Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

If you want to do research on any aspect of Cognitive Science and Language and you have a background on Philosophy, Linguistics or Psychology this MA is for you. This MA is not for you if you are interested in: teaching foreign languages, clinical psychology, neurolinguistic programming. We do use Natural Language Processing (computational linguistics) a lot, but we do so with research purposes.

  • If you are interested in teaching foreign languages and research on that check these out: English L2, Spanish L2 more on teaching, Spanish L2 more on grammar
  • If  you are interested in Clinical Psychology (working in hospitals): UAB, UB
  • If you are interested in Cognition and not so much language: UB, UPF
  • If you are interested in computational linguistics (Natural Language Processing) to work in a company: UNED

Indeed. Every branch offers enough courses in English so that it is possible to complete the 60 credits of the master in English; in particular, all mandatory courses are in English. Other program activities (talks, workshops, conferences…) are also mainly in English. Some non-compulsory or extra activities such as library visits could be in Spanish or Catalan.

You may encounter Catalan/Spanish if you find yourself in the need of taking background courses, which is the case when your BA formation doesn't match the MA branch you'd like to pursue. The language of each course is announced at the time of registration. We also offer free Catalan courses to interested students.

Providing proof that your BA studies have been held either in an English university or completely in English will suffice.

Yes. You must do the following procedures, which take time (so we advise to start with them as early as possible), but we do not need the papers for the admission, only for the registration if you are admitted.

- Legalisation of documentation through diplomatic channels (Spanish Embassy, Hague Apostille depending on your country of origin, check the documentation).

- Sworn translation of documents if they have not been issued in Spanish or English

- Send the certified copies of the documentation through the Spanish Embassy

- Processing of Spanish visa

Due to legal technicalities, we are unable to accept scanned documentation via e-mail from foreigners. Official documentation copies (i.e.: certified at the Spanish Embassy) must be sent to our Secretaria.

Contact mastersfilosofia@ub.edu for any related questions to the registration process.

!!! Bear in mind that these procedures are for the official registration, not the admission application, for which the documents do have to be either digital or scanned, so we receive them swiftly.

You have all the information at the "Documentation for registration" page.

Classes can take place in any of the universities associated to the program. However, most take place in UB, UPF and UAB.

UB and UPF are two universities which have several faculties located in different places, but all of them are in Barcelona city. Barcelona has an excellent public transport network which allows you to go from one place to another without trouble. UAB is a campus university (all faculties are in one place and not scattered around) located on the outskirts of Barcelona. Public transport also gets there without difficulties. It takes 50' to get to UAB from Plaça Catalunya (the city center) by public transport.

URV is the university in Tarragona and UdG the one in Girona. These two are a bit far away from Barcelona. It takes more than an hour to get to both places by train. Now, (i) no mandatory courses take place there, only optionals; and (ii), usually, subjects from those universities take place at UB.

You can find Google Maps links to all campuses at the Schedule page.

It is always possible to try applying for the programme, specially if you show a strong interest in the field and some autonomous learning on the topic, both of which you should make sure to state in the motivation letter. This said, you must bear in mind that, if admitted, you would need to take background courses (up to 12), depending on what the Admissions Committee deems necessary, which will result in having to do the MA in two years. Furthermore, people with more suitable background will have a better mark in the admission process meaning that you will only be able to enter if the competition is not steep that year.

Furthermore, we strongly recommend for you to take a look at the different paths (Philosophy, Psychology, Linguistics) offered and at the subjects and their course plans, so that you can ensure the subjects will fit your interests and expectations. With this aim, visit our website and take a close look at next year's schedule and course plans and contents.

Once you have passed all your courses and TFM and all your grades are in green on your transcript (you can check that at the Món UB), you can start the online procedure at the "Mon UB> Serveis Personals" to get your title and pay the title fee (218,15 €), once you have done that, at the Secretaria, they will check that everything is correct and you will receive a mail when the "resguard del títol" that is a valid MA title in Spain until you receive the definitive one (up to a year after finishing your MA). If you need a MA title that is valid also abroad, once you have your "resguard del títol", you will need to write to mastersfilosofia@ub.edu in order to get the "certificat substitutori del títol" (free) and once you have it legalize it. [Link to the explanation of the whole process]