Programme

The Doctoral Programme in Linguistics has sufficient material resources and services available to guarantee the proper development of doctoral training activities, in line with universal accessibility requirements and `design for all¿, as stipulated by Law 51/2003 of 2 December. Furthermore, UPV/EHU has General Research Services (SGIker), Campus Libraries, Campus Language Laboratories, Campus external relations departments, and other facilities.Specifically, the Doctoral Programme has classrooms and seminar rooms offered by the University of the Basque Country, in the main site, the School of Letters, and other spaces made available at UPV¿s Álava Campus: classrooms and laboratories at Annex-I in the School of Letters, the classrooms at the Las Nieves building¿s lecture rooms, classrooms at the Gipuzkoa Campus, and BCBL workspaces.The University of the Basque Country¿s School of Letters currently has sufficient and adequate spaces available to guarantee the perfect functioning of teaching on the Doctoral Programme proposed here. Smaller classrooms and seminar rooms are perfectly suited to the use of the Doctoral Programme in Linguistics. All classrooms at the centre have internet access, and a projector with video and computer input. Webcams have been installed in various seminar and classrooms for audiovisual communications across the internet.

In addition to the classrooms and workspaces offered across UPV and BCBL¿s various facilities the Doctoral Programme in Linguistics also has laboratories at its disposal for carrying out various types of experimental work:a) Audiometry projects and speech recording: the phonetics laboratory at UPV¿s School of Letters is a 80m2 space divided into two areas with a work room for researchers and a space with a semi-anechoic booth for speech recording and carrying out perception experiments. The laboratory is equipped with a wide and up-to-date range of scientific equipment, including the following recent acquisitions: For audiometry and calibration: (i) Audiometry (Interacoustics AS608e); (ii) Sound Level Measurement (Brüel & Kjær 2250 Light); (iii) Artificial Ear (Brüel & Kjær 4153). To acquire multi-channel audio: (i) System to acquire/generate audio (RME Fireface 800); (ii) Intercom system (Talkback Microphone Sennheiser MZT* y ME34); (iii) Wireless headphones with microphone (SENNHEISER EW 352 G3 / E-BAND). For spatial representation of stimuli: Monitoring speakers (GENELEC 8250 A). For binaural recordings/measurements: HATS (head and torso simulator).b) Behavioural experiments: To obtain reaction times of participants in behavioural experiments (both individual and group) the programme has the use of two soundproofed rooms at the Psycholinguistics laboratory, room 0.08, Annex-I in the School of Letters, and 8 soundproofed cabins at BCBL.c) Electrophysiological Experiments: to measure electrophysiological brain responses doctoral candidates on the Linguistics programme will have a comprehensive range of equipment at their disposal. The School of Letters¿ psycholinguistics laboratory has the following: Event related evoked potentials (Event related evoked potentials, 64-channel Brain Vision Analyser) and 10 caps (6 64-electrode Electro-Cap Internations, and 4 32-electrode ActiCap), as well as 4 booths equipped with BrainAmp DC® amplifiers. For subsequent EEG/ERP analysis, Vision Analyzer®2.1 software is available on all computers via a network key.d) Ocular movement studies: To measure fixations, saccades, and ocular regressions, the Doctoral Programme in Linguistics has the use of an eye-tracker (Tobii) in UPV¿s psycholinguistics laboratory and three EyeLink 2K (SR Research Ltd.) systems for tracking ocular movements at BCBL. The equipment allows reading tasks to be measured in real time and allows Visual World Paradigm experiments to be carried out.e) Magnetoencephalography (MEG) experiments. BCBL has a MEG laboratory to track cortical activity at high temporal and spatial resolution. BCBL¿s MEG facility houses a 306-sensor Elekta Neuromag ® device (204 planar gradiometers and 102 magnetometers housed in a helmet) with 16 digital lines and 8 analogue channels with auxiliary input. The MEG device also has an integrated 64-channel EEG system for the simultaneous collection of MEG and EEG measurements which can be obtained at a sample rate of up to 8 kHz in either AC or DC. For data analysis, the Elekta Neuromag® includes advanced analytical software, including tools for the visualisation and modelling of recorded data sources.f) Magnetic Resonance Experiments. At BCBL facilities doctoral candidates on the Linguistics programme have the use of a device for magnetic resonance imaging: (MRI) Siemens 3T Magnetom, for functional and structural images and images for publication. The equipment uses an advanced acquisitions system (TIM) with a 32-channel RF coil, giving high quality imaging and improved yield with IPAT (integrated parallel imaging techniques), excellent work flow, and whole-body imaging functionality (up to 181cm/6 feet). It comes with a TQ motor (45 mT/m@200 T/m/s) offering wide anatomical coverage with a maximum field of vision (FOV) of 50cm.G) Infant language acquisition experiments: At BCBL¿s BabyLAB visual habituation processes can be measured, as well as head turn preference, and intermodal preferential looking, for the assessment of general linguistic habits in pre-verbal infants (from 3 to 12 months old), and to investigate the syntactic or lexical knowledge of infants up to 28 months old. Behavioural measurements are complemented by an electrocardiogram (ECG) system which measures the infants¿ heart beats during tasks. ECG activity reflects the way children's attention is being modulated and regulated in the context of a specific language experience. It is also equipped with EEG/ERP and NIRS (Near Infrared Spectroscopy) suitable for infants and children.h) Through BCBL, the Linguistics Programme has a laboratory housed within a primary and secondary school equipped with two behavioural cabins, an EEG system, and an ocular movements tracking system, as well as the systems previously outlined at the BCBL building. This means we can guarantee access to samples of pupils.

Bibliographical resource are located around the University¿s various central Libraries. The Álava Campus has the `Koldo Mitxelena¿ Library, with an extensive collection of scientific papers and journal publications specialising in Linguistics. The Library also offers the entire university community (especially Postgraduate and Doctoral students), either in situ or across terminals located over the campus, or from doctoral candidates¿ homes, direct access to numerous data banks, journals, and research materials.1) The University of the Basque Country¿s Library has: (i) 873.116 titles, (ii) 17,008 journals, of which 10,173 are awaiting delivery and 7,180 of which are only available through subscription, (iii) 2.382 maps, (iv) 63,044 photographs and slides, (v) 70,257 microforms, (vi) 4,386 phonographical resources, (vii) 6,878 videos, (viii) 2,972 CD-ROMs. 2) The library also has the following services: (i) acquisitions, (ii) access to the bibliographical collection, (iii) user training, (iv) work placements, (v) laptop loans, (vi) group work rooms. Doctoral students can also take out dissertations and other permitted materials for their research on loan from the library, under similar terms to teaching staff. They can also request interlibrary loans and request books for acquisition.