North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership
Taking the PhD abroad: my OIV experience
Sara Bellamio, Socio-legal Studies, Lancaster University (2023 Cohort)
Last March, a few months after starting the third year of my PhD, I was presenting the preliminary findings of my research at a conference in Brighton. Doing a PhD can be a lonely journey at times, and I found something incredibly inspiring in those coffee breaks and brief walks between sessions: meeting researchers from all over the world, at different stages of their careers and working on topics both close to and very different from my own. Until then, I had not seriously considered applying for an Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV). I have always valued the opportunity to study abroad: during my university years, I spent almost a year on Erasmus and another year abroad as part of a double Master’s degree. However, my PhD research is focused on the UK context, so I had never really seen how an international research stay could enrich my project. I was also worried that an OIV might take valuable time away from writing my thesis, and I was not sure how I could justify the choice to my supervisors. And, of course, there was another thought: I was already in my third year. Wasn’t it too late?
Read MoreResearch in Practice Placement – Coastal Child and Adult Therapeutic Services (CCATS)
Lucrezia Rubini, Psychology, University of Lancashire (2025 Cohort)
Hi! My name is Lucrezia, I am 25, and I started my PGR journey in October 2025 in the School of Psychology and Humanities at the University of Lancashire. My research focuses on child criminal exploitation (CCE) and child sexual exploitation (CSE), with the aim of better understanding these forms of exploitation and supporting services to effectively safeguard vulnerable children.
Read MoreEconometrics Summer School at Cambridge
Picture with Professor Jeffery Wooldrige (Distinguished Professor of Economics at Michigan State University)
Bello Muhammad Abdullahi, Economics, Lancaster University (2025 cohort)
Last month, I spent a week at Churchill College, Cambridge, attending the Econometrics Summer School on causal inference and machine learning, taught by Professor Jeffrey Wooldridge and Dr Melvyn Weeks. I was first introduced to causal inference during my Applied Econometrics module, but as I moved further into my research, I realised that I needed to understand the methods more deeply and gain more hands-on training. I had already listed this as one of my development needs, so when my programme director shared the email about the summer school, I immediately indicated my interest in attending. And luckily, I was offered a place.
Read MoreResearch in Practice Placement – Barbados Museum & Historical Society – Robin Plant, University of Liverpool (2024 Cohort)
Aubrey ‘Sinbad’ Inniss, RAF Uniform, collection of the BMHS
Robin Plant, Economic & Social History, University of Liverpool (2024 Cohort)
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to complete my Research in Practice Placement with the Barbados Museum & Historical Society. The first month of which was spent on the island, cataloguing and researching the museum’s military collections.
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North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership 