Skip to ContentSkip to Navigation
Education Master's and PhD degree programmes Communication and Information Studies Information Science
Header image Information Science

Information Science

Are you fascinated by artificial intelligence and language technology? In this study you learn how to develop and assess smart applications such as conversational agents, automatic translation systems, and intelligent search engines.

As an MSc student of Information Science, you learn how to analyze unstructured data (such as text) automatically, and find out which machine learning techniques can be used to solve problems in information science. You also take part in shared tasks (working with a group on a challenging problem in language technology), and apply methods from artificial intelligence to real-world applications such as machine translation for low-resource languages, the semantic web, hate-speech detection, and smart user interfaces.

The Master's track builds on the knowledge, insights and skills that you have acquired in your Bachelor's degree. You will learn to carry out research independently and improve your programming, analytical and presentation skills.

This track is a specialization of the Master's degree programme in Communication and Information Sciences. All courses are taught in English.

Facts & Figures
Degree
MSc in Communication & Information Studies
Course type
Master
Duration
12 months (60 ECTS)
Croho code
66826
Language of instruction
English
Start
September
Faculty
Arts
Why study this programme in Groningen?
  • Courses are directly related to state-of-the-art research in the department.
  • High marks in national student evaluation.
  • Internationally renowned computational linguistics research unit.
Programme
Semesters
CoursesCourse Catalog >1a1b2a2b
Learning from Data (5 EC, optional)
Semantic Web Technology (5 EC, optional)
Research Seminar Information Science (5 EC)
Shared Task Information Science (5 EC)
Computational Semantics (5 EC, optional)
Computer-Mediated Communication (5 EC, optional)
Natural Language Processing (5 EC, optional)
User Interface Evaluation (5 EC, optional)
Information Science Ma Work Placement (10 EC, optional)
Master's Thesis Information Science (20 EC)
Research Seminar Information Science (5 EC)
Conversational Interfaces: Practice (5 EC, optional)
Language Technology Project (5 EC, optional)
Programme options
Master's placement (specialization)

During this Master's track, you can follow a placement for ECTS credit points.

It is your responsibility to find a placement yourself, but the Office for Student Affairs can offer help with this where necessary.

Study abroad

  • Study abroad is discouraged

Study abroad is possible, but not recommended due to study delay and limited course options.

Entry requirements

Transfer options

Transferring from...

Study programmeOrganizationTransition
Information TechnologyAll Universities of applied sciencesVia a pre-master
Study programmeOrganizationTransition
Artificial IntelligenceAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Computing ScienceAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Information ScienceAll Research universitiesNo additional requirements
Study programmeOrganizationTransition
Information ScienceUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Artificial IntelligenceUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements
Communication and Information StudiesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a successfully completed Faculty Minor in Information Science (30 ECTS) and/or a pre-Master's programme (30-60 ECTS)

Dutch Language and CultureUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a successfully completed Faculty Minor in Information Science (30 ECTS) and/or a pre-Master's programme (30-60 ECTS)

LinguisticsUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a successfully completed Faculty Minor in Information Science (30 ECTS) and/or a pre-Master's programme (30-60 ECTS)

English Language and CultureUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a successfully completed Faculty Minor in Information Science (30 ECTS) and/or a pre-Master's programme (30-60 ECTS)

European Languages and CulturesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

With a successfully completed Faculty Minor in Information Science (30 ECTS) and/or a pre-Master's programme (30-60 ECTS)

Computing ScienceUniversity of GroningenNo additional requirements

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Students with a Bachelor's degree in Information Science or Artificial Intelligence are directly admissible to this Master's track. Students with a Bachelor's degree from the University of Groningen in following fields:

  • Communication and Information Science
  • Dutch Language and Culture
  • Linguistics
  • English Language and Culture
  • European Languages and Cultures

who have successfully completed a Faculty Minor in Information Science (30 ECTS) and/or a pre-Master's programme (30-60 ECTS) can also be admitted to this Master's track.

language test

Additional requirements English: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 90 (with a minimum of 21 on all items), or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 on all items). Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180.

Registration procedure

Note: it's only possible to a very limited extent to start in February. For more information, please contact the study advisor.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202401 September 2024
15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

A Bachelor diploma in the field of:

  • Communication- and Information Science (knowledge of programming, web technology and computational linguistics is required)
  • Humanities Computing/Information Science
language test

Additional requirements English: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 90 (with a minimum of 21 on all items), or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 on all items). Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180.

Registration procedure

Note: it's only possible to a very limited extent to start in February. For more information, please contact the study advisor.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202401 September 2024
15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202401 September 2024
01 May 202501 September 2025
Tuition fees
NationalityYearFeeProgramme form
EU/EEA2023-2024€ 2314full-time
non-EU/EEA2023-2024€ 16000full-time
EU/EEA2024-2025€ 2530full-time
non-EU/EEA2024-2025€ 18700full-time

Practical information for:

After your studies

Job prospects

As a graduate, you can work as a web developer, software-engineer, IT-consultant, application developer, researcher or teacher. You have a wide choice of places to work: it goes without saying that you could find a function in a large IT firm, but virtually any other company or organization with an IT department has a need for Information Science specialists. It is also possible to start your own company or become a researcher.

Our former students work in large information technology companies or in information technology departments of companies and governments. Some of them successfully started their own company. Others began an international academic career and have obtained a PhD degree.

Job examples

  • Computational linguist
  • Information analyst
  • Software developer
  • Web designer
  • IT Consultant
  • IT Manager
  • Researcher in natural language processing
Research

As a student of Information Science you will develop a solid theoretical and practical foundation for carrying out this kind of research. The knowledge you will gain matches well with current job requirements for researchers in the field of Information Science.

Research in Information Science concentrates in Groningen on development, use and evaluation of language and web technology. Good examples are automated search and analysis of information in traditional and new media, dialectology, corpus annotation,gamification, and syntactic and semantic analysis of text. This research is coordinated by the Computational Linguistics group of the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG).

You will find further information on the personal web sites of:

Johan Bos

Gertjan van Noord

Apply nowBrochureEventsContact

Contact

  • Ask Your Question Here (please fill in this contact form, we will answer you as soon as possible.)
  • Albert Everaarts (Studieadviseur)
    Email: studieadviseurik rug.nl
    Telephone: 050-363 5809
  • Sjors van Ooij (Studieadviseur)
    Email: studieadviseurik rug.nl
  • Admission Office (Contact form)

University of Groningen Orange Tulip Scholarship/Talent Grant Faculty of Arts

Are you a non-EU/EEA student from Russia, India or Indonesia, starting a Master's programme at the Faculty of Arts? If so, you could qualify for the University of Groningen OTS/Talent Grant, Faculty of Arts, a partial scholarship which helps you to finance your studies.

Read more about the OTS/Talent Grant Faculty of Arts.

Read more

Study associations

ASCI

ASCI is a study association for the students of Information Science at the University of Groningen.
ASCI's main aim is to represent the interests of its members and to stimulate contact between the students, companies and the faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen. In this way, ASCI organizes a vast array of activities such as socials and trips.
https://www.ascigroningen.nl
Read more
Study support

If you have any questions or doubts about your studies, you can always contact the study advisor. He or she knows all the ins and outs of the programme and personal planning. Study advisors are impartial and everything that is discussed is treated confidentially. They can also help you find the right institutions and student desks for your problems.