GILT Research Centre

GILT Research Centre (GILTRC)

Advancing the frontiers of Globalisation, Internationalisation, Localisation, and Translation research through innovation and collaboration.

Globalisation (G11N)

Adapting products and services for global markets across cultural, linguistic and technical requirements.

Internationalisation (I18N)

Designing products to adapt to various languages and regions without engineering changes.

Localisation (L10N)

Adapting products to meet the language and cultural requirements of a specific market.

Translation (T9N)

Converting text between languages while maintaining meaning and context.

Our Centre

About GILTRC

The first GILT Research Centre of its kind in Hong Kong, established at HSUHK.

With the support of experts from the five schools of HSUHK, the research team established the GILT Research Centre — the first of its kind in Hong Kong — with funding support of HK$4.04 million from the Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) Research Infrastructure Grant of the Research Grants Council of the HKSAR Government. By leveraging the cross-disciplinary expertise of HSUHK’s five schools, the Centre fosters academic exploration of multilingual communication and language services, and investigates the multifaceted aspects of GILT — considering how professionals in cross-lingual and cross-regional promotion can address challenges and seize opportunities in an ever-changing, post-pandemic world.

2024

Established

HK$4.04M

Research Funding

Partner Schools

Strategic Research Directions

Our Journey

How GILTRC Has Grown

What's On

Upcoming Events

Join our symposia, talks and seminars exploring the future of GILT.

International Symposium 2026 · Programme Available

Plural Logics in the GILT Ecosystem

Social, religious, medical, technical, and aesthetic dynamics

The GILT framework — Globalisation, Internationalisation, Localisation, and Translation — is no longer just a corporate process. It is a massive, living ecosystem driven by competing logics and diverse worldviews. The symposium programme is now available, bringing together perspectives from diverse fields, spanning from art to science.

Symposium website

SocialReligiousMedicalTechnicalAesthetic

Explore the programme and registration details to plan your participation.

More events announced regularly

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads, or email giltrc@hsu.edu.hk to be notified about future seminars, talks and symposia.

On the Horizon

Tools in Development

In development

TCM Translation Studio (中醫翻譯工作室)

A forthcoming tool addressing the unique challenges of translating Traditional Chinese Medicine — high-stakes clinical accuracy, diverse text types, and deeply culture-coded terminology that even advanced AI mistranslates. In development under the Technology for GILT direction.

Text-type adaptation across nine clinical and academic scenarios
Cross-genre conversion (e.g. research paper → public health material)
Standardised TCM term base aligned with WHO references
Custom glossaries with translation memory
Multi-model comparison for best-output selection

In progress

Culture, Sports & Tourism Translation Technology (文體旅翻譯科技)

An ongoing project exploring how AI can strengthen Hong Kong’s international promotion across culture, sports and tourism. It pairs a bespoke domain database built on government open data with large language models and a refinement module to deliver transcreation — correctly rendering official brand names such as Design District Hong Kong (#ddHK) where generic AI falls short.

Professional translation for official sites, promotions and social platforms
Roadmap: travel-app integration & QR-code site guides
Long-term vision: a personalised AI virtual tour guide

Major Research Projects & Active Grants

Research & Grants

Our flagship grant, the strategic directions it supports, and the themes and infrastructure that connect them.

Flagship Grant

Establishment of the GILT Research Centre (GILTRC)

Funding to establish the first GILT Research Centre of its kind in Hong Kong, leveraging the cross-disciplinary expertise of HSUHK’s five schools to foster academic exploration of multilingual communication, language services, and the multifaceted aspects of GILT.

Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) Research Infrastructure Grant, Research Grants Council, HKSAR Government

HK$4.04M

Established 2024

Strategic Research Direction

GILT of Digital Media

Exploring GILT activities related to digital media—web, software, app, media and game localisation—including workflows, skills and strategies, and quality assurance.

Strategic Research Direction

Technology for GILT

Developing, evaluating and enhancing electronic applications for GILT—bilingual databases, terminology management systems, text mining tools and machine translation platforms—drawing on HSUHK expertise in AI and translation technology.

Strategic Research Direction

GILT in Hong Kong and Beyond

Examining the GILT industry in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and beyond—its role in global business, journalism and creative industries; cultural issues; ethics and professionalism; and the training of GILT professionals.

Applied Research Theme

GILT and the Business World

How GILT strategies promote brands, products and services across regions—covering market-entry localisation, cross-cultural branding, service-delivery and collaboration models, and the role of language services in global business and the Greater Bay Area.

Research Infrastructure

Web-based GILT Research Hub

A centralised online platform providing GILT research tools and resources—bilingual datasets, industry news, AI models and more—to keep researchers abreast of the latest research and industry trends, and to help students and scholars from different disciplines familiarise themselves with the field.

Significant Achievements & Impact

Research with Real-World Influence

Impact case studies, real-world applications and knowledge-exchange initiatives.

Shaping professional translation standards

Submitted a Certified Community Translator & Interpreter (CCTI) framework and a pilot examination guidebook to the Hong Kong Translation Society (HKTS).

Embedding language technology in the curriculum

Contributed to two new undergraduate modules — "Foundations of Translation and Language Services" and "AI, Translation, Editing and QA" (2026) — alongside the "Language Technology" module, and integrated GILT findings into MA translation technology modules on Generative AI and international communication.

Building research tools & infrastructure

Launched the GILT Research Hub, an MT combination tool, the interactive "AI Concept Companion", and SemScore — a browser-based semantic translation similarity tool — with the TCM Translation Studio and Culture, Sports & Tourism translation technology now in development.

Developing emerging GILT researchers

The Student Research Assistants Scheme has reached its seventh cohort, supported by dedicated training workshops and a training manual.

Bridging academia and industry

Knowledge-exchange events such as "AI in Translation: Friend or Foe" with Toppan Digital Language and the GILT Month talk series, together with industry thought leadership via 《幸福經濟時代的來臨》 (The Advent of the Happiconomy), connected professionals with current trends.

Public thought leadership & dissemination

Research and ideas presented at APTIF11, TAW, MICED, the Tzu Chi Forum and the Int’l Conference on AI & the Humanities, and an HSUHK–Manchester roundtable.

Knowledge Exchange & Activity Highlights

Key People in the Centre

Our Research Team

Leadership, founding members across HSUHK’s five schools, and research assistants.

For enquiries about the team or potential collaboration, contact the Centre at giltrc@hsu.edu.hk.

Major & Most Recent Publications

Our Publications

Books, book chapters, conference papers, and policy frameworks produced by the Centre.

Books, Book Chapters & Conference Papers

Book

《幸福經濟時代的來臨》 (The Advent of the Happiconomy) [Book]. Co-authored by Amen Lee, Kenneth Kwong, John Wong, and Jacky Lau. Published January 2026.

Book Chapter

Siu, S. C. (2026). Generative AI for Financial Translation: Opportunities and Challenges in Hong Kong. In Translating Finance and Economics: Theory, Practice, Training and Technology (pp. 129–163, 35 p.). New Frontiers in Translation Studies, vol. Part F1829. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH.

Conference Paper

Du, N., & Hao, V. (2025). Bridging Cultures and Industries: The Role of Language Services in Localizing Belt and Road Initiative Projects in Southeast Asia. Presented at the 11th Asia-Pacific Translation and Interpreting Forum (APTIF11).

Conference Paper

Hao, V., & Du, N. (2025). Analysis of Localisation and Language Services in China’s Automotive Industry Exporting Overseas. Presented at the Talking Across the World Symposium (TAW).

Conference Paper

Du, N. (2025). From Campus to Industry: Human Capital Development through China–Malaysia Educational Cooperation Initiatives. Presented at the 2025 Malaysia-China International Conference on Educational Development (MICED2025).

Book Chapter

Siu, S. C. (2024). Revolutionising Translation with AI: Unravelling Neural Machine Translation and Generative Pre-trained Large Language Models. In Y. Peng, H. Huang, & D. Li (Eds.), New Advances in Translation Technology (pp. 29–54). New Frontiers in Translation Studies. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-2958-6_3

Policy Frameworks & Professional Guidelines

Submitted to the Hong Kong Translation Society for the CCTI Initiative.

Policy Framework

GILT Research Centre. (2025). A Framework for a Community Translation and Interpreting Certification in Hong Kong.

Examination Guide

GILT Research Centre. (2025). Examination Guidebook (Pilot Program Edition) for the Certified Community Translator & Interpreter (CCTI).

More publications — along with the Centre’s online tools and applications — are available at the GILT Research Hub.

Strategic Partnerships & Collaborations

Who We Work With

Cross-disciplinary, academic, professional, industry and research-network collaborators, locally and overseas.

We gratefully acknowledge our collaborators across academia, the professional community, industry and research networks.

Funding & Collaboration Opportunities

Get Involved

Studentships, events and collaboration areas for new partners and talent.

Studentship

Student Research Assistants Scheme

Join our growing community of emerging GILT researchers. Now in its seventh cohort, the scheme offers training workshops, mentorship and hands-on research experience.

Recruited in batches

Programme Available

International Symposium 2026

"Plural Logics in the GILT Ecosystem" () brings together perspectives from across the arts and sciences on the social, religious, medical, technical and aesthetic dynamics of GILT.

Symposium website

Collaboration

Industry & Academic Partnerships

We welcome collaboration on web/software/media localisation, translation technology, terminology and machine translation, and GILT strategy across Hong Kong, the GBA and beyond.

Enquiries welcome year-round

Contact

Work With Us

Reach out to discuss research collaboration, knowledge exchange, or visiting opportunities with the Centre.

giltrc@hsu.edu.hk