University of Turin

What you'll study

This programme balances theoretical foundations and hands-on practice in language technologies and digital humanities. Core topics include computational linguistics, natural language processing (NLP), corpus linguistics, machine learning for text, and methods for the digital editing and preservation of cultural heritage. You will gain practical experience in programming for text (typically Python), annotation and corpus construction, speech and dialogue technologies, information extraction, and text visualisation.

The course structure normally comprises taught modules, laboratory work and a substantive research project or dissertation. Typical taught modules and practical activities you may encounter are:

• Computational Linguistics — linguistic models, syntactic and semantic parsing, part-of-speech tagging.
• Natural Language Processing — text classification, sequence models, transformers and modern NLP pipelines.
• Corpus Methods and Annotation — corpus design, annotation schemes, inter-annotator agreement, tools for manual and semi-automatic annotation.
• Machine Learning and Statistical Methods — supervised and unsupervised methods, evaluation metrics and reproducible experimentation.
• Speech and Dialogue Technologies — basics of speech recognition and synthesis, dialogue modelling (where available).
• Digital Editions and Text Encoding — TEI principles, metadata standards and textual scholarship for digital critical editions.
• Digital Preservation and Cultural Heritage Informatics — digitisation workflows, linked open data, museum and archival applications.
• Data Visualisation and Exploratory Analysis — techniques for presenting textual and network data, interactive dashboards.
• Project and Dissertation — an independent research or application project working with real-world datasets, often in collaboration with research groups or cultural institutions.

Entry requirements

Applicants are normally expected to hold a recognised bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline such as computer science, linguistics, modern languages, digital humanities, cognitive science or another humanities discipline with demonstrable quantitative or programming experience. Practical skills in programming (commonly Python), basic statistics, or prior coursework in linguistics or computing are highly desirable.

Application materials typically include academic transcripts, a CV, and a personal statement outlining relevant experience and study aims. References or letters of recommendation are commonly requested. International applicants will need to demonstrate proficiency in the language of instruction (for example through recognised English language qualifications or a demonstrated record of study in English). In some cases, applicants with strong professional experience but non-standard academic backgrounds may be considered on an individual basis.

Career prospects

Graduates leave prepared for a range of roles that bridge technology and the humanities. Typical career paths include:

• NLP engineer or data scientist in technology firms, startups and research labs.
• Computational linguist or language technology specialist in industry and academic research projects.
• Digital curator, archive or metadata specialist in libraries, museums and cultural heritage organisations.
• Content and localisation engineer in publishing, media and translation technology companies.
• Research roles and PhD study in digital humanities, computational linguistics and related fields.

Alumni commonly work in multidisciplinary teams, bringing together programming, statistical and domain knowledge to build tools for text analysis, digital editions, content indexing and information retrieval.

Why study at University of Turin

The University of Turin offers an interdisciplinary environment that brings together strengths in linguistics, computer science and humanities research. Students benefit from practical laboratories, supervised research projects and opportunities to collaborate with local cultural institutions, libraries and archives in Turin and the surrounding region. The university’s location in a city with a rich cultural and archival heritage provides particularly strong practical contexts for digital humanities projects.

Teaching draws on active research groups in language technologies and digital humanities, and the programme emphasises transferable technical skills (coding, data handling, tool development) alongside critical training in digital scholarship. This combination prepares graduates to work across academia, cultural heritage sectors and the tech industry.