Liisa Tiittula

Liisa Maria Tiittula
Born October 28, 1950, Tampere

PhD 1990 (Linguistics) Academy of Sciences, Berlin
Master of Arts 1984, Licentiate 1985 (General Linguistics), University of Helsinki
Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) 1975, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration

Professor of German Language 2010–, University of Helsinki
Professor of German Language (teaching area: the theory and practice of translation) 1995–2010, University of Tampere
German language assistant, lecturer and acting associate professor; assistant professor in Applied Linguistics and business communications, 1975–95, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration
Research fellow 1990–91, senior research fellow 1998–99 and 2005–06, Academy of Finland
Research fellow 2003–04, University of Tampere Centre for Advanced Studies
Visiting professor (Translation Studies) 2011–12, Karl Franzens University, Graz

Docent in Applied Linguistics 1992–, Helsinki School of Economics
Docent in German language and culture (area of expertise: intercultural communication) 1994–, University of Tampere

Research themes:
Literary translation, speech-to-text interpreting, subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, institutional interaction, multimodality, Finnish-German business communication

Publications, research projects and other academic activity

Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters 2009–

Photo: Mika Federley
Written by Liisa Tiittula
Translated by Matthew Billington

The Great Moments and Joys of Doctoral Programmes

As a university teacher, you are always meeting young people and being part of their study process, while learning new things yourself. One of the most interesting aspects of being a professor is working with graduate students. They are young researchers, excited about their field, whose choice of topics often go beyond the strengths of their supervisors. At its best, this interaction allows both parties to learn continuously.

I have been involved in developing research training in two different doctoral programmes as a supervisor, head of a sub-programme, and as a member of the steering committee. Langnet, a national doctoral programme in language studies, was a unique opportunity for language researchers focusing on different areas to meet and form networks, and it laid a good foundation for current doctoral training. The Doctoral Programme for Language Studies at the University of Helsinki, in its turn, is a novel approach to bringing the graduate students and supervisors of a large university together from different disciplines and departments.

The defence of a doctoral thesis is one of the defining moments of University life, as is the post-doctoral party, where you can rejoice in the fruits of your long labour. One of the finest moments of my university career was when I could place the doctoral cap on the head of my own graduate student at the conferment ceremony of the University of Tampere Faculty of Humanities.

By Written by Liisa Tiittula, translated by Tomi Setälä, revised by Matthew Billington