Taught programmes (MA)

The School of Modern Languages offers the following Master's programmes, which can be taken either full-time (one year), part-time (two years). Translation students also have the option of part-time study over three years:

• ‌PG DIP/MA in Translation
• ‌MA in Chinese-English Translation
• MA in Chinese-English Audiovisual Translation
• ‌MA in Comparative Literatures and Cultures

What is the MA in Comparative Literatures and Cultures?

Research programmes (MPhil, PhD)

We welcome applications for postgraduate degrees by research: the MPhil (1 year full-time, 2 years part-time) and the PhD (3-4 years full-time, 6-8 years part-time). Study for all our research degrees can be on-campus or by distance learning.

Research degrees can be taken in the following subjects:

• French
• German
• Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
• Italian
• Russian and Czech
• Translation and Interpreting Studies
• Comparative Literatures and Cultures

As PhD and MPhil students, you will be at the forefront of the School’s cross-disciplinary research, which speaks directly to key University research themes: creative and cultural industries, data and digitalisation, social justice, net zero and climate change, enterprise and innovation. We encourage projects focused on single language or disciplinary areas as well as actively supporting interdisciplinary research that cuts across languages or other disciplines in the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences. We welcome proposals for practice-oriented work, in Translation in particular.

Research community

You will join an active and inclusive research community at School and departmental level. Our research environment was judged to be 100% ‘world-leading’ in REF 2021, in which overall we ranked in fourth position nationally out of 47 submissions in terms of GPA. You will be encouraged to participate in research seminars, lectures and workshops, with opportunities to present your own research to your colleagues. You will also be encouraged to join in the activities of research centres and clusters beyond the School, some of them student-led.

Your supervisors will be one of your most important points of contact: they are guides for your research project and supporters of your personal development. You will have a team of two supervisors, from different disciplines where this reflects your research. Sometimes a third supervisor will add further experience or expertise. Supervisions normally take place once per month. Our prospectus pages list members of staff available for supervision and their specialisms; there is a full list of our researchers at this link.

You will also join a network of research students in the Faculty of Arts, located at the Graduate Research Centre. This dedicated building for researchers in the Arts and Humanities comprises work and social spaces. Alongside the physical and electronic resources of the University’s libraries and cultural collections, you will have access to the School’s Multimedia Centre. Research students across the University are connected and supported by the Bristol Doctoral College, with its PGR Hub space at the centre of the campus.

Our students and what they say

Our PhD and MPhil students have public profiles in the School’s ‘People’ listing and on Explore Bristol Research.

By doing a PhD in the School of Modern Languages, I have had the freedom to bring together a mixture of sociological, historical and cultural studies, while exploring a topic that I am passionate about.

The international nature of the School allows the PhD to have a more global, outward perspective, as well as a chance to explore other cultures in great depth. Plus, I have had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork in two different countries, in order to compare their data, and have been able to improve my language skills too.

Emma Frazer, PhD Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

I am so lucky that both of my supervisors are so academically responsible. And I enjoy the workshops and trainings provided by the Bristol Doctoral College (BDC) and Careers Service.

Daniel Zhao, PhD Translation