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The University of Edinburgh: Translation Studies
| Institution | The University of Edinburgh View institution profile |
|---|---|
| Department | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
| Web | https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying |
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
Summary
Make an original, positive and lasting contribution to translation studies. A PhD is an opportunity to expand upon your interests and expertise as part of an active research community making impact across the globe. Join us at the heart of Scotland’s capital and festival city.
Our PhD enables you to enhance your translation practice while gaining an intellectual and philosophical perspective on the activity of translation. In this way, you will develop as a self-reflective and theoretically minded researcher or translator.
Over the course of your PhD, you will complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of at least two supervisors. You can opt to produce either:
-
an independent thesis (of around 80,000 words), or
-
an extended scholarly translation with commentary
We encourage our PhD students to investigate translation’s intersections with intellectual, material and political perspectives in global contexts. Our expertise covers a wide range of interdisciplinary and international research areas, including:
-
audiovisual and literary translation
-
translation and music, art, intermediality and performance
-
translation and religion and history
-
translation and gender and trauma
-
translation and health and the environment
The languages we specialise in come from around the world, especially:
-
Europe
-
East Asia
-
India
-
the Middle East
See programme details for further information on the languages we offer.
Our programme includes access to skills training, including research methodologies specific to translation studies. Our research resources, collections and facilities are outstanding.
| Study type | Research |
|---|---|
| Level | SCQF Level 12 |
| Entry requirements | Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on the University of Edinburgh website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements. |
| Location | Central area campus George Square Edinburgh EH8 9JZ |
Summary
Make an original, positive and lasting contribution to translation studies. A PhD is an opportunity to expand upon your interests and expertise as part of an active research community making impact across the globe. Join us at the heart of Scotland’s capital and festival city.
Our PhD enables you to enhance your translation practice while gaining an intellectual and philosophical perspective on the activity of translation. In this way, you will develop as a self-reflective and theoretically minded researcher or translator.
Over the course of your PhD, you will complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of at least two supervisors. You can opt to produce either:
-
an independent thesis (of around 80,000 words), or
-
an extended scholarly translation with commentary
We encourage our PhD students to investigate translation’s intersections with intellectual, material and political perspectives in global contexts. Our expertise covers a wide range of interdisciplinary and international research areas, including:
-
audiovisual and literary translation
-
translation and music, art, intermediality and performance
-
translation and religion and history
-
translation and gender and trauma
-
translation and health and the environment
The languages we specialise in come from around the world, especially:
-
Europe
-
East Asia
-
India
-
the Middle East
See programme details for further information on the languages we offer.
Our programme includes access to skills training, including research methodologies specific to translation studies. Our research resources, collections and facilities are outstanding.
| Study type | Research |
|---|---|
| Level | SCQF Level 12 |
| Entry requirements | Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on the University of Edinburgh website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements. |
| Location | Central area campus George Square Edinburgh EH8 9JZ |
Summary
Make an original, positive and lasting contribution to translation studies. A PhD is an opportunity to expand upon your interests and expertise as part of an active research community making impact across the globe. Join us at the heart of Scotland’s capital and festival city.
Our PhD enables you to enhance your translation practice while gaining an intellectual and philosophical perspective on the activity of translation. In this way, you will develop as a self-reflective and theoretically minded researcher or translator.
Over the course of your PhD, you will complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of at least two supervisors. You can opt to produce either:
-
an independent thesis (of around 80,000 words), or
-
an extended scholarly translation with commentary
We encourage our PhD students to investigate translation’s intersections with intellectual, material and political perspectives in global contexts. Our expertise covers a wide range of interdisciplinary and international research areas, including:
-
audiovisual and literary translation
-
translation and music, art, intermediality and performance
-
translation and religion and history
-
translation and gender and trauma
-
translation and health and the environment
The languages we specialise in come from around the world, especially:
-
Europe
-
East Asia
-
India
-
the Middle East
See programme details for further information on the languages we offer.
Our programme includes access to skills training, including research methodologies specific to translation studies. Our research resources, collections and facilities are outstanding.
| Study type | Research |
|---|---|
| Level | SCQF Level 12 |
| Entry requirements | Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on the University of Edinburgh website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements. |
| Location | Central area campus George Square Edinburgh EH8 9JZ |
Summary
Make an original, positive and lasting contribution to translation studies. A PhD is an opportunity to expand upon your interests and expertise as part of an active research community making impact across the globe. Join us at the heart of Scotland’s capital and festival city.
Our PhD enables you to enhance your translation practice while gaining an intellectual and philosophical perspective on the activity of translation. In this way, you will develop as a self-reflective and theoretically minded researcher or translator.
Over the course of your PhD, you will complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of at least two supervisors. You can opt to produce either:
-
an independent thesis (of around 80,000 words), or
-
an extended scholarly translation with commentary
We encourage our PhD students to investigate translation’s intersections with intellectual, material and political perspectives in global contexts. Our expertise covers a wide range of interdisciplinary and international research areas, including:
-
audiovisual and literary translation
-
translation and music, art, intermediality and performance
-
translation and religion and history
-
translation and gender and trauma
-
translation and health and the environment
The languages we specialise in come from around the world, especially:
-
Europe
-
East Asia
-
India
-
the Middle East
See programme details for further information on the languages we offer.
Our programme includes access to skills training, including research methodologies specific to translation studies. Our research resources, collections and facilities are outstanding.
| Study type | Research |
|---|---|
| Level | SCQF Level 12 |
| Entry requirements | Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on the University of Edinburgh website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements. |
| Location | Central area campus George Square Edinburgh EH8 9JZ |
MSc
Summary
Our MSc Translation Studies will enhance your practical skills in, and theoretical understanding of, translation as an activity. You will have the opportunity to focus on two languages in addition to English, making the University of Edinburgh the ideal place to study translation.
Throughout our programme, we encourage critical thinking on language use and translation and an understanding of the factors which impact translation practice and the field of Translation Studies.
We will introduce you to key concepts in translation theory and discuss how to apply them in translation practice.
This will help you sharpen important professional skills, such as:
-
undertaking research
-
thinking and writing analytically
-
understanding texts in different genres and how to translate them
-
writing commentaries and essays to deadline
-
developing oral and visual presentation techniques
-
using a range of resources
The programme will also broaden your understanding of issues relating to translation, such as gender, institutional power relations, technological advancements (including AI), and colonialism.
Languages We offer a wide variety of languages, from Arabic to Norwegian, with the opportunity to focus on two of them in addition to English.
Browse our full range of languages offered and find out about language pairs
Community Our MSc Translation Studies draws on the expertise of research-active teaching staff and translation and interpreting practitioners from across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, as well as visiting speakers.
You will be part of an international community of students and a friendly, close-knit department with an excellent PhD programme, its own seminar series, and many industry and cultural partners in the city of Edinburgh.
The University of Edinburgh library holds some two million borrowable volumes and subscribes to the 'Bibliography of Translation Studies'.
Translation and technology We closely follow the developments in machine translation and generative AI, and how they might influence the teaching of translation. We also look to the language service industry and professional associations to understand how translators use AI and what opportunities and challenges these technologies might pose for linguists.
Our option course, Technology and Translation in the Workplace, focuses in part on the field of machine translation. The computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools we use, such as RWS Trados, now incorporate not only translation memory systems, but also machine translation and other forms of automation as standard components. In our classes, we examine the impact of these technologies on the workflow and on the role of the translator.
We continuously adapt our teaching to include discussions on technologies as they develop. For example, we also cover machine translation and generative AI in other courses, particularly in relation to creativity, translation practice and research methods, and ethical and legal issues (such as data usage or transparency).
| Study type | Taught |
|---|---|
| Level | SCQF Level 11 |
| Entry requirements | Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on our website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements. |
| Location | Central area campus George Square Edinburgh EH8 9JZ |
Summary
Our MSc Translation Studies will enhance your practical skills in, and theoretical understanding of, translation as an activity. You will have the opportunity to focus on two languages in addition to English, making the University of Edinburgh the ideal place to study translation.
Throughout our programme, we encourage critical thinking on language use and translation and an understanding of the factors which impact translation practice and the field of Translation Studies.
We will introduce you to key concepts in translation theory and discuss how to apply them in translation practice.
This will help you sharpen important professional skills, such as:
-
undertaking research
-
thinking and writing analytically
-
understanding texts in different genres and how to translate them
-
writing commentaries and essays to deadline
-
developing oral and visual presentation techniques
-
using a range of resources
The programme will also broaden your understanding of issues relating to translation, such as gender, institutional power relations, technological advancements (including AI), and colonialism.
Languages We offer a wide variety of languages, from Arabic to Norwegian, with the opportunity to focus on two of them in addition to English.
Browse our full range of languages offered and find out about language pairs
Community Our MSc Translation Studies draws on the expertise of research-active teaching staff and translation and interpreting practitioners from across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, as well as visiting speakers.
You will be part of an international community of students and a friendly, close-knit department with an excellent PhD programme, its own seminar series, and many industry and cultural partners in the city of Edinburgh.
The University of Edinburgh library holds some two million borrowable volumes and subscribes to the 'Bibliography of Translation Studies'.
Translation and technology We closely follow the developments in machine translation and generative AI, and how they might influence the teaching of translation. We also look to the language service industry and professional associations to understand how translators use AI and what opportunities and challenges these technologies might pose for linguists.
Our option course, Technology and Translation in the Workplace, focuses in part on the field of machine translation. The computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools we use, such as RWS Trados, now incorporate not only translation memory systems, but also machine translation and other forms of automation as standard components. In our classes, we examine the impact of these technologies on the workflow and on the role of the translator.
We continuously adapt our teaching to include discussions on technologies as they develop. For example, we also cover machine translation and generative AI in other courses, particularly in relation to creativity, translation practice and research methods, and ethical and legal issues (such as data usage or transparency).
| Study type | Taught |
|---|---|
| Level | SCQF Level 11 |
| Entry requirements | Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on our website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements. |
| Location | Central area campus George Square Edinburgh EH8 9JZ |
Edinburgh. Extraordinary futures await.
The University of Edinburgh is one of the world's top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50, and placed 34th in the QS World University Rankings 2026.
Our position as one of Britain’s leading research universities was reaffirmed by the results of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s top research-intensive universities, ranked 4th in the UK for research power (Times Higher Education, Overall Ranking of Institutions), with 90% of our research activity classified as world leading or internationally excellent in the 2021 Research …
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