Research Topics in Language Processing

Postgraduate course

Course description

Objectives and Content

The course is concerned with the use of methods for analysing and processing text data.  Such methods are becoming increasingly important both in academia and in industry. The course will establish a theoretical understanding of methods in language processing (with a focus on text data) and work with programs that implement such methods. The course will cover topics such as language modelling, document classification and clustering, machine learning methods, as well as other related topics in language processing. The use of such methods as part of research strategies in information science and media studies will be emphasized and the course will provide theoretical and practical basis for working with and developing methods for language processing.

Participants will become familiar with tools and packages for the analysis and processing of text data, and gain practical experience by performing their own analysis of real-world data.

Learning Outcomes

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

The candidate

  • knows various theoretical and practical issues in language processing.
  • knows relevant research and trends in language processing, as well as new research problems.

Skills:

The candidate

  • can apply the techniques to analyse and process text data.
  • can explain their choice of technologies to solve particular problems.

ECTS Credits

10

Level of Study

Master

Semester of Instruction

Irregular

Place of Instruction

UiB
Required Previous Knowledge
Bachelor in Information Science, Media Studies, or equivalent.
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Knowledge of basic statistical concepts.
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
INFO371 (10 credits)
Access to the Course
Master in information science. The course is open to other master students and to international students with a solid background in information science under application.
Teaching and learning methods
Lectures, work with subject assignment, presentations and discussions
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance

There will be mandatory assignments which must be completed and approved. The approved mandatory assignments cannot be carried over to other semesters.

Mandatory participation: Attendance at 80 % of course sessions is mandatory.

Forms of Assessment

Exam in two parts:

  • Oral individual exam (40%)
  • Group based semester project(s) (60%)

The exam assignment will be given in the language of instruction in the course. The exam answer must be submitted in the same language as the exam assignment.

Grading Scale
The grading system has a descending scale from A to E for passes and F for fail.
Assessment Semester

Assessment in teaching semester

Students with valid absence as defined in the UiB regulations § 5-5 can apply for an extended submission deadline to eksamen.infomedia@uib.no. The application must be submitted before the deadline for submission has expired.

Reading List
The reading list will be ready before 1 July for the autumn semester and 1 Decemeber for the spring semester. 
Course Evaluation
All courses are evaluated according to UiB's system for quality assurance of education.
Programme Committee
The Programme Committee is responsible for the content, structure and quality of the study programme and courses.
Course Coordinator
Department of Information Science and Media Studies
Course Administrator
The Department of Information Science and Media Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences has the administrative responsibility for the course.