Key research areas
Research at the Centre for Translation Studies focuses on the following key research areas:
- Technologies and socio-cognitive processes in translation and interpreting
- Translation and interpreting in social, institutional and media context
Research Groups
Technologies and socio-cognitive processes in translation and interpreting
This key research area focuses on the socio - logical, cognitive and technological aspects of current and future translation and interpreting practice, and examines the way in which transla - tors and interpreters as well as other stakehold - ers interact with each other and with technol - ogies. Innovative methods of investigation and development are used to study processes, actors, networks, resources and technologies to represent the challenges and strategies for solutions in translating and interpreting practice. Research in this area is also oriented towards the further development of a greater diversity of tools for machine and computer-aided transla - tion and interpreting, the language industry and multilingual terminological and other multimod - al language resources. Research topics include cognitive science-based modelling and rep - resentation of terminological dynamics, linguis - tic diversity and variation in multilingual spe - cialised communication; the cognitive demands (usability, accessibility) made by different user groups on language technology and language resources; the possibilities and limitations of the formalisation and automation of translation processes in the international language industry; and the assessment of the socio-cognitive and socio-communicative effects of these technolog - ical developments. Special emphasis is given to the advancement of new paradigms of machine translation, the multilingual semantic web and the processing of terminological data from the perspectives of computer linguistics as well as socio-cognitive technology assessment.
Translation and interpreting in social, institutional and media contexts
This key research area examines processes and products of translation and interpreting and the manifold media manifestations of translation in different socio-cultural communication contexts in the past and present. Research in this field of studies includes the position and role of trans - lators and interpreters in specific institutional settings; the function and effect of translation and interpreting in the target-cultural context; and the links between translation and other forms of transcultural communication, such as lingua franca communication. The social, institutional and media-related conditions of accessible communication in its manifold forms and functions also play an important role in this context. Such work draws on sociological theo - ries and methods of the social sciences as well as approaches based on discourse analysis and critical reflection. Inquiry focuses on mediation processes in various social settings, including 156 transcultural specialised communication, the production of works of literature and other media, and interpreting in legal, healthcare and social-service institutions in increasingly multicultural societies.
Development Plan: University of Vienna 2028
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