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OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AS YOUNG RESEARCHER

President's Award for
Outstanding Performance as Young Researcher

Dr. Maialen Marin-Lacarta

Assistant Professor

Translation Programme

Department of English Language and Literature
Faculty of Arts

Fluent in several languages and with research published in English, Chinese, French, Spanish and Basque, Dr. Maialen Marin-Lacarta is unique in the region, ensuring greater exposure for her research and bringing a truly international dimension to her scholarship.

The work of Dr. Marin-Lacarta focuses on Spanish-Chinese literary translation, incorporating interest in leading Mainland writers and also in Hong Kong literature. She addresses such issues as the interaction of translators and other agents in digital publishing of translations, the reception of Chinese translations in the Spanish and Basque contexts, and sociological methodologies in the study of translation.

Dr. Marin-Lacarta’s work thus illuminates a rich area of strong relevance both locally and internationally and one that has previously been little studied. She herself is an award-winning translator who regularly publishes both Basque and Spanish translations of works in Chinese.

The research productivity of Dr. Marin-Lacarta is first class. She has published twelve peer-reviewed articles – eight sole-authored and four co-authored – and ten book chapters including lengthy research works, shorter critical prefaces, and an encyclopaedia entry.

Of particular note has been the speed at which Dr. Marin-Lacarta’s publication rate has accelerated: since 2017 she has seen publication or acceptance in top-level journals listed in the Arts & Humanities Index and the Social Science Citation Index. They include Meta, Perspectives, Translation Studies and The Translator – the latter two being particularly prestigious. Her Translation Studies article was selected for a volume published by Routledge, an important measure of the esteem in which she is held. Her latest book chapter is for a volume published by the well-respected Kent State University Press and her encyclopaedia entry is for the new edition of the leading reference work the Routledge Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies.

Also highly commendable is her record in securing grants. Dr. Marin-Lacarta recently obtained General Research Fund and Early Career Scheme grants as Principal Investigator, two Faculty Research Grants as Principal Investigator and is Co-Investigator of a Teaching Development Grant project.

Dr. Marin-Lacarta has been an outstanding participant in the research culture of her discipline. Despite her early career standing, she has presented papers at over 20 conferences and been invited as keynote speaker at an international conference. She was a key player in the core planning group for the 6th International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies Conference which was held at the University in 2018 and was rated as the best such conference ever held. She has also been invited to serve on the Organising Committee of the Genealogies of Knowledge II Conference, a collaboration between the University and an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project at Manchester University in the UK.

Dr. Marin-Lacarta is a truly unique young researcher of exceptional all-round quality. Her many successes to date, and the energy with which she pursues her research agenda, are certain to make her a leading scholar in the field with strong potential to make a major impact. Hence she is richly deserving of the President’s Award for Outstanding Performance as Young Researcher.