Joke Daems

Joke Daems is assistant professor human-computer interaction in empirical translation & interpreting studies at Ghent university. They are a member of the EQTIS research team (Empirical and Quantitative Translation and Interpreting Studies) and the LT3 Language and Translation Technology team (where they spent the first 10 years of their academic career). Their research focuses on the impact of translation technology (such as machine translation) on the translation process, product, and translator attitude. They are currently working on a project studying the potential of translation technology for literary translation and are exploring ways in which post-editing might be of use for L2 translation and adaptive technology can be of use for gender-inclusive translations. 

They obtained a PhD in Translation Studies at Ghent University in 2016 as part of the ROBOT project, a comparative study of process and quality of manual translation and the post-editing of machine translations for students and professional translators. Data for this project were collected using keystroke logging and eye-tracking software, and were analysed using linear mixed effects models in R. In 2017, the thesis was awarded the CIUTI PhD Award.

As a postdoctoral researcher, Joke offered support to the Ghent Centre of Digital Humanities (GhentCDH) on a faculty level for three years, with a focus on digital language and text analysis. They were one of the elected representatives for academic staff in the faculty board for two years. 

They are currently co-supervisor of the ArisToCAT project, Assessing The Comprehensibility of Automatic Translations (FWO), WiLMa (Writing in a second Language with MAchine translation), a BOF-project on the impact of machine translation on L2 learners’ writing process and product, mediated by proficiency, and Dual-T,(Developing User-centred Approaches to Technological Innovation in Literary Translation), a postdoctoral MSCA project. 

Joke has extensive experience as a reviewer for journal and conference articles and was external examiner of the PhD thesis of Arda Tezcan titled Informative quality estimation of machine translation output. They were guest editor of the Special Issue "Advances in Computer-Aided Translation Technology" of the peer-reviewed journal Informatics (2019), the special issue "Digital Approaches Towards Serial Publications" of the peer-reviewed Journal of European Periodical Sudies (2019), of the edited manuscript "New Empirical Perspectives on Translation and Interpreting" as part of Routledge's Advances in Translation Studies series (2019), and of a special issue on literary translation and technology, published online in Filter (2021).

Although mainly involved in research, they have taught numerous classes on translation technology, technical writing, and methodologies in translation studies. Current teaching responsibilities include the courses on Machine Translation & Post-Editing (CALM postgraduate), Terminology and Translation Technology (master in translation and Dutch & Translation postgraduate), Technical Writing (CALM postgraduate), and Empirical Translation Studies (Master in Advanced Studies in Linguistics).

They are open to supervising bachelor and/or master's theses in the broader field of human-computer interaction within translation and interpreting studies.