The Research Institute
Where new methods take root
Artificial intelligence, machine translation, new tools, fewer assignments from agencies, changing expectations from businesses and more: our profession is changing fast!
We decided to find out what is really happening.
THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Where new methods take root
Artificial intelligence, machine translation, new tools, fewer assignments from agencies, changing expectations from businesses and more: our profession is changing fast!
We decided to find out what is really happening.
The Institute’s mission
To anticipate
Every day, someone tells us that our profession is about to disappear, change beyond recognition or become absolutely wonderful, provided we adopt the latest revolutionary tool by Tuesday.
What we don’t have nearly enough of is solid evidence to understand the changes underway and make the right decisions.
That is why Tradinergie University created its Research Institute. Its mission is to observe the profession, find out what actually works and turn the knowledge it produces into useful resources for translators.
How this research will make a difference
The Institute wasn’t created to produce a nice stack of annual reports! Every research project should help us understand a question more clearly and, wherever possible, lead to something useful.
Its findings may be used to:
update a course or workshop
improve a method taught at the University
create a practical tool translators can use directly
help translators make informed decisions
shed light on changes in the market
replace practices that no longer work
explore new avenues
The Institute has genuine scientific independence. Its leadership chooses research topics in line with the University’s strategic research priorities, decides how they should be studied and presents the findings.
Applied Research is there to make sure our beliefs don’t disguise themselves as facts.
Three big questions to explore
The University teaches methods designed to help translators choose a specialisation, understand their clients, build their offers, prospect and sell.
The Institute studies their results, their limitations and the conditions under which they are effective.
Its research identifies what should be kept, improved, expanded or abandoned.
AI is only one part of the changes underway. Services, content use, value chains and economic pressures are all evolving rapidly.
The Institute separates genuine change from background noise.
Its goal is to give translators better information so they can prepare for what comes next.
The Institute also studies income, financial stability, working conditions, tools, collaboration and sustainable business models.
It examines what helps professionals build viable businesses.
Its goal is to understand why some professionals leave, why others stay and what helps them make a decent living.
Three departments within the Institute
The Observatory establishes the facts
It collects the information that will then be analysed: market data, surveys, testimonials, research on translation agencies and analysis of our wider economic environment.
Research analyses the facts
It analyses data from the Observatory to develop and test hypotheses. It may evaluate a method taught at the University, compare different practices or design a new tool.
Publishing shares the findings
It turns research findings into studies, articles, guides, books and practical resources. Because a discovery sitting in a file at the back of a cupboard doesn’t help anyone move forward.
Follow the University’s research
The topics being studied, their progress and published resources will be available on the University website from December 2026.
You’ll be able to see what the Institute is investigating, follow the progress of its research and explore the findings as they are published.
The Institute studies the reality of the profession, so it needs the people who actually work in it. Depending on the research project, we may invite you to:
complete a survey
take part in an interview
share your experience or data
test a method or tool
join a working group
take part in an experiment
Each call for participants will clearly explain the question being studied, the profiles we are looking for, the time commitment involved and how the information collected will be used.