I am immensely grateful the MSc Conference and Research Fund provided me with the opportunity to attend the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) 2024 Conference abroad. Attending the IRSPM 2024 Conference in Tampere, Finland, from April 16 to 18 as a master’s student was a unique experience that significantly contributed to my academic and professional development. The conference, themed “Hybrid futures for public governance and management”, provided an exceptional platform for a young scholar like me to engage in discussions on pertinent issues in social/public policy and public management. Specifically, the support from the MSc Conference and Research Fund directly allowed me to reach three core objectives. Firstly, it directly helped me develop my research and thesis. Thanks to the Fund, I was able to present a paper on public corporate governance which directly informs my master’s thesis. Specifically, the feedback I received on site from top experts will allow me to refine this work and has helped me to cultivate a more nuanced understanding of the actual research and review process in practice. Secondly, it helped me preparing my presented paper and master’s thesis for a publication, a long-cherished wish of mine. The conference is associated with the Public Management Review, a prestigious journal in my research area, thus the scholars could provide me with unique insights on how to publish in such high-quality journals. With the guidance obtained from the conference, I am now better prepared to submit my work to respected peer-reviewed outlets which could impact my academic career significantly. Finally, the Fund allowed me to expand my network in the field of social/public policy and public management. Attending the IRSPM 2024 Conference enabled me to build an extensive academic network and engage in meaningful conversations about my research, for example with leading professors such as Marieke van Genugten or Jan-Erik Johanson. Also, participating in events like the “New Researchers Panel” facilitated interactions with like-minded peers and PhD students, whose input has been instrumental to solidify my aspirations for pursuing further studies on doctoral level. To sum up, the support provided by the MSc Conference and Research Fund was key in enabling my attendance at the IRSPM 2024 Conference and utilizing its benefits. I strongly recommend other students to apply to the MSc Conference and Research Fund and expand their academic opportunities. Applying to the Fund is very transparent and a fast process, allowing to plan ahead and finance ambitious conference attendances abroad.
The MSc Conference & Research grant was a massive enabler and opportunity for me to attend the 13th Annual Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS 2023) which has played two fundamental roles in my research endeavors. Firstly, the conference was an opportunity for me to gauge interdisciplinary perspectives ranging from gender and social movements, violence and democracy which has further helped me refine my research question in a much more nuanced way possible. My initial research interests were extremely broad because they focused on police protest violence but being part of the conference has enabled me to listen to be inspired by female presenters who brought in a feminist viewpoints and compelled a feminist framework for my dissertation. Secondly, bearing in mind that the research topic itself is contentious, because it involves discussions of power, authority and violence, these ideas though not new to me are discussed in novel contexts ranging from migration and technology that are new to me. Being part of the conference also meant asking questions and being able to look at the same issue from different angles, a skill that is fundamental to not only refine through my degree but to ensure that my dissertation is critically and analytically robust. The MSc Conference & Research grant has been immensely supportive in breaking down the financial barrier that largely elite academic conferences bring with themselves and I would encourage other social policy students to apply for such opportunities for a more holistic experience that the Department of Social Policy and the Department of Financial Support at the LSE is dedicated to building.
I wrote my dissertation on the effects of labelling and education on mental health stigma. During a time where mental health problems are on the rise, I found it particularly important to dive deeper into the question of how mental health stigma could be overcome. After spending some time thinking about how to approach this topic, I concluded that running an RCT would be my best chance. With the help of LSE’s Behavioural Lab, I was able to set up an experiment with nearly 300 participants. To cover for the expenses, I applied to the MSc Conference and Research Fund, which was brought to my attention by Dr. Tania Burchardt. The application process was straightforward, and I received a decision within a few days. Being selected as a recipient of the fund allowed me to include nearly 100 additional participants in my experiment. I am beyond grateful for being given the opportunity to pursue my research topic, which’s scope would have been dramatically reduced without the funding. I hope that this post encourages future students to pursue primary data collection and helps them to uncover some of the outstanding sources of support LSE has to offer.
Thanks to the funding, I was able to recruit and interview participants from across the UK for my dissertation on the attitudes of British South Asian youth towards recreational drug use. The funding allowed me to offer participants reasonable compensation for their time, and to be able to travel to interview them. The participants were also of reasonably diverse backgrounds and lived experience, which was valuable for my project. I was able to gain significant insight into their drug attitudes, but also identify considerable differences between participants and sources of influences on their opinions. I am enormously grateful for the funding and the efficient support I received, and hope that future students (especially those carrying out empirical studies) can benefit similarly.
With support from the Department of Social Policy's MSc Conference and Research Fund, I was able to participate in the United Nation's Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting to Conduct a Comprehensive Study on Cybercrime in Vienna, Austria, which directly benefitted my dissertation research. Not only did the opportunity to network with practitioners, diplomats, and academics contribute to the comprehensiveness of my dissertation research, but asking for their insight and listening to their advice has pointed me in the direction of gaps in knowledge for which policy-makers are presently seeking answers. This will immediately contribute to the preparation of my future PhD proposal and research.
The MSc Conference and Research Fund represents one of many examples of how the Department of Social Policy invests in student development and success. I remain grateful to the Department of Social Policy for their support in fostering my educational and professional development. I hope that future students will consider applying to and benefitting from this helpful funding source.
I wrote my dissertation about the treatment of transgender people in the Norwegian criminal justice system. It was very exciting to conduct this research as no one had researched this particular group's interactions with the Norwegian criminal justice system yet. I was adamant about speaking to trans people because of the unfortunately long history of speaking about minorities instead of speaking to them. I was therefore grateful to speak face-to-face with trans people, gather their stories and present them faithfully in my paper. Thanks to the Social Policy Department's funding, I was able to offer my participants a small reward in compensation for their time and increase the likelihood of respondence.
In my dissertation, I have analysed how the 2015 introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany has affected employment. For this purpose, I needed access to the German Structure of Earnings Survey - a large-scale dataset of approximately 1,000,000 workers. The Department’s MSc Conference & Research Fund has helped me to cover the access fee for this survey. I am very grateful for the generous, easy and fast support I received and hope that future students, who wish to work with secondary data too, will continue to profit from this resource.
I attended a conference of anti-fracking activist groups in Odense, Denmark to gather information and make contacts with members of the movement. I am studying the treatment of this movement by police in Denmark and the UK, making it an unmissable opportunity for data collection. The aim was primarily to conduct an ethnographic study of the group in relation to policing, and to organise one-to-one interviews with key informers. By spending time in Copenhagen and Falster before and after the conference, I was able to interview to people that I otherwise would not have had access to, including an MP, activists, and the mayor of Lolland. I uncovered ways in which the movement is managed and policed that don’t exist in secondary resources. In addition to the information I gathered while present, I also gained access to a list of contacts who I will be able to contact for follow up questions. I would like to thank the Social Policy department for assistance from the conference fund that helped make the trip possible. Attending this conference has made an invaluable contribution to my dissertation research.