North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership

Attending the Speech in Noise Workshop in Beautiful Potsdam

Jessica Andrew, Psychology, Lancaster University (2022 Cohort)

Entering this new term, I had the opportunity to embark on my first academic adventure overseas. Myself and colleagues visited Potsdam in Germany and were fortunate enough to attend both workshop and lab environments. 

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The Power of Overseas Institutional Visits

Miriam Tenquist, Sociology, University of Manchester (2019 Cohort)

Embarking on an Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV) isn’t just a journey; it’s a transformation. This blog takes you through the benefits of my recent OIV to the Hong Kong Sau Po Centre for Ageing, shedding light on the immense advantages such visits can offer. As a second-year PhD student exploring the experiences of the older Chinese diaspora in the UK, the OIV aimed to extend knowledge on non-western age-friendly initiatives, disseminate research findings globally, explore alternative research outputs, and build a more robust international network. As soon as I landed, I knew my trip would be much more than this.

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Ageing and Cognitive Frailty: Highlights from the Centre for Ageing Research Conference 

Seren Parkman discusses her attendance at the Ageing and Cognitive Frailty Conference

Seren Parkman, Linguistics, Lancaster University (2021 Cohort)

How do we change as we age? From worms to brain waves the Centre for Ageing Research Conference at Lancaster University had a bit of everything. Hosted in the Lancaster Medical School by Dr Trevor Crawford and Dr Carol Holland, the conference brought together academics from every discipline including: linguistics, psychology, physics and medicine, around the theme of cognitive frailty. The day explored how age can affect us all across the lifespan focusing on what happens to our bodies as they age, but also how we may better improve the life experiences of individuals over time. The day was a mixture of brilliant talks, interesting posters, and in the spirit of Christmas, excellent mince pies. 

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OIV to the University of Pennsylvania

James Breckwoldt, Politics, University of Manchester (2021 Cohort)

I was fortunate to spend ten wonderful weeks from September to November 2023 at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia for an overseas institutional visit.

I worked closely with my host supervisor, Professor Dan Hopkins, who provided invaluable guidance and feedback on a research paper I am developing on whether voters prioritise ‘culture war’ issue in an election. Professor Hopkins also connected me with a Penn PhD student, and we are now working on a project analysing the ideological sorting of American voters.

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