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Open calls for registrations from 04/12/23 to 06/09/24

Official Master's Degree in Conference Interpreting

This master's degree offers training in permanent contact with professionals in the sector.

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What is the Master?

The Master's Degree in Conference Interpreting, the only official Master's Degree in Spain that is a member of the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI)consortium , offers a solid training through permanent contact with conference interpreting professionals and the use of the latest methodological and technological advances. It follows the recommendations of the International Association of Conference Interpreters AIIC Best Practices and has been re-accredited by ANECA.

Classes have a high practical content based on exercises and simulations where consecutive and simultaneous interpreting are worked on. The Master's Degree in Conference Interpreting focuses on developing the skills of analysis and synthesis of information, and on making students understand that interpreting is not simply translating words literally from one language into another, but rather an exercise in understanding ideas that are then transmitted through a transformation that adapts the substance to the natural form of the target language. As part of the process, special emphasis is placed on the student's self-assessment and knowledge of the metalanguage of the interpreting profession. Our teachers are active interpreting professionals accredited by international organisations, native speakers with recognised qualifications and/or PhDs in Translation and Interpreting or related subjects.

The Directorates-General for Interpreting of the European Commission and the European Parliament collaborate in the training, through their teaching assistance programs, virtual classes and attendance at final exams. In addition, a trip to Brussels is proposed every year, during which students can carry out work experience in a mute booth in both institutions.

  • Centers
    Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (Comillas CIHS)
  • Languages
    Spanish
  • Certification
    Official master's degrees
  • Modality
    Face to face
  • Duration
    1 year (60 ECTS)
  • Starts On
    01/10/2024
  • Seats
    20

Any questions?

If you need more information you can fill in the following form and you will receive information about this program.

What makes us different?

6

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Internships

At least six different internship experiences

1

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Rankings and mentions

Members of the European Masters in Conference Interpreting Consortium (EMCI).

5th place in the Ranking of The World Newspaper 2023

80%

.

Faculty

Teachers who are practising interpreters (AIIC members and accredited)

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Elena Aguirre Fernández Bravo
Director

With this master's degree you will be able to work as a consecutive and simultaneous interpreter in both the private and institutional markets.

Study Plan

SUBJECTS

LANGUAGE PROFILES

PROFILE 1:

  1. ENGLISH <> SPANISH

PROFILE 2:

  1. ENGLISH + FRENCH > SPANISH
  2. ENGLISH + GERMAN > SPANISH

PROFILE 3:

  1. ENGLISH <> SPANISH + FRENCH > SPANISH
  2. ENGLISH <> SPANISH + GERMAN > SPANISH

PROFILE 4:

  1. ENGLISH + FRENCH + GERMAN > SPANISH

PROFILE 5:

  1. ENGLISH <> SPANISH + FRENCH + GERMAN > SPANISH

Professional projection.

To be added after iteration*.

PhD

  • Freelance interpreter on the private market

  • Interpreter at the United Nations

  • Interpreter at the European Union Institutions

  • State Translators and Interpreters Corps

  • PhD

Everything you need to know

Work Placements

We prepare you for your future and introduce you to the real world with comprehensive work experience training.

VIDEOS

What our students say

Many people like you are already making the most of their Master's degree. Read about their experience

Claudia Sáenz

Comillas CIHS

Claudia Sáenz

Lo que más me gusta del máster es que no es nada fácil, hay que trabajar mucho y a diario, pero uno puede ver los frutos de su esfuerzo.

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Comillas CIHS

Victoria Troyano

Me ha enseñado a superar retos diarios y a valorar la importancia de los pequeños logros.

Cristina Riveiro

Comillas CIHS

Cristina Riveiro

Lo que más valoro es el número reducido de alumnos, que nos permite cooperar continuamente y recibir atención individualizada.

Information for students

Professional and academic opportunities

Graduate profile:
Conference interpreter in the modalities of Consecutive Interpreting and Simultaneous Interpreting.

Private sector:
Many conference interpreters are professionals who provide their services in national or international markets on a self-employed basis. The interpreter's work in the private sector usually takes place in a business context (visits and meetings, negotiation of agreements, shareholders' meetings, boards of directors, etc.) or in the context of large international congresses and trade fairs. Language combinations that include two or more active languages are often the most interesting in this market. The most widely used in Spain is undoubtedly the bidirectional English-Spanish combination.

Public sector:
National and international institutions, such as the United Nations, the European Commission,the European Parliamentand theCourt of Justice of the EU, are major employers of conference interpreting professionals. Interpreters working in the institutional sector may have passed a competitive examination or be self-employed after having been admitted to the lists accrediting them to do so.

In Spain, entry to the corps of translators and interpreters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation is by means of a competitive examination with selective tests in translation and interpreting. The list of interpreters working as freelancers for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation is centralised through the Official Register of Sworn Translators and Interpreters.

Academic opportunities:
The Master's Degree in Conference Interpreting has official status and as such allows access to a PhD.

Comillas CIHS

Cantoblanco Campus

Since its foundation, the Faculties of Human and Social Sciences, Theology and Canon Law at Comillas Pontifical University have had the vocation to promote humanism and plurality.

It is defined by its desire to train people capable of taking thought and ideas to the highest levels, and to give them the necessary skills to be useful and improve life in the complex world in which we live.

Related studies

Preguntas frecuentes

  • Because Comillas studies are in high demand and places are limited, the best candidates have to be selected through admission tests.

  • Each class has its own tutor, whose function is to integrate the student into the group and to pay attention to their academic performance. Furthermore, at Comillas, the teaching system is distinguished, among other characteristics, by the personalised attention and the fluid and permanent relationship between teachers and students.

  • The teaching system at Comillas is especially oriented towards the relationship with the reality of companies, institutions, organisations and professional practice. The Internship and Employment Office is responsible for providing students with internships related to their studies in order to enrich their training. In the 2017-18 academic year, 6,296 student internships were managed in companies.
    In addition to these internships managed by the Internship and Employment Office, all degree courses have a significant number of compulsory external internships as part of their curriculums.

  • The Internship and Employment Office informs, guides and collaborates in the insertion in the labour market of recent graduates or in the projection of the professional career of Comillas graduates, for which it has an online tool that puts candidates in direct contact with 5,078 companies with which Comillas maintains a relationship. During the 2017-18 academic year, 1,838 job offers were managed. Of the total number of graduates from the 2018 graduating class, 93.22% are employed, either working or furthering their studies, within six months of completing their studies.

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Contact

Prospective Students Office
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
C/ Universidad Comillas, 3 - 28049 Madrid
(Cantoblanco Campus)
Tel.: 34 91 542 28 00, ext. 2825
futurosalumnos@comillas.edu

Director of the Master's Degree
Elena Aguirre Fernández-Bravo
Tel: (+34) 917 343 950 ext. 2519
eaguirre@comillas.edu