This two-university, two-country Master’s programme offers a joint study path that leads to degrees from both partner institutions. It is aimed at students who want to deepen their expertise in Turcology through a mix of traditional philological methods and contemporary approaches. Teaching and learning take place in an international setting with faculty and peers from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds.
The curriculum covers the classical branches of Turkic studies, including philological analysis of historical sources, codicology and critical edition, historical-comparative linguistics, linguistic analysis of various phenomena, and dialectology and documentation of modern Turkic languages. Literary studies are also an integral part of the programme, with training in close reading and genre analysis. In addition, you will learn to apply modern digital tools for corpus construction and the creation and study of born-digital text editions.
Throughout the programme you will be exposed to ongoing research projects and scientific activities; when appropriate, project-related work can be incorporated into regular coursework so you can immediately apply research findings in a practical context. Graduates leave with both broad and specialised academic skills that prepare them for further doctoral study or academic and research positions at universities and research institutions.
Requirements (summary)
Program structure and study locations
This two-year Master's combines study at two partner universities: the first year is spent in Uppsala, Sweden, and the second year in Mainz, Germany. In year one you complete the taught component in Turkic philology and linguistics — seven compulsory courses totaling 52.5 credits plus a 7.5-credit "Current Trends in Linguistics" course offered in the second semester (total 60 credits for year one). Year two begins at the German partner with advanced compulsory courses in Turkic linguistics and literary studies; the final semester is devoted to the Master's thesis. Thesis supervision is provided by a teacher at Mainz with co-supervision from Uppsala, and the public defence is conducted jointly in accordance with German regulations.
What you will learn
The curriculum develops advanced competence in historical and comparative Turkic studies (Old and Middle Turkic philology, history of the Turkic languages, and typology), regional comparative Turcology (Siberian, Kipchak, Oghuz), and contemporary theoretical approaches to linguistics. Training includes research methods and seminar work that prepare you to design and carry out an independent Master's thesis on a topic in Turkic linguistics, literature, or culture. By the end of the programme you will be able to analyse primary Turkic texts, conduct comparative linguistic research, present findings in academic seminars, and defend a substantial research project under a binational supervision model.
Core modules and semester requirements
Semester One (Uppsala)
Semester Two (Uppsala)
Semester Three (Mainz)
Semester Four (Mainz)
Uppsala University is responsible for handling applications, running the selection process, and making final admission decisions for this programme. International applicants should therefore apply via the university’s official admissions channels and follow its instructions and deadlines.
To be eligible, you need an undergraduate degree that corresponds to the Swedish "Kandidatexamen" and a main subject background in Turkic Languages (or a directly equivalent field). Your prior qualification must come from an internationally recognised higher education institution; equivalence of subject area and degree level will be assessed as part of the admission review.
Winter Semester (International)
15 January 2027
Winter Semester (EU/EEA)
15 January 2027
The programme explicitly prepares graduates for careers in academia and research, qualifying them for doctoral studies and academic positions at universities and research institutions focused on Turkic studies, historical linguistics and philology. Graduates will have the specialised knowledge and research training needed for roles in university departments, research centres and postgraduate research programmes. Outside academia, graduates can apply their skills to archives and libraries, cultural heritage institutions, language documentation and preservation projects, publishing, translation and interpretation, and roles in governmental or non-governmental organisations dealing with Central Asian, Caucasian and Turkic-language communities. Experience with digital corpora and text editions also opens opportunities in language technology, lexicography and digital humanities projects.