On 4th June, 2019, the European Commission published the list of University Programmes which offer high quality tuition leading to an MA degree in Translation in line with the standards of the European Master's in Translation – ЕМТ. After a highly restrictive selection by the international expert commission of appraisers the courses become members of the ЕМТ network and are given the Reserved EMT Quality Sign of the European Commission for a five-year period.
A specific recognition of the quality of teaching at the Faculty of Classical and Contemporary Philology and at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” as a whole is that the MA Translation Programme (English and/ or French), a joint programme of the Department of English and American Studies and the Department of Romance Languages and Literature at the Faculty of Classical and Contemporary Philology, for a third consecutive time was selected member of the network. For the period 2019-2024 it is licensed to hold the EMT Quality Sign – a preserved EC sign since 2012. The MA Translation Programme has been a ЕМТ member since the latter’s inception in 2009.
The ЕМТ network has been set up by a special team at the Written Translation Directorate General in close cooperation with established specialists in the academic world and representatives of the language services industry. Its main objective is to facilitate the improvement of the quality of university education in translation in Europe in view of the need of highly qualified translators/ interpreters, the need being dictated by the ever growing market of language services and the dynamically changing possibilities and requirements. The quality of tuition in the programmes awarded the EMT Quality Sign is approved on the basis of the Profile of Translation Competences compiled by European experts from the academic community and the language industry, and after an appraisal of the preparation for professional realization of the graduates by representatives of the business of the international LIND-WEB network.. The ЕМТ activities are coordinated by the Management Board of its members and are assisted by a special team from the Written Translations Directorate General at the European Commission. The ЕМТ network facilitates the development and optimization of scientific research in the domain of translation and the exchange of the best practices between the participating universities. The results of the first two 5-year periods of its functioning brought to a qualitative improvement of the level of teaching and speeded up the process of establishment of a functioning European market for competent professional interpreters/ translators.
The programmes, having gone through a phase of selection and approval for EMT membership, enjoy a number of advantages. The latter include possibilities provided by the Visiting Translator Scheme that is set up and supported by the Written Translation Directorate General for support of academic tuition in Europe, and contribute to the multifaceted dimensions of partnership with the aforementioned directorate and the members of the overall network. The high standards of quality tuition of translators also include active partnership activities with different institutions and organizations from the public and private sector in view of the continual exchange of top quality knowledge and skills in the teaching of future translators and the provision of various possibilities for the latter’s realization in life.
The participation in the MA Translation Programme in the annual EMT fora and work groups over the past periods of its membership assured the maintenance and improvement of the criteria, resources, methods and requirements related to the process of teaching of translation and the market realization of the young translation-graduates. The graduate students in the Translation Programme are given many additional possibilities, and some of them have to be specially singled out: these are the paid and free of charge internships at European institutions and in partnership organizations of the language industry.
The list of the selected participants of the EMT network and those awarded the Quality Sign for high quality MA Programmes in translation can be accessed on:
For more information about the ЕМТ project contact:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/resources-partners/european-masters-translation-emt_en
For more information about the MA Translation Programme contact: