North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership
‘Given time any problems relating to research and writing can be solved’
Andrew Moretta, Postdoctoral Fellow, Socio-Legal Studies, University of Liverpool, 2020 Cohort
I am not an expert on writing or on research techniques. However, the lessons learned during the very intensive work I undertook during the past decade and my experiences of collaborating with bona fide experts has left me with some firm opinions on what is best practice. Having been asked to contribute to the NWSSDTP newsletter I thought that these opinions may be of value to students or to anyone else engaged in writing a substantial piece of work to a deadline.
Read MoreLast posts – Musing on Militarism, Commemoration and the First World War
Liam Markey, Criminology, Social Policy & Social Work, University of Liverpool, 2018 Cohort
At the outbreak of the First World War in the summer of 1914, Herbert Kitchener, Britain’s Secretary of State for War, contrary to the popular belief that the troops would be home by Christmas, predicted that the coming conflict with Germany and her allies would be a brutal and drawn out affair. To fight this war, Britain, who had long relied on a small but professional army, would need to raise a new volunteer force of around 500,000 men in order to play a significant part in the coming global struggle.
Read MoreMy experience of an online training course during lockdown
Emma Thornton, Psychology, University of Liverpool, 2017 Cohort
One of the perks of being an NWSSDTP funded student is the Research Support Training Grant and the allowance for training courses that this provides. This has meant I have been able to attend a number of Royal Statistical Society courses to provide me with skills needed to complete my PhD as this involves analysis of large secondary datasets. One of the most recent courses I have attended was “Automated Reports in R” This was a one day introduction to using Rmarkdown to write reports in a reproducible way and featured a straightforward way to embed figures into written reports.
Read MoreNWSSDTP Overseas Institutional Visit to Aalborg, Denmark
Joanna Morley, Language Based Area Studies, University of Liverpool, 2017 Cohort
I am currently in the third year of my PhD in Latin America Studies at University of Liverpool. My research aims to understand how hydroelectric projects redefine the political landscapes and social understandings of sustainable energy development in Ecuador, and what this reveals about the localisation of debates surrounding natural resource governance, global sustainable development and climate mitigation policies.
In September 2019 I arrived in Denmark to sunny autumnal weather for a three month Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV) to Aalborg University. My visit was arranged after I attended a conference organised by Dr Malayna Raftopoulos, a previous tutor of mine from the School of Advanced Study at University of London, who is now Associate Professor of Development Studies and International Relations and coordinator of Latin American Studies at Aalborg. During the conference, I was invited to return for an extended research stay to develop my PhD and engage in the academic life at Aalborg. With the support of my supervisor at Liverpool, I applied for the NWSSDTP funding for an OIV which was approved in July. This made made it possible for me to travel to and live in (very expensive) Denmark for the duration of my trip.
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North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership 