Subjects and general syllabus

Multilingualism

The doctoral programme in Multilingualismprovides in-depth methodological and theoretical knowledge in linguistics as well as solid experience in analysing and addressing linguistic and social/societal , as well as pedagogical issues related to multilingualism and Swedish as a second language.

The special expertise provided by doctoral education in multilingualism is in demand in an increasing number of areas. In addition to the opportunity to pursue a career in research and education at the university, a doctoral degree in this subject provides subject teachers in Swedish as a second language with subject-specific qualifications for senior lecturer positions in upper secondary schools and is also relevant for professional groups such as language consultants, school leaders, education planners and other education managers. Expertise in the field of multilingualism is also valuable for speech and language therapists, migration officials, municipal language and integration coordinators, employment officers, and policy analysts and officials at government agencies working with language and integration issues.

At our department, doctoral students in multilingualism can immerse  in language psychological aspects of multilingualism and Swedish as an additional language, sociolinguistic, societal and educational aspects of multilingualism, and Swedish from a comparative perspective

A doctoral degree is required for employment as a senior lecturer at universities and colleges.

Scandinavian languages

Research-level education in the Scandinavian languages provides in-depth methodological and theoretical knowledge of language science, as well as solid experience in the analysis and processing of language-scientific problems with regard to Scandinavian languages.

A doctoral degree is required for employment as a senior lecturer at universities and other higher education institutions. A degree in Scandinavian languages is also advantageous for employment at gymnasium schools and at scientific archives or libraries. Examples of other employment areas include working for publishers and in mass media.

Language Technology

The doctoral programme in Language Technology provides advanced methodological and theoretical training within the interdisciplinary field of language technology. The field encompasses the development and analysis of computer- and AI-based methods for processing human language, such as language and linguistic modeling, sentiment analysis, information extraction, and text analytics. The programme integrates linguistic theory with methods from computer science, machine learning, and contemporary AI research.

The field places particular emphasis on the development and application of linguistic resources and advanced language-technological tools for formulating and addressing research questions, both within language technology proper and in adjacent disciplines. This includes work with text and speech corpora, annotation frameworks, linguistic models, and infrastructures for data management, processing and experimental evaluation.

The programme provides in-depth knowledge of existing national and international language resources, methodological expertise in their application and critical assessment, and the independent capacity to design, implement, and evaluate new resources and tools. Through this training, doctoral candidates develop the ability to conduct empirically grounded, technically sophisticated, and theoretically informed research.

The capacity to analyse, structure, and generate linguistic information using AI-based and language-technological methods is central to systems for information retrieval, knowledge extraction, and advanced text processing, such as translation services, search platforms, and computer-assisted language learning. These technologies are also foundational to corpus-based linguistic research and the development of digital language resources, enabling large-scale, systematic, and empirically grounded analysis of linguistic data. In response to these developments, expertise in language technology plays a strategically significant role in the digitalised information society and is increasingly in demand across academia, as well as in the public and private sectors.

Humanities specialising in Educational Sciences

At the Department of Swedish, Multilingualism and Language Technology it is possible to link a doctoral project to one of five areas of research.

• In the area of the Didactics of Swedish, there are many possible research topics relating both to the school subject of Swedish and to Swedish as a second language. Several researchers at the department working in this field focus on students’ literacy, writing, and subject-specific language. We still know very little about what happens in classroom teaching with regard to the linguistic elements of the Swedish subject(s), such as the neighbouring Scandinavian languages or the Swedish language history.
• In the area of Text and context a research project may concern different kinds of text or forms of interaction which the pupil encounters or is expected to produce.
• In Multilingualism and Swedish as a second language research can be about language policies in schools, second language didactics or language use in multilingual educational environments.
• In the area of Grammar it is is possible to develop and test educational models of grammar, etc.
• Research in the area of Lexicology, lexicography and phraseology may involve investigations of how schools use dictionary resources and how they work with pupils' knowledge of vocabulary.
• In Language technology it is possible to study how language technology resources can support education and learning.