Before you arrive you will be matched to one or more of our expert supervisors and during the course you will meet with them frequently for guidance on the conceptualization, research and writing of your Dissertation. This will include reading and discussion of draft material. You will also be expected to participate in the research culture of the School, for example by attending research seminars.

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Research proposal guidance

This new programme comprises two distinct routes: (i) a theoretical/academic route and (ii) a practice route. The theoretical/academic route involves demonstrating a significant and original contribution to knowledge in the field of Translation Studies.

The practice route advances knowledge principally by means of practice – by the submission of a translation – but also by requiring the student to demonstrate a critical awareness, informed by relevant scholarship in Translation and Transcultural Studies, of the issues – stylistic, cultural, sociological and/or ideological, among others – involved in the translation of the work and to display this critical awareness in the form of a translation commentary.

The two elements of the PhD should nonetheless form an organic whole. The practice route is distinct from a standard scholarly PhD in that significant aspects of the claim for the doctoral requirement of an original contribution to a significant field of knowledge are demonstrated through the translation. The accompanying commentary demonstrates doctoral levels of contextual knowledge and powers of analysis and argument, displaying the same intellectual discipline as a traditional PhD.

Staff working in Translation and Transcultural Studies at Warwick have expertise in a wide range of research areas, including cultural translation and transculturalism, memory and transcultural studies, literary translation, sociolinguistics, self-translation in multilingual contexts, gender and feminist translation studies, sociology of translation, and history of publishing. The close link between translation and transcultural studies and the language sections (Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Hispanic Studies) strengthens the cultural approach to translation, seen as cultural exchange and transfer, and is one of our distinctive research aspect. Proposals framed in cultural, social and political contexts in other languages, and not based on linguistic/textual comparative analysis only, could be considered depending on topics and approaches within staff research expertise.

Details on staff expertise and profile are available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/modernlanguages/academic/, and further details on staff current research project can be found at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/translation-at-warwick/research/

Doctoral students prepare a dissertation of 80,000 words, in accordance with their chosen route (as above). Progress reviews take place at regular interval, normally in every year of study..

Entry Requirements an Honours degree (a 2.i or First) and normally a Merit or Distinction in an MA with specialisation in an appropriate subject, including Modern Languages, Translation Studies, English Literature, Classics, and Creative Writing. Applicants may also be considered who can demonstrate compelling evidence of advanced translation experience through significant publication and associated professional recognition and an awareness of the critical requirements of translation practice in an academic environment.

English language requirements Band B
IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above

International Students
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications. For more information please visit the international entry requirements page.

For up-to-date information concerning fees, funding and scholarships for Home, EU and Overseas students please visit Warwick's Fees and Funding webpage.