SDL Academic Partner Program

Fostering partnerships between academic institutions and SDL, the world's leading language technology company

Helping to educate future translators

Today’s localization professionals embrace the use of computer-assisted translation tools (CAT tools) in their everyday translation workflow. Knowledge of a CAT tool is often a prerequisite when applying for translator roles in today’s competitive market.

SDL has the market-leading CAT tool, SDL Trados Studio, used by over 250,000 translation professionals across the entire translation supply chain.

We at SDL want to support lecturers prepare their students for a career in linguistics, and help students on their journey to becoming localization professionals.

The objective of the SDL Academic Partner Program is to partner with universities to provide support for the CAT tool component of their language courses. We offer CAT tool knowledge, expertise and training resources to support the academic curriculum.

SDL has been working with Academic Partners since 2007, with over 350 active partners in the program and more joining every year.

SDL Academic Partner Program

Supporting linguistic faculties, lecturers, graduates and students.

Lecturers & Institutions

SDL makes it easy for you to provide your language departments with translation software and training.

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Students & Graduates

SDL's tools and training helps you build your translation career and stand out within the translation industry.

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Our Academic Partners

SDL are partnered with over 350 universities worldwide. See which ones are near you.

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Top student award winners

Lecturers across the world have chosen their top students to win an SDL Trados Studio 2017 license. Here are some of the winners and what they think of SDL Trados Studio 2017.

Rosa Kaspar

Student

Fremdspracheninstitut der Landeshauptstadt München

I find it wonderful that SDL offers students and graduates so many opportunities – from workshops for students to jobs for graduates.
While still studying at FIM, the Munich municipal foreign languages institute, I participated in a workshop on machine translation and post editing, during which I gained initial experience with SDL Trados Studio and MultiTerm. I am now looking forward to doing more translation work using this software and am confident that it will be a great help.
Constanze Rämisch

Student

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences

I have been using SDL Trados Studio throughout my studies and really enjoy working with this CAT tool for various reasons. A vast amount of features is available for translations as well as terminology management. Moreover, Trados Studio facilitates working on different projects while using different resources and file types, so I am very happy to have received a free license which I can use for future translation projects. Thank you, SDL!
Hecham Muhra

Student

University of Birmingham

SDL is one of the best CAT tools in the market. We have learnt to use it this year as part of the Translation Technology module at the University of Birmingham. This award is a great opportunity for me to continue using the software in my career. I am now a freelance translator and this award will help me stay in touch with the latest development of the software, improve my practical experience and use it to increase my work productivity.
Isabel Pype

Student

KU Leuven

I cannot wait to apply some of the amazing SDL-functions I discovered during our training to some ‘real live’ translations!
Katrin Vanessa Lemke

Student

Fremdspracheninstitut der Landeshauptstadt München

Our CAT lessons at FIM, the Munich Municipal Foreign Languages Institute, allowed me to acquire initial insights into many of the functions offered by SDL products and use them within the framework of various projects. I am currently looking forward to expanding my knowledge during my traineeship abroad in order to be ideally prepared to utilize the latest version of SDL Trados Studio in my future career.
Bethany Coulthurst

Student

University of Birmingham

I have recently started my career as a translator and so I plan to use this software to develop my skills in my spare time, and have been looking into voluntary translation as a way of doing this. I would also like to complete a full translation of the book I used for my Extended Translation Project, as I really enjoyed it and would love to be able to make such an interesting book available to the English-speaking world!
Céline Goethals

Student

KU Leuven

Thank you very much for this license! It was very unexpected, but it will definitely come in handy to give my career the best start.
Valentina Goldin

Student

University of Innsbruck

I have recently become self-employed as a translator and interpreter in addition to studying. It is very helpful for us newcomers to have such a CAT tool because it makes applications easier for translation agencies and at the same time makes it easier for private clients. In summary, it's the concrete way to give a boost to my career!
Elena Pochanina

Student

Herzen University

I'm very glad to have been certified because not anyone can have such opportunity. This certificate is going to be of great help in my future career, and I'd like to thank T-Service for their support of students! Besides, I want to express my gratitude to SDL for granting me with a free licence of SDL Trados Studio, this is an incredible gift for a future translator, thank you so much!
Giulia Limbrici

Student

University of Essex

We learned how to use SDL Trados during our classes and it was amazing to learn how much this programme can help translators in their work. Receiving this prize is a wonderful first step to start my career as a translator!
Ignazia Posadinu

Director of MA programmes in Translation, Interpreting and Subtitling

University of Essex

This has meant a lot to our students who will be using this important translation tool professionally as freelance or in-house translators. Initially, students were quite skeptical about the need to become proficient users of Computer Aided Technology, but now they use it every day and they are very happy with it.
Shuo Li

Student

University of Essex

As a Chinese-English translation and interpreting student, SDL Trados has provided me with great help in my study. I felt extremely honoured to receive this licence. I want to thank our lovely teacher Ignazia for making this learning experience so interesting and enjoyable.
Tatiana Belekhova

Student

Herzen University

SDL Trados Studio Certification for Translators allowed me to gain new knowledge and improve my skills in using the most popular CAT-tool in the translation industry. I'm also very happy to get the free SDL Trados Studio 2017 license. Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity!
Xiaomei An

Student

University of Sheffield

Thanks SDL for the free SDL Trados Studio license. I will work as a freelancer translator for some localization companies. I have been using SDL Trados since 2008 and it is really helpful for improving productivity. The new cloud feature makes it easier for the translators to work together. SDL does an amazing job to keep Trados updated!
Viviana Lugnan

Student

Sprachen & Dolmetscher Institut München

I became acquainted with SDL Trados Studio at the University. I immediately realised that it was essential for a translator because it renders the work easier and faster. Now, thanks to the free licence, I can also use it at home. I am convinced that it will help me to make my dream of becoming a translator in the technical field come true.
Katerina Konsta

Student

Metafrasi Translator Training Centre

SDL Trados Studio is very user-friendly. It will assist me a lot in my first steps as a translator. I am grateful that I have been granted a license for such a powerful tool!
Paola Ghezzi

Student

Civica Scuola Interpreti e Traduttori “A.Spinelli”

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to have this extremely useful tool! SDL Trados Studio helps translators, making their work simpler and faster. I’m sure it will be a valuable tool in my future working career.
Eleonora Modena

Student

Civica Scuola Interpreti e Traduttori “A.Spinelli”

I'm very grateful for the licence I've been awarded with. I find SDL Trados Studio extremely useful and I will definitely use this CAT tool in my career as a translator.
Ed Robinson

Student

University of Sheffield

At the moment, I don't know where my Translation Studies MA will take me, but wherever I end up working, I know that being able to use Trados Studio will be very useful. I'd like to extend my sincerest thanks to SDL for providing me with this opportunity!
Caroline Lemineur

Student

Université de Mons

Technologies which facilitate the translation process are becoming more and more important nowadays and are therefore a must-have for professional translators. As I am about to enter my last year at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation of the University of Mons, I am really grateful to receive a SDL Studio 2017 license. In the future, I hope to develop my knowledge of these softwares and use them to improve the quality of my translations.
Agnes Gerbl

Student

Euro Fachakademie Ingolstadt

From September on I will be attending a British university in order to study for a Master's degree in Interpreting and Translation. I'm sure that SDL Trados will be very useful during my time at university and afterwards, as Trados is the market leader when it comes to CAT-tools. So thank you, SDL, for this amazing opportunity!
Svetlana Kalinina

Student

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University

I'm happy to start my professional career path this year with such a powerful tool in my hands. As a graduate of Peter the Great Polytechnic University and a freelance technical translator, I know all the struggles one might face while working with technical documentation, such as lexical unification and standardized format. During our practical classes at the University I realised that Trados allows us to overcome these difficulties, and I hope to use its advantages to the fullest potential in my professional activity.
Victor Gautschi

Student

Lille University

After my studies, I registered as an independent translator and started working for the companies I did my internship in, specializing in IT translation. I will keep working in that domain and approaching new clients, and consider starting my own translation company in a few years.
Quentin Pacinella

Student

Lille University

Working with SDL Trados Studio will be a real asset since it enables me to handle a lot of file formats and is wide spread on the market. The analysis tool permits me to count words easily, which can facilitate the creation of quotes and invoices. The tool also includes lots of useful features and short keys and has a pretty ergonomic interface which makes it easy to use.
Elisabeth Payne

Student

University of Birmingham

Setting up as a freelance translator can be daunting. But by awarding me with the Freelance software, SDL has not only eased and supported this process, but has boosted my employability with the numerous companies and translation agencies that predominantly use Trados Studio. So thank you, SDL, for this amazing opportunity that will kick start my translation career!
Nikita Shah

Student

University of Birmingham

I've recently been given an opportunity to do a paid internship at a translation company in London which I am really excited about! I know that I will be using SDL Trados a lot in my role, so having this latest version will be very useful!