Gain the expertise you need to contribute to cutting-edge practices in speech synthesis and speech recognition. Enroll in one of the few studies in Europe where you can study speech technology!
Leeuwarden is a medium-sized vibrant student city and the capital of the province of Fryslân. This is a city of innovation, home to many start-ups and established companies, including established game and tech businesses which could collaborate on speech technology applications. The city hosts universities, colleges, research institutes, and language-related NGOs. Speech technology is even recognized by the province as a crucial domain of regional interest, indicating strong local support.
The curriculum is aligned across four blocks.
1: The courses in this block lay the foundations for the MSc. Speech Technology with essential content needed for the rest of the programme. This includes an introductory course into speech technology (in which you will develop your first application). Students also learn Python programming for speech technology and become familiar with the scientific study of speech sounds.
2: This block provides subject-specific courses on voice tech. 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CoursesCourse Catalog > | 1a | 1b | 2a | 2b |
| Introduction to Speech 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) | ||||
NB: You may notice that our programme is occasionally referred to as "Voice Technology." This is because we are in the process of transitioning the name to "Speech Technology." While we are working diligently to update all our materials, some references to the previous name may still appear. If you have any questions about the name change, please don't hesitate to reach out to us!
| Specific requirements | More information |
|---|---|
| previous education |
Students with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence or Computer/Computing Science will have direct access to the programme. Applicants with other degrees may qualify for admission through an eligibility assessment, which may require completion of a pre-master's programme. |
| language test |
Sufficient English language proficiency is required, except for native speakers of the English language from the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom. To prove your English language proficiency, you can provide one of the following documents:
An exemption can be given by the Admission Board. |
| Type of student | Deadline | Start course |
|---|---|---|
| Dutch students | 01 July 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
| 01 July 2026 | 01 September 2026 | |
| EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
| 01 May 2026 | 01 September 2026 | |
| non-EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
| 01 May 2026 | 01 September 2026 |
PLEASE NOTE: your application deadline is determined by the country where you obtained your diploma, not your nationality. For example: 'Dutch students' means students with a Dutch diploma; 'EU/EEA students' means students with a diploma from a EU/EEA country; 'non-EU/EEA students' means students with a diploma from a non-EU/EEA country.
| Specific requirements | More information |
|---|---|
| previous education |
Students with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence or Computer/Computing Science will have direct access to the programme. Applicants with other degrees may qualify for admission through an eligibility assessment, which may require completion of a pre-master's programme. |
| language test |
Sufficient English language proficiency is required, except for native speakers of the English language from the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, The Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom. To prove your English language proficiency, you can provide one of the following documents:
An exemption can be given by the Admission Board. |
| Exam | Minimum score |
|---|---|
| C1 Advanced (formerly CAE) | C1 |
| C2 Proficiency (formerly CPE) | C2 |
| IELTS overall band | 6.5 |
| IELTS listening | 6 |
| IELTS reading | 6 |
| IELTS writing | 6 |
| IELTS speaking | 6 |
| TOEFL internet based | 90 |
The MSc Speech Technology 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.
| Type of student | Deadline | Start course |
|---|---|---|
| Dutch students | 01 July 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
| 01 July 2026 | 01 September 2026 | |
| EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
| 01 May 2026 | 01 September 2026 | |
| non-EU/EEA students | 01 May 2025 | 01 September 2025 |
| 01 May 2026 | 01 September 2026 |
The MSc. in Voice Technology prepares you for a meaningful career in the industry of speech technology. The combination of programming and machine learning skills with linguistics knowledge is a very attractive feature for the labor market. The skills you acquire throughout this master's will enable to work in speech labs of the bigger tech companies, both in Europe and beyond. If you wish, you can also choose for an academic career.
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 speech technology in robotica and/or dialogue systems, etc. The speech technology industry is a fast-growing market which provides lots of opportunities for graduates.
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.
