Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson Graduate Student Conference Award (next deadline: Feb. 20, 2019)

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The Department is now accepting applications for the Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson Graduate Student Conference Award. This award, which was instituted in 2018, is described on the department website at https://linguistics.ubc.ca/grad/eric-vatikiotis-bateson-graduate-student-conference-award/ (though some of the information there has yet to be updated as it pertains to the June 1, 2018 application deadline).

As stated on that webpage, the goal of this travel award is to support student visibility for employment opportunities, and the requirements and restrictions reflect this goal. To be eligible for this award, students must be advanced to Ph.D. candidacy and have had a paper/poster either submitted or accepted to a conference or workshop at the time of application.

There are supposed to be three application deadlines per year, each for travel during a particular 4-month window:

  • February 1 (for travel departing April 1 to July 31)
  • June 1 (for travel departing August 1 to November 30)
  • October 1 (for travel departing December 1 to March 31)

Accordingly, there ought to have been a general announcement about the October 1 deadline sent around early last term – and another for the February 1 deadline a while ago – but I’m afraid I completely dropped the ball on that! Therefore, we are going to be accepting applications until February 20 for expenses relating to trips with departure dates that fall/fell in the period December 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019. (That is, it is possible to apply for an award to cover travel that already happened in December or January.)

Applications should be submitted via this on-line form (also linked from the webpage above):
https://ling.air.arts.ubc.ca/eric-vatkiotis-bateson-graduate-student-conference-award-application/

Please note that each application must to be accompanied by a letter of support from the student’s supervisor. This can either be uploaded via the on-line application form or emailed directly to ling.admin@ubc.ca by the application deadline.

2019-2020 Arts Graduate Research Awards

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The call is now out for applications for this year’s round of Arts Graduate Research Awards. See below for a link to the application forms, terms of reference, etc. Note that the application deadline is at 9:00 am (!) on Monday, February 11.

https://www.arts.ubc.ca/research/grant-funding-opportunities/internal-arts-grants/arts-graduate-student-research-awards/

The application process is not very complicated (for example, no reference letters, transcripts or the like are required), and is now entirely on-line. However, please note that you will need to obtain the signatures of both your supervisor and the department head (Martina) on the Research Project Information Form (RPIF), which you will then need to scan into PDF in order to be able to upload it as part of the online application. Given that the deadline is at 9 am on a Monday morning, this may require some advance planning…

Our students have in the past been quite successful in obtaining these awards, can be used to cover various types of research expenses. Note that the funds can be used for research-related travel expenses, but not for conference travel. Note also that while “salaries” cannot be paid with the award funds, they can be used, for example, for paying language consultants (in fieldwork, elicitation, etc.) as well as experiment participants. This is a great way to get additional funding for your thesis/dissertation research, or a QP project, or anything else you happen to be pursuing. Plus it looks great as a line item on your CV!

Note, though, that each student can only receive an award like this once during their degree program.

Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship

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Students currently in years 1–3 of the PhD program (and their supervisors), please take note of this prestigious scholarship competition. Some of you are working on research that can potentially be pitched as falling under one or more of the four award themes.

Note that this is a scholarship that you apply for directly from the Trudeau Foundation, rather than through UBC. There is no department-internal nomination process, and therefore also no limit on the number of potential candidates per department.

[The information below is from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies]

Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarships

Value: $40,000 stipend plus $20,000 travel allowance per year, for up to 3 years

UBC applicant deadline: 11:59pm (Vancouver time) on Friday, January 18, 2019

Up to 20 Trudeau Scholarships are awarded each year to support doctoral students pursuing research related to one of its four founding themes: Human Rights and Dignity, Responsible Citizenship, Canada in the World, and People and their Natural Environment. Trudeau Scholars are highly gifted individuals who are actively engaged in their fields and expected to become leading national and international figures.

Eligibility

  • Doctoral students already accepted into or in year one, two, or three of a full-time program in the humanities or social sciences whose work relates to one of the Foundations’ four themes
  • Although priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, up to 25% of Scholars in a given year may be non-Canadians (permanent residents or foreign nationals) enrolled in a doctoral program at a Canadian institution

Applications are submitted via the Trudeau Foundation application portal:

  • Create an account online at: https://trudeaufdn.fluxx.io/apply/scholars
    • For University Name, enter “The University of British Columbia”
    • For Faculty or Department, enter the chosen UBC graduate program
  • Registrants will receive a username and password in 4 business days (applicants should check their spam/junk folder)
  • Once account access is granted: Complete the application form, request three letters of reference, and upload transcripts
  • After applying, applicants should email natalie.thorson@ubc.ca with their full name, UBC student number, and the name of their graduate program to ensure that their application is linked to UBC

Please note that there is no graduate program nomination process. The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will convene an adjudication committee composed of UBC faculty members to review applications and select UBC’s nominees to the national competition.

For further information, please visit our website: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/trudeau-foundation-doctoral-scholarship

Drop-in office hours (Sept–Dec 2018)

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Gunnar will be holding weekly drop-in office hours as (Acting) Graduate Advisor this term on Thursdays @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm in TFS 206. Feel free to drop in if you have anything graduate-program-related that you need (or want) to discuss. No need to book an appointment in advance — that’s what “drop-in” means, after all!

If you need to make an appointment outside of that time slot, just send an email (gunnar.hansson@ubc.ca) to arrange that.

Orientation for new graduate students – handout

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Here is the handout that Henry and Gunnar prepared for today’s orientation for our new cohort of Linguistics graduate students. Continuing (or new) ling-grads, feel free to comment if you see anything comment-worthy here!

Of course, this brief handout is no substitute for the much more detailed and tremendously valuable Linguistics grad guide.

Dissertations – no mandatory review of defence drafts

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The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies have discontinued the requirement (instituted some years ago) that a PhD dissertation draft must be checked (for formatting, etc.) by the G+PS thesis team before being submitted for transmission to the External Examiner. It is the responsibility of the student and supervisory committee to ensure that the defence draft of a dissertation be “well-presented and professional” prior to being submitted for defence.

For details on the procedure and requirements for submitting your dissertation for external examination, see
https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/final-doctoral-exam/submitting-dissertation-external-examination

You will of course still need to have your dissertation verified by the thesis review team prior to filing the revised, approved dissertation in cIRcle

Old Course Requirements

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The department website now shows the new course requirements for the MA and PhD. I’m pasting the old requirements here for historical reference and as a reminder for those of you who opted for this course path.

PhD Course Requirements – Linguistics Stream

Programs are individually planned at the time of registration; all programs must be approved by the Graduate Advisor. This section outlines the core course requirements for the Ph.D.

  • Credit requirement: There are no credit requirements for the Ph.D. See the website of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
  • Core course requirement: The Linguistics stream of the Ph.D. program minimally requires the following courses or equivalents:
    • LING 508: Phonetic Theory and Analysis
    • LING 510: Phonological Theory and Analysis
    • LING 518: Advanced Research Seminar
    • LING 520: Syntactic Theory and Analysis
    • LING 525: Semantic Theory and Analysis
    • LING 531: Field Methods in Linguistics I (“LING 431: Field Methods I” may replace LING 531)
    • LING 532: Field Methods in Linguistics II (“LING 432: Field Methods II” may replace LING 532)
  • Advanced seminar requirement: The Department offers 2-section sequences of the seminar level course LING 530: Linguistic Problems in a Special Area. The Linguistics stream of the Ph.D. program minimally requires the completion of two such sequences, that is, four (3-credit) sections of LING 530. In addition, any student who has completed the core course requirements and has not yet been admitted to candidacy must enrol in a section of LING 530.
  • The default course sequence would be as follows:
    • Term 1: LING 510, LING 520, LING 531
    • Term 2: LING 508, LING 525, LING 532
    • Term 3: LING 530*, _LING 530**_, LING 518 (LING 518 is normally taught over two terms)
    • Term 4: LING 530*, _LING 530**_, LING 518

Term 3 and 4 sections of LING 530* will be coordinated; term 3 and 4 sections of LING 530** will be coordinated. First-year graduate students who do not have sufficient background for the first-year graduate courses would be expected to take appropriate undergraduate courses (e.g. LING 300, LING 311, LING 316, LING 327) prior to registration in the graduate courses.

Course Requirements – Cognitive Systems (COGS) Stream

The Cognitive Systems stream of the Ph.D. program affords students the opportunity to work collaboratively across more than one discipline. Therefore, program planning is carried out in consultation with the Graduate Advisor and the prospective research faculty member(s) who will (co-)supervise the student (this will happen AFTER the student has been accepted to UBC but prior to registering in the COGS program per se; there is no need for prospective applicants to consult with possible research supervisors). This section outlines the core course requirements for the Ph.D.  ***Note: These are the “old” requirements; as of Fall 2016, there is a new set of course requirements. We’ll be updating this content shortly.***

  • Credit requirement: There are no credit requirements for the Ph.D. See the website of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
  • Core course requirement: The COGS stream of the Ph.D. program minimally requires the following courses or equivalents, which are the same as for the M.A. in Linguistics:
    • LING 508: Phonetic Theory and Analysis
    • LING 510: Phonological Theory and Analysis
    • LING 518: Advanced Research Seminar
    • LING 520: Syntactic Theory and Analysis
    • LING 525: Semantic Theory and Analysis
    • LING 531: Field Methods in Linguistics I (“LING 431: Field Methods I” may replace LING 531)
  • Advanced seminar requirement: The Department offers 2-section sequences of the seminar level course LING 530: Linguistic Problems in a Special Area. The COGS stream of the Ph.D. program minimally requires the completion of one such sequence, that is, two (3-credit) sections of LING 530.
  • In addition to courses and seminars within the Linguistics Department, students in the COGS stream may be required by their supervisory committees to take additional courses or seminars relevant to their specific research topics.

Master of Arts: Thesis and non-thesis options

Normally, students enroll for an M.A. with thesis, but exceptionally, the Department can grant an M.A. without thesis. Students interested in linguistic research are strongly encouraged to enroll in the program for an M.A. with thesis.

  • Tentative selection of the thesis or non-thesis option is made at initial enrollment; final selection must be made before April 30 of the first year of enrollment. If a student wishes to select the non-thesis option, a request must be made in writing.
  • The program of M.A. with thesis requires a minimum of thirty (30) credits of course work. Of the thirty, a minimum of eighteen (18) credits must be at the 500 level and six (6) must be for the thesis.
  • The program of M.A. without thesis requires a minimum of thirty (30) credits of course work. Of the thirty, a minimum of twenty-four (24) credits must be at the 500 level. In addition to the 30 credits, a major essay and a comprehensive examination are required. (See Comprehensive examination for M.A. without thesis below.)

Course Requirements

Programs are individually planned at the time of registration; all programs must be approved by the Graduate Advisor. This section outlines the course requirements for both the M.A. with thesis and the M.A. without thesis. ***Note: These are the “old” requirements; as of Fall 2016, there is a new set of course requirements. We’ll be updating this content shortly.***

  • Credit requirement: Both M.A. programs require a minimum of thirty (30) credits of work. Students who have to make up deficiencies (e.g. LING 300, LING 311, LING 316, LING 327) will be required to take additional courses; courses taken to make up deficiencies do not count toward the thirty credits. Within the thesis program, at least eighteen (18) credits of courses must be at the 500 level, and six (6) credits should be taken for the thesis. Within the non-thesis program, twenty-four (24) credits must be in 500 level courses.
  • Core course requirement: Both M.A. programs minimally require the following courses or equivalents:
    • LING 508: Phonetic Theory and Analysis (3 credits)
    • LING 510: Phonological Theory and Analysis (3 credits)
    • LING 518: Advanced Research Seminar (3 credits)
    • LING 520: Syntactic Theory and Analysis (3 credits)
    • LING 525: Semantic Theory and Analysis (3 credits)
    • LING 531: Field Methods in Linguistics I (3 credits) (“LING 431: Field Methods: Phonology” may replace LING 531)
  • Advanced seminar requirement for M.A. with thesis: The Department offers 2-section sequences of the seminar level course, LING 530: Linguistic Problems in a Special Area. The M.A. with thesis minimally requires the completion of one such sequence, that is, two (3-credit) sections of LING 530. In addition, any student who has completed the core course requirements and has not yet had their M.A. thesis prospectus approved must enrol in a section of LING 530.
  • Electives: The required courses for the M.A. with thesis constitute 24 of the 30 credits required for the M.A. In addition, students in a thesis program normally take LING 549 (Master’s Thesis) for 6 credits. The required courses for the M.A. without thesis constitute 15 credits, with 15 credits of electives. Elective credits are subject to the following restrictions: a maximum of 6 credits in related fields outside the department; a maximum of 6 credits of LING 546 (Directed Reading in Topics Related to Linguistics). Any remaining credits must be chosen from Linguistics courses. These restrictions do not apply to any courses taken beyond the minimum 30 required credits. Students who are exempted from some of the core courses are still required to take the full 30 credit minimum; they can choose their additional courses subject to the conditions above.

New Courses and A Requirement Reminder

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The Ph.D. (and M.A.) requirements are being modified to reflect a better balance of depth and breadth in your graduate-level training. Here is the new curriculum, which we are implementing as best we can this year (2017W).

Breadth requirement. Complete at least 3 courses from the following list for a total of 9 credits:

  • LING 508 (Phonetics)
  • LING 510 (Phonology)
  • LING 520 (Syntax)
  • LING 525 (Semantics)

Depth requirement. Complete at least 5 courses from the following list, including at least 1 section of LING 530 for a total of 15 credits.

  • LING 503 (for this year it’s 530E) (Acquisition)
  • LING 532 (Field Methods in Linguistics II)
  • LING 505A (Morphology)
  • LING 513 (for this year it’s 530H) (Phonetics)
  • LING 511 (for this year it’s 530G) (Phonology)
  • LING 527 (for this year it’s 530J) (Semantics)
  • LING 521 (for this year it’s 530I) (Syntax)
  • LING 530 (Seminars on assorted topics)

Methods requirement. You’ll need  a total of 9 credits of methods courses to complete this requirement. You must complete LING 531 (Field Methods) and at least 3 credits of Linguistics methods courses*.  For the remaining credits you could take an additional field methods course (LING 532) or an appropriate course in a different department (statistics, logic, etc.).

Important note! We used to require that a Ph.D. student had to be registered in a LING 530 seminar until they were ABD. Now they just must be registered in any course other than a thesis credit course. Easy peasy.

*These new methods courses do not exist at all yet! For the time being students will have to take Ling 518 to complete this methods bit.

Some new rules about doctoral degrees

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There have been some changes to the university-level rules about transferring to from an MA to a PhD program and about how to maintain your status as a PhD student. I provide the highlights here:

For students transferring from a master’s to a doctoral program:

  • coursework requirement during the master’s program has been reduced from 12 credits to 9 credits
  • all 9 required credits must be of first-class standing. (First-class standing means A- or higher.)

In order to maintain registration in the doctoral program:

  • students must complete 12 credits with a first-class average
  • at least 9 of the 12 credits must be at the 500-level or above
  • at least 9 of the 12 credits must be of first-class standing

For more information (tons more, that is) about University-level rules about admission to doctoral degree programs, see this page.

LSA 2017 Linguistic Institute Fellowships

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Attention! Applications are now open for the LSA’s 2017 Linguistic Institute!
“Graduate and undergraduate students interested in attending the LSA’s 2017 Linguistic Institute can now begin applications (login required) for student fellowships. A large number of fellowships covering the full cost of tuition are available, as well as four named fellowships which cover additional expenses. The 2017 Linguistic Institute, themed “Language Across Space and Time”, will be held from July 5 – August 1 and hosted by the University of Kentucky. Over the Institute’s four weeks, scores of courses will be offered on introductory and advanced topics across linguistics.”
“All elements of the application, including letters of recommendation, must be submitted by Wednesday, February 1.  Applicants should therefore submit their applications sufficiently early to allow their recommenders to submit letters of reference by the February 1 deadline.  All applicants must be student members of the LSA. To begin the application, visit http://www.linguisticsociety.org/fellowship-application (LSA member login required); if you’re already logged in to the LSA website, you can click the “Submit Fellowship Application” button on your profile page to begin. If you are not already a student member, you may join the LSA by visiting this page.”