York students' terminology research published in WIPO Pearl
Posted on Tuesday 11 August 2026
Terminology entries created by postgraduate translation students at the University of York have been published in WIPO Pearl, a multilingual terminology database maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The entries, which underwent independent, anonymous review by WIPO's team of terminology experts, were added to the database in July.
The work is part of a collaboration between the Department of Language and Linguistic Science and WIPO, established in 2024. Students on the MA in Interpreting, Translation and Applied Technologies and the MA in Translation and Applied Technologies contribute to WIPO Pearl through a summative assessment in the Semester 2 module Professional Translation Practice, led by Dr Gustavo Góngora-Goloubintseff. The University of York is one of only two universities in the UK, and one of four in Europe, where students contribute directly to the database.
The assessment involves identifying terms not yet included in WIPO Pearl by extracting candidates from patents and academic publications in a chosen specialist field. Students then locate validated equivalents in their other working languages, ensuring that all sources are original-language publications rather than translations. This year, students submitted 70 term candidates, of which 67 per cent were approved. In addition to English, students worked in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, covering fields including sports, chemistry, law, technology, medicine, and psychology.
WIPO Pearl is a freely accessible resource that supports accurate, consistent multilingual communication in highly specialised fields. It is used by translators, terminologists, patent specialists, and researchers worldwide.
See an example of a student-created entry on the WIPO Pearl website: https://wipopearl.wipo.int/en/fullrecord/41633
Read more about the WIPO Pearl terminology database: https://www.wipo.int/en/web/wipo-pearl/w/news/2026/5000-patent-related-terms-added-to-wipo-pearl-terminology-database