Interpreting Studies

Entry requirements

• Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
• Master's degree in a relevant subject – with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent)

Months of entry

January, September

Course content

Our PhD Interpreting Studies programme will enable you to undertake a significant piece of original research under the supervision of our academics.

The Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies (CTIS) at Manchester has the largest concentration of translation and interpreting studies specialists in the country and attracts visiting scholars and postgraduate students from a wide range of countries and backgrounds.

CTIS provides an excellent environment for research and organises regular scholarly events for the benefit of postgraduate students. These include a series of weekly seminars which attract a large national audience of researchers, students and practitioners. The seminars, delivered by invited speakers, form an important part of students' initiation into scholarly research, while also offering valuable opportunities for informal contact with leading academics.

The Centre also provides specialist research training for doctoral students in the form of masterclasses. Interpreting specialists who have delivered masterclasses include Robert Barsky (Vanderbilt University, USA), Ebru Diriker (Bogazici University, Turkey) and Michaela Wolf (University of Graz, Austria).

CTIS provides an excellent environment for research and organises regular scholarly events for the benefit of postgraduate students. These include a series of weekly seminars which attract a large national audience of researchers, students and practitioners. The seminars, delivered by invited speakers, form an important part of students' initiation into scholarly research, while also offering valuable opportunities for informal contact with leading academics.

In recent years, our staff have engaged in research projects examining interpreting provision in multilingual cities from historical and contemporary perspectives, the use of interpreters in services for survivors of domestic abuse and violence, in police interviews, and in NHS services. 

Major research initiatives include: 

• Translating Asylum (2018-2020), an AHRC-funded project, which explored the role of translation and interpreting provisions in supporting refugee arrivals in Britain between the 1940s and the 1980s. 
• Interpreter-mediated Mental Health Act Assessments (2021-2024), a multi-institutional study funded by NIHR SSCR, which explored interprofessional working between Approved Mental Health Professionals and signed and spoken language interpreters in Mental Health Act Assessments.  

Find out more about our research, our staff and what our current postgraduate research students are working on.