three years and the maximum is seven years.

International students are required to be enrolled as full-time candidates.

The thesis topic must be approved by the Department. Members of staff act as supervisors.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

COURSE COORDINATOR
Dr Monika Bednarek

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Candidates for the PhD must hold a BA(Honours) or an MPhil degree in linguistics from the University of Sydney or equivalent qualification from elsewhere.

Successful applicants are usually admitted on one year's probation, in which case the candidature will be confirmed subject to satisfactory completion of the first year.

METHOD OF PROGRESSION
Research and thesis

For local candidates, the PhD degree can be undertaken on either a full-time or part-time basis. For full-time PhD candidates the minimum period is three years and the maximum is five years. For part-time PhD candidates the minimum period is usually three years and the maximum is seven years.

International students are required to be enrolled as full-time candidates.

The thesis topic must be approved by the Department. Members of staff act as supervisors.

INTAKE
Applicants are admitted in February and July.

Research Applications

Applicants are advised to contact prospective supervisors and the before they apply.

Step 1
Consult the staff pages and their research interests here to see if the department is able to offer supervision. Consider whether or not you satisfy entry requirements as outlined above for each degree. If you think you are eligible to enrol, contact the Department of Linguistics, as above, to discuss your plans.

Step 2
Prepare a 5 page research proposal detailing your intended research for submission with your application. Advice and assistance on proposals is available from The University of Sydney's Learning Centre which also produced the guide to Writing a Thesis Proposal.

Step 3
Submit an online application which can be found on the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences webpage: http://sydney.edu.au/arts/future_students/postgraduate_research_apply.shtml

(If the results of your first degree won't be known by the closing date, apply anyway, and forward your results when you know them.)

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