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Onderwijs Master en PhD opleidingen Voice Technology
Header image Voice Technology

Voice Technology

This one-year master's in Voice Technology will give you the expertise you need to contribute to the cutting edge in voice synthesis and speech recognition.

Whenever you dictate a message on your smartphone or ask Alexa the weather, you are using voice technologies. But this is only the beginning! Soon speech technologies will be present in even more smart places, with applications in health, cybersecurity, language learning, and much more. For now, people with scientific expertise in the domain of VT are in short supply. We aim to fix that!

This programme is suitable for students from different academic backgrounds with a strong interest in tech. You will work in teams to make your own synthetic voices, speech recognisers, and more. Interact with guest speakers from speech tech start-ups, multinationals, and research labs around the world and have the chance to collaborate with PhD students. In the final semester, you will even make your own voice tech demo as a final project.

Read VT stories on our blog!

The programme was developed in consultation with partners from Silicon Valley, local start-ups and universities worldwide to ensure you acquire expertise in voice synthesis and speech recognition and have the requisite mastery of programming, machine learning, and speech sounds to make an impact when you graduate.

Keep me posted !

Feiten & Cijfers
Titel/Graad
MSc in Voice Technology
Type opleiding
Master
Duur
12 maanden (60 ECTS)
Croho code
60472
Voertaal
Engels
Start
September
Faculteit
Campus Fryslân
Waarom dit programma in Leeuwarden?

The Voice Technology MSc. is the only graduate programme dedicated to voice synthesis and speech recognition. This is an interdisciplinary programme in which students from diverse backgrounds collaborate with each other and industrial partners. You will develop speech recognizers, make synthetic voices, and execute empirical experiments. Your thesis project also includes making a demonstrator to showcase your expertise.

Leeuwarden is a city of innovation, home to many start-ups and established companies, including serious game and tech businesses which could collaborate on voice technology applications. Additionally, there are several other universities, colleges, research institutes, and language-related NGOs. Voice technology is even recognized by the province as a crucial domain of regional interest, indicating strong political support for this master's programme.

Leeuwarden is a medium-sized vibrant student city and the capital of the province of Fryslân. It is a highly cultural city, recently named the European Capital of Culture. It offers many festivals, bars, cinemas, museums, theatres, and parks. Leeuwarden, like all of Fryslân, is multilingual with many locals speaking the Frisian language alongside Dutch, English and others. It is, then, an interesting test-bed for voice technology developments involving less-resourced languages, multilingualism and code switching.

Affordable housing and accommodation are easily found. The inter-city high-speed trains provide easy connection to the nearby city of Groningen and many other cities, from The Hague to Amsterdam.

Programma

The curriculum is aligned across four blocks.

1: The courses in this block lay the foundations for the MSc. Voice Technology with essential content needed for the rest of the programme. This includes an introductory course into voice technology (in which you will develop your first application). Students also learn Python programming for voice technology and become familiar with the scientific study of speech sounds.

2: This block provides subject-specific courses on voice technology. The knowledge and skills learned in the 1st block are used together with Machine Learning within the courses Speech Recognition I and Speech Synthesis I, both of which start from the humble beginnings of voice technology, and give students an inside, hands-on view on some of the first attempts to automatically recognize and synthesize voice up to current systems.

3: Speech recognition and synthesis are taken to a higher level in Speech Recognition II and Speech Synthesis II as students learn about state-of-the art systems and real-world challenges, augmented with guest lectures given by industrial partners. The Thesis Design course educates students on experimental protocol and research ethics and guides them through the development of a pilot study and prototype demonstrator.

4: Students combine knowledge and skills from the previous blocks and use them in their Thesis Project. Building on the pilot study and prototype developed in the last block, students write their thesis and polish their prototype to create a demonstrator suitable for their thesis defense. They also prepare to present results at the end of the year.

Semesters
VakkenVakkencatalogus >1a1b2a2b
Introduction to Voice Technology (5 EC)
Programming (5 EC)
Speech Sounds (5 EC)
Machine Learning (5 EC)
Speech Recognition I (5 EC)
Speech Synthesis I (5 EC)
Speech Recognition II (5 EC)
Speech Synthesis II (5 EC)
Thesis Design (5 EC)
Thesis Project (15 EC)

Studeren in het buitenland

  • Studeren in het buitenland is niet voorzien
Toelatingseisen

Doorstroommogelijkheden

Doorstromen vanaf..

VooropleidingOrganisatieInstroom
TaalwetenschapAlle WO instellingenDrempelloze toelating
InformaticaAlle WO instellingenDrempelloze toelating
Kunstmatige IntelligentieAlle WO instellingenDrempelloze toelating
Kunstmatige IntelligentieAlle WO instellingenDrempelloze toelating
VooropleidingOrganisatieInstroom
Data Science and SocietyRijksuniversiteit GroningenDrempelloze toelating

Toelatingseisen

Specifieke eisenExtra informatie
taaltoets cijfer

Sufficient English language proficiency is required, except for native speakers of the English language from the following countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands.

The following documents are valid:

  • Full English Bachelor's degree*, where the only language of instruction is English.
  • TOEFL: a minimum score of 90 with a minimum of 18 on reading and listening, 20 on speaking and 21 on writing,
  • IELTS: a minimum score of 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 on all items, or
  • Cambridge: C1 advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180
  • English taught bachelors from the following countries are valid as proof of English proficiency: The Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

An exemption can be given by the Admission Board.

Inschrijvingsdeadlines

Type studentDeadlineStart opleiding
Nederlandse studenten01 juli 202401 september 2024
01 juli 202501 september 2025
EU/EEA studenten01 mei 202401 september 2024
01 mei 202501 september 2025
non-EU/EEA studenten01 mei 202401 september 2024
01 mei 202501 september 2025

Be aware that the table about the selection procedures refers to the country where you obtained your diploma, not your nationality. 'Dutch students' for example means students with a Dutch diploma.

Toelatingseisen

Specifieke eisenExtra informatie
taaltoets cijfer

Sufficient English language proficiency is required, except for native speakers of the English language from the following countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands.

The following documents are valid:

  • Full English Bachelor's degree*, where the only language of instruction is English.
  • TOEFL: a minimum score of 90 with a minimum of 18 on reading and listening, 20 on speaking and 21 on writing,
  • IELTS: a minimum score of 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 on all items, or
  • Cambridge: C1 advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180
  • English taught bachelors from the following countries are valid as proof of English proficiency: The Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

An exemption can be given by the Admission Board.

Taaleisen

ExamenMinimum score
C1 Gevorderd (voormalig CAE)C1
C2 Bekwaamheid (voormalig CPE)C2
IELTS gemiddelde score6.5
IELTS luistervaardigheid6
IELTS leesvaardigheid6
IELTS schrijfvaardigheid6
IELTS spreekvaardigheid6
TOEFL internetversie90

Aanmeldingsprocedure

The MSc VT allows direct entry for anyone with a bachelor's degree from a recognized university and a sincere interest in the topic. That said, a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Artificial intelligence and Applied Linguistics (and familiarity with Python) would be an asset.

Inschrijvingsdeadlines

Type studentDeadlineStart opleiding
Nederlandse studenten01 juli 202401 september 2024
01 juli 202501 september 2025
EU/EEA studenten01 mei 202401 september 2024
01 mei 202501 september 2025
non-EU/EEA studenten01 mei 202401 september 2024
01 mei 202501 september 2025
Collegegeld
NationaliteitJaarKostenVorm
EU/EER2023-2024€ 2314voltijd
niet EU/EER2023-2024€ 17800voltijd
EU/EER2024-2025€ 2530voltijd
niet EU/EER2024-2025€ 20800voltijd

Praktische informatie voor:

Na je studie

After your studies you can work in industry, for example at the speech labs of the bigger tech companies. Due to the interdisciplinary character of the programme students from different backgrounds learn to communicate and work together. The combination of programming and machine learning skills with linguistics knowledge is a very attractive feature for the labor market. Of course students can also pursue an academic career. Thus, there are several academic speech labs in Europe and beyond.

Arbeidsmarkt

Throughout the programme we invite several guest speakers from industry. That way students will get a good impression of the various possibilities ranging from developing speech recognizer, synthetic voices, automatic detection of pathologies from speech, the use of voice technology in robotica and/or dialogue systems, etc. The voice technology industry is a fast-growing market which provides lots of opportunities for graduates.

Potentiële beroepen

  • Voice Forensic Specialist
  • Speech Analyst
  • Research Engineer
  • Entrepreneur
  • PhD Researcher
  • Speech Scientist
Onderzoek

Research

The MSc. Voice Technology is embodied in the “Culture, Language and Technology” research department. Which consists of an international, multidisciplinary team of PhD's and postdoctoral researchers working on topics as diverse as voice-based disease recognition, multilingualism and the brain, voice synthesis for under-resourced languages, multilingual ethnography, and more.

Some of these young scholars may make a guest appearance in your lectures and provide opportunities to connect to doctoral research projects, co-authored publications, or one of our multiple EU-subsidized research grants.

Nu aanmeldenBrochureEvenementenContact

Contact

  • Marijke Huisman-Wolters (General inquiries Voice Technology programme & application)
    Email: cf-vt rug.nl
    Telefoon: +31 (0)6 31 98 24 13

Studieverenigingen

Nobis Cura Futuri

Nobis Cura Futuri is the Study Association and the official embodiment of the international student community at Campus Fryslân.
Founded in 2020, we aim to provide plenty of fun, social and academic events (think of Pub crawls, talent shows, travels, guest-speaker evenings). All in the spirit of Nobis Cura Futuri: “The Care of the Future is Ours”, meaning we strive to provide activities that are aimed at making the most of your student life by adhering to our values of responsibility, diversity, sustainability and development.
https://www.rug.nl/cf/studeren-bij-cf/nobis-cura-futuri
Lees meer
Studentprofiel

The Voice Technology MSc attracts students interested in topics like A.I., computer science, human/machine interaction, linguistics, and/or digital humanities. Our students are curiosity-driven, collaborative, creative people passionate about science & tech. Many will pursue a career at a tech company or start-up, others are entrepreneurs or doctoral candidates. The programme appeals most to students interested in a hands-on, highly engaged, interdisciplinary programme on voice technologies.