Call for Applications to the Doctorate (PhD) in TESOL | Fall 2025

For Fall 2025 semester, the Department of Languages and Literature at the University of Nicosia announces the opening of six (6) positions for admission to the doctoral programme in the following areas:

How to Apply 

For academic information related to the doctorate programme, contact the PhD TESOL programme coordinator Dr Georgios Georgiou via email at [email protected].

The application must be submitted only via the online procedure available at https://www.unic.ac.cy/apply or on the programme’s page.

Applications that do not include all the supporting documents or that do not concern the subject of the announced positions will not be accepted.

About the Programme:

One (1) PhD position in TESOL with emphasis on speech acquisition. The PhD will be supervised by Dr Georgios (George) Georgiou. The student will have the opportunity to work under the Phonetic Lab, unic.ac.cy/phonetic-lab/. For more information about the supervisor, visit  http://georgiougeorg.com. Please contact the supervisor at [email protected].

One (1) PhD position in TESOL with emphasis on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). The student will have the opportunity to liaise with the working group of the NEOLAiA university alliance, which investigates models of multilingual education, https://neolaiacampus.eu/. One (1) PhD position in TESOL with emphasis on the use of technology in English language teaching. The PhDs will be supervised by Dr Antroulla Papakyriakou. For additional information, please contact the supervisor at [email protected].

One (1) PhD position in TESOL with emphasis on L2 Pragmatics and more specifically Email Pragmatics, or Young Learners’ Pragmatics, or Pragmatics in the EFL classroom. The PhD will be supervised by Prof. Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis. For more information about the supervisor, visit unic.ac.cy/el/economidou-kogetsidis-maria/. Please contact the supervisor at [email protected].

One (1) PhD position in TESOL with emphasis on English as a Heritage Language in Cyprus. The PhD will be supervised by Dr Aretousa Giannakou. For more information, contact [email protected].

One (1) PhD position in TESOL with emphasis on AI. The prospective student will have the opportunity to do their PhD with the Editors in Chief of TEwT (https://tewtjournal.org/) as their supervisors. For more information, please contact Dr Chris Alexander at [email protected] or visit https://tewtjournal.org/phd-in-tesol/.

Kindly note that the PhD positions are not funded. For more information about the tuition fees, visit https://www.unic.ac.cy/admission-requirements/financial-information/tuition-and-fees/

Potential applicants should initially contact individual supervisors and send:

• a full CV,
• a cover letter, and
• a 2000–2500-word research proposal (excluding references) on a relevant dissertation topic including a short literature review, the originality and importance of the study, aim and objectives, research questions, and methodology).

Please note that this does not comprise an official application to the doctoral program. Potential applicants will be directed to the programme coordinator for guidance regarding their application.

General admission criteria:

Applications for admission to the PhD programme will be considered only from candidates that fulfill the minimum entrance criteria as described below:

• Accredited Master’s degree in TESOL, or Applied Linguistics, or English Language/ Linguistics
• Teaching experience at least one year
• English language proficiency: Applicants should provide evidence of English language proficiency equivalent to C1-C2.
• Initial Research Proposal: An initial proposal (2,000-2,500 words, excluding references) outlining the research topic, aim and objectives, research questions and proposed research methodology.
• Application form: Applicants must submit an application form for admission and enrolment to the program. The application form requests general information about the applicant, their qualifications, relevant experience etc.
• Statement of Purpose: Applicants are required to submit a comprehensive outline highlighting their academic and individual competencies and state why they believe they are suitable for admission to the Program, as well as their reflections regarding the expectations and value of the Program for their personal advancement and career development.
• Letters of Recommendation: Applicants must obtain two recommendation letters from individuals who have known the applicant in an educational and/or professional environment. At least one of the recommendation letters must be from an academic institution where the applicant has studied previously.
• Previous theses/dissertations and any published work of academic relevance (if any).
• Individual Interviews: The interviews elicit motivation, potential and personal mission.