In February this year the college announced a review of the unit’s activities after they were found to be “not integral to the delivery of Imperial’s academic strategy”.

The move to UCL’s School of European Languages, Culture and Society - which was official as of this week - means the unit has avoided the worse fate of closure. A petition to save the unit earlier this year attracted more than 6,500 signatories.

Translation will be the second unit to leave the college from the former department of humanities, which was disbanded last year. The college announced in December that the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine would move to King’s College London from August 2013.

Imperial said the move sees the unit “capitalise on its existing long-term collaboration with translation experts from [UCL], allowing it greater scope to develop its research and education activities in the future”.  

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The Translation Studies Unit, which focuses on specialist science translation, has more than 50 MSc students and 25 PhD students.

Jorge Díaz-Cintas, head of the unit, said he was excited about the opportunities that a move to another world-class institution like UCL would bring.

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“We are really looking forward to working with our new colleagues to make sure that translation continues to be as highly successful in our new home as it has been at Imperial during the last 12 years,” he said.

Debra Humphris, pro rector for education at Imperial added: “This move draws the TSU into a greater critical mass of translation expertise and enables it to go from strength to strength in the future. We wish all of the unit’s members the very best in their future work.”

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com