European Universities Alliance
Part of the joint CIVIS MA
The programme is part of the joint CIVIS MA. You can spend a semester at a collaborating CIVIS European Universities Alliance partner and have those courses recognised toward your MA.
The programme is part of the joint CIVIS MA. You can spend a semester at a collaborating CIVIS European Universities Alliance partner and have those courses recognised toward your MA.
This Interdepartmental MA is built around a single, disciplinary proposition: translation is one of the most complex and consequential human activities, and it deserves a full programme of rigorous, research-led study.
The programme brings together three of NKUA's language departments, English Language and Literature, Philology, and Russian Language and Slavic Studies, each contributing a distinct research perspective on translation.
"Translation is not a linguistic accident, it is a discipline, a method, a theory, and a practice. This programme treats it as all four."
Students develop a full toolkit: translation theory and research methodology, psycholinguistic and cognitive approaches, discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, machine translation, literary translation, and intercultural studies. The specific language combinations are the laboratory, the universal methodology is the degree.
The 2026–2028 cycle introduces a new translation seminar on emerging technologies and AI tools, alongside the programme's established strengths in comparative, historical, and intercultural translation research.
Selected courses, seminars, lectures and workshops are offered in hybrid or fully online format. The MA dissertation defence may be conducted online.
Translation across Greek, English and Russian is studied from a linguistics perspective. Theoretical, methodological and analytical work draws on text linguistics, comparative and contact linguistics, corpus methods and discourse analysis across the three working languages. Graduates leave with a principled understanding of how language works, not only of how it is moved across languages.
Approximately two seminars per month are delivered by invited professors and senior researchers from leading international institutions. Visiting speakers contribute lectures, masterclasses and discussion sessions across the linguistics-translation continuum, with attention to all three working languages. Open to all MA students; attendance is integrated into the academic calendar.
Each semester offers at least 4 courses across the three departments; students choose 3 (10 ECTS each). Select by research interest, not by department. The dissertation is written in any of the three working languages.
An original, individually authored piece of research (15,000 to 20,000 words). The dissertation may be written in Greek, English, or Russian, reflecting the programme's genuinely multilingual character. The student proposes a title and supervisor; the Steering Committee assigns a three-member committee. Approved dissertations are deposited in NKUA's digital repository PERGAMOS.
For the 2026–2028 cycle, the Steering Committee has replaced the traditional written examination with a portfolio-based evaluation and an oral interview. We are selecting for translation intelligence, not examination performance. The process: portfolio evaluation (50%) + oral interview (50%).
Tuition fees: none. The Interdepartmental MA Programme is offered without tuition fees.
Applications open 2 May 2026 and close 20 September 2026. Programme begins 12 October 2026.
Reference letter (for your referee only): open form
Enquiries: skarag@enl.uoa.gr · 210 7277771
Accessibility: applicants requiring accommodations during the oral interview should contact the Secretariat at skarag@enl.uoa.gr at least seven days before the interview.
The Interdepartmental MA Programme (DPMS, the Greek acronym for Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών) is taught by active researchers across three departments and connected to a wider research environment in linguistics and translation studies.
English Language and Literature, Philology, and Russian and Slavic Studies, jointly delivering the curriculum.
The Programme is supported by the GlossaContact Lab (Lab of Translation, Interpreting, Diachronic and Synchronic Study of Language Contact) of the Department of English Language and Literature, which contributes seminars, corpus resources, and digital tools across the three working languages.
Students may attend an annual international summer school in the Cyclades focused on diachronic linguistics, with priority registration for the Interdepartmental MA participants.
Faculty are active in major European linguistics networks, giving students exposure to international conferences and research collaborations across Europe.
The wider research environment includes nationally funded research projects in linguistics and translation, which feed into seminars and dissertation supervision.
An open-access academic journal in language contact and translation, edited within the wider research environment, provides students with a venue for engaging with current scholarship.
No. Publications and research papers are not required for eligibility. They are welcome as optional supporting material in the portfolio; their absence does not affect eligibility or selection on this criterion alone.
Yes. Holders of equivalent degrees from recognised foreign universities are eligible.
Foreign degrees must be accepted by NKUA at the time of enrolment, in line with the procedure of the Ministry of Education. We accept applications based on the BA grade you hold; recognition is finalised before enrolment.
Interviews are typically online (Webex). Applicants based in Athens may request an in-person interview.
Selected sessions are hybrid or fully online; full-online enrolment is not currently offered.
Information on central NKUA scholarships is available on the University's scholarships page; programme-specific calls, when announced, are posted on this site.
Attendance is required; we recommend reduced professional commitment during semesters.
Each course is 10 ECTS, equivalent to about 250 hours of study including seminars, reading and assignments.
Each course is graded on the Greek 0-10 scale, with 6 as the pass mark.
All official materials for the Interdepartmental MA in Translation: Greek, English, Russian, available as direct downloads.
Accredited by the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (HAHE / ΕΘΑΑΕ), Certified Study Programme. Verify on the HAHE site →