1. Your name and where you're from.
Yu Suzuki. From Saitama (suburban Tokyo), Japan.
2. A (brief) description of your research project.
Anglo-Japanese diplomacy between 1880 and 1895, focusing specifically on the origins of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.
3. Why did you decide to do a PhD in the first place?
I was interested in becoming a professional academic since I started my MA in 2008. After completing the programme, I decided to pursue this goal.
4. Why did you decide to study your PhD in International History/at LSE?
I was interested in doing a diplomatic history about Japan in English-speaking countries; preferably in the UK, because I must take GRE in order to get into the American university, and also the American Ph.D programmes take much longer time than they do in UK. There are many schools that have good academics that work on Japanese history, but when it came to the Japanese diplomatic history, there were not too many options I could consider. A school where Dr. Antony Best belongs to had to come up high in the priority list.
5. How did you decide on a suitable topic and an adviser?
Professor John Ferris at the University of Calgary, who was my MA supervisor, gave me advise on choosing where to do the doctoral programme. He knew, and also introduced me to, Dr. Best. After that, I communicated with Dr. Best in choosing the research topic before sending the official applications.
6. What one piece of advice would you offer to prospective PhD students?
Communicate. Communicate not only with your previous supervisor but also with your prospective supervisor. Communication would also help you to know which university offers an ideal environment to undertake your research project. Also, if you have a topic that you want to do, then you can check out whether if that topic is doable, or is not done already by someone else. If you do not have a concrete research topic in your mind, then your previous and prospective supervisors can help you finding it.