Translation and Interpreting

The research in the Translation and Interpreting programme at the University of Surrey reflects the evolving nature of the discipline, encompassing human, machine-assisted and translation, novel modalities of audiovisual translation, and innovative practices in interpreting.

The research at the University of Surrey University of Surrey will give you a critical understanding of technology-enabled language mediation as well as quality, ethical and social dimensions of a fast-evolving language services industry.

Career opportunities

Combine your knowledge of translation and interpreting as human practices with expertise in computational linguistics, natural language processing, machine learning/AI, distance communication and human-computer interaction. At a time when increasing automation is reshaping language services into one of the fastest growing industries nationally and globally, the ‘technological turn’ in translation/interpreting has created a wealth of opportunities. However, to understand the dimensions of technology’s impact, to mitigate drawbacks and to derive innovative solutions it requires fresh approaches to research. It normally takes three years of full-time study or six years of part-time study to complete this PhD in Translation and Interpreting Translation and Interpreting . You will take a confirmation viva at 12-15 months (or 24-30 months part-time) and will then be assessed by a thesis and viva examination. You will be assigned two supervisors, who will guide you through your PhD, meet with you monthly to discuss your progress, and give you feedback and advice on your work. You will also have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with other researchers from the Centre and across the University who work on topics relevant to your research. As a doctoral student, you’ll receive a structured training programme covering the practical aspects of being a researcher, including grant-writing, publishing in journals, and applying for academic jobs.

Research themes

• Translation technologies, incl. computer-assisted translation, translation memories, machine translation and post-editing

• Interpreting technologies, esp. video-mediated interpreting, distance/remote interpreting

• Audiovisual translation incl. subtitling, audio description, re-speaking and other modalities

• Collaborative translation

• Translation and natural language processing

• Bilingual lexicography, corpora and translation