The LCS certificate program encompasses several course-work and research requirements over the course of the 5-year graduate program, whose completion leads to an award of the Certificate in Language and Communication Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. The requirements are designed to:
- enhance interdisciplinary training
- establish a common intellectual community across students’ diverse backgrounds and training
- ensure compatibility with training in student’s core discipline
- offer secondary discipline training
- develop a shared mathematical and computational foundation
The training requirements, listed in the table below, are ordered chronologically, reflecting the order in which student participants will most likely encounter them over their graduate career. Exact ordering is flexible, based on individual student needs.
| Training Mechanism | Purposes | Timing in graduate career |
| Training in Core Discipline | Provides in-depth expertise in student’s core discipline | Years 1 & 2 |
| Participation in ILST Seminar | Provides weekly intellectual gathering of LCS students; present/discuss research | Throughout |
| Interdisciplinary Coursework | Provides breadth of training in language sciences in 3 of our 4 core areas, as well as data analysis | Typically completed by end of Year 3 |
| Interdisciplinary PhD Advising | Department-external committee member encourages interdisciplinary approaches in PhD thesis | Years 4 & 5 |