Southeast Asia Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
SEAC offers a Student Dissertation Fieldwork grant, for current LSE undergraduate and taught master’s students for field research in the Southeast Asia region as part of their assessed dissertation. The funding may contribute towards travel expenses and on-site research expenses, up to a maximum of £500 per applicant.
The Southeast Asia Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grants are supported by Arvind Khattar whose generous gift has helped SEAC to further develop its research activities.
SEAC considers applicants from any discipline, using any methodology and selecting any site within the Southeast Asia region (normally classified as countries that are member states of ASEAN) in which the fieldwork is to be conducted. Applicants are strongly encouraged to pay close attention to LSE and governmental news and health and safety updates, in and in liaison with their dissertation supervisors, in order that appropriate duty of care, for both themselves and any research participants, is ensured.
The deadline for applications to the Dissertation Fieldwork is at 11:59pm on Friday, 13 February 2026. Please submit your application using the application form below.
Any queries are to be directed to seac.admin@lse.ac.uk
- DownloadSEAC Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grant application formdoc(52KB)
SEAC Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grant application form
Please download the application form for the fund here.
I am very grateful to SEAC for this funding opportunity for my dissertation. My Dissertation Fieldwork Grant will support the acquisition of print reference materials and will conducting online interviews. My study comes at a time of significant and even violent political challenges to the Philippine Left. As a Filipino, I want my research to contribute to political discourse and discussions in the Philippines, especially in light of current contexts shaped by the Duterte regime and the upcoming 2022 elections.
2025/26 Awardees
Name: Francesca Edralin
Degree: MSc Environment and Development
Fieldwork location: Philippines (Balabac, Palawan and Donsol, Sorsogon)
Topic: Examining Plural and Biocultural Wellbeing in Community-Led Conservation: Insights Across the Philippines
This dissertation project will examine how human well-being is defined and measured in community-led conservation initiatives in the Philippines. It will explore how conservation organisations integrate sociocultural values into monitoring frameworks, and how plural understandings of wellbeing can inform more inclusive, context-specific, and equitable conservation practices.
Name: Isabelle Pook
Degree: MSc International Social and Public Policy
Fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Between Two States: Examining State Interdependence through Cross-Border Commuting between Malaysia and Singapore
This dissertation examines how Malaysian and Singaporean labour and border policies shape the mobility and experiences of daily cross-border Malaysian commuters working in Singapore. Combining comparative policy analysis with interviews, it investigates how taxation, work permits and welfare regimes simultaneously facilitate labour mobility while producing exclusion, revealing the negotiated interdependence between both states.
Name: Kenneth Barroga
Degree: MSc Applied Social Data Science
Fieldwork location: the Philippines (online)
Topic: Knowledge Flow Across Water? Spatial Misspecification and Innovation Geography in the Philippine Archipelago
This study combines satellite imagery, government innovation data, ferry transport records, and expert interviews to test whether ignoring maritime barriers produces a distorted picture of which communities share in the knowledge economy.
Name: Louise Beatrix Guyot
Degree: MSc Empires, Colonialism & Globalisation
Fieldwork location: Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Bharu)
Topic: British involvement in the origins of the Patani Rebellions of 1948
The Pattani insurgency in Thailand has been a contentious case of religious separatism that has defied state authority from 1948 onwards. This dissertation will seek to identify catalysts leading to the eruption of the conflict, further exploring potential external sympathies taking root in the origins of the ethno-nationalist movement.
Name: Siuchieh Tai
Degree: MSc Culture, Justice, and Environment
Fieldwork location: Thailand (Mae La Refugee Camp, Tak Province) & Myanmar (Si Poe Khee village, Kayin State)
Topic: Fermentation in Flux: Embodied Knowledge, Affective Bonds, and More-than-Human Relations Among Karen Refugees
This research examines how forced displacement reconfigures the embodied knowledge and multispecies ecologies of fermented food practice, focusing on Karen nga phe production. Moving from Salween River systems to Mae La refugee camp, it analyzes how armed conflict and humanitarian governance fracture socio-material assemblages, exploring culinary loss, adaptation, and cultural persistence.
Name: Yohendran Nadar Arulthevan
Degree: MSc Public Policy and Administration
Fieldwork location: Bali, Indonesia
Topic: Governing the Commons without the State: An Institutional Analysis of the ‘Subak’ as Deliberative Participatory Governance in Bali
This research examines Bali's Subak system as a model of Empowered Participatory Governance. By testing competing hypotheses of deliberative democracy, hierarchical authority, and ritualised rules, the study explores how indigenous institutions achieve consensus to manage shared water resources independently of the state.
Name: Yu Xin Chang
Degree: MSc City Design & Social Science
Fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Spatial interventions and care networks: A study of Singapore’s differentiated city experience and health outcomes
This research explores how Singapore’s conceptions of health, through the design of public health infrastructure, favour the abled body and invisibilise the networks needed to sustain health. It foregrounds negotiations with and in public space carried out by caregivers, volunteers, and social workers to support people with special needs.
Name: Kyunghwan Choi
Degree: MSc Environment and Development
Fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Debt Swap: Innovative resolution or new form of colonialism? Indonesia case
Name: Ghea Adasta
Degree: MSc Media and Communication (Data and Society)
Fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: The Analysis of Power Dynamic Between the Indonesian Government and Big Tech in regulating AI governance in Indonesia
Name: Nitchakan Daramatat
Degree: MSc Social and Cultural Psychology
Fieldwork location: Thailand
Topic: Identity transformation of ethnic youth in Thailand: The case study of Karen youth in Baan Huay Hin Dam community, Suphanburi Province
Name: Alexandre Dupont-Sinhsattanak
Degree: LSE-PKU Double MSc Degree in International Affairs
Fieldwork location: Laos
Topic: The disunited front: Western divergences on the Laotian crisis, 1953-1962
Name: Retno Indrawati
Degree: MSc Gender, Development and Globalisation
Fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: The Risks of Performative Inclusion within YOUNGO: Empty Institutions and the Use of Youth Voices in Global Climate Governance
Name: Badrul Hisham Ismail
Degree: MSc. Inequalities and Social Science
Fieldwork location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Topic: Urban Inequality
Name: Wulandari Anindya Kana
Degree: MSc Environment and Development
Fieldwork location: Semarang, Indonesia
Topic: The politics of knowledge production in climate interventions in coastal SemarangName: Ambar Khawaja
Degree: Masters in Public Administration (MPA)
Fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Decentralized Authority in a Centralized State: MUIS and Public Service Delivery in Singapore
Name: Aya Kobayashi
Degree: MSc International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies
Fieldwork location: Batangas, Philippines
Topic: Evaluating the role of remittances as an alternative disaster risk mitigation strategy in lower-income households in the Philippines
Name: Estee Faith Leong
Degree: MA in Modern History
Fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Searching for Autonomy: University Students in Singapore, 1975–1990
Name: Amanda Lingao
Degree: Msc Human Rights and Politics
Fieldwork location: Philippines
Topic: Solidarity, repair, and victim-centered articulations of justice in the Philippines' War on Drugs
Name: Hsiang Jien Naik
Degree: MSc Development Management
Fieldwork location: Sabah, Malaysia
Topic: Statelessness in Sabah: The lack of political will or a political agenda?
Name: Giang T. Nguyen
Degree: MSc Global Health Policy
Fieldwork location: Viet Nam
Topic: Assessing Willingness-to-Pay for Mammography in Early Breast Cancer Detection among women in Viet Nam
Name: Leon Schachter
Degree: BA Geography with Chinese
Fieldwork location: Luzon, Philippines
Topic: The Balikbayan Route: An Analysis of Distribution, Coordination, and Change in the Value Chain of Transnational Kinship
Name: Moses Siregar
Degree: MSc Political Science (Political Behaviour)
Fieldwork location: Bogor City, Indonesia
Topic: Buzzers, the New Brokers! The Effect of Social Media Brokers on Political Conformity and Online Engagement: An RCT in Indonesia
Name: Nattakrit Thaicharoenporn
Degree: BSc International Relations and History
Fieldwork location: Thailand
Topic: Bondage and Capitalism: Slavery and Authoritative Emancipation in the Making of Modern Thailand
Name: Tham Ngoc Truong
Degree: MSc in Global Media and Communications
Fieldwork location: Vietnam
Topic: The spread of misinformation/disinformation on social media on human trafficking in Vietnam
Name: Yuanhang Wang
Degree: MSc in International Affairs
Fieldwork location: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia
Topic: The Devil You Know: ASEAN’s Collaboration and Containment towards the Democratic Kampuchea (1979-1982)
Name: Nurfitriyana Riyadi
Degree: MSc Behavioural Science
Fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Digital discourse on social media amongst Indonesian netizens
Name: Luca Fraticelli
Degree: MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation
Fieldwork location: Malaysia, in person
Topic: Nuclear empowerment in ASEAN: the case of Malaysia
Name: Regina Jessica Angeline
Degree: MSc Regulation (Government and Law)
Fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Women in Regulating an Empty Land: The Case of Indonesia's Ibu Kota Nusantara
Name: Jake Chavara
Degree: MSc Development Management
Fieldwork Location: Leyte, Philippines
Topic: Balancing People, Profit & Planet: Unpacking Livelihood Co-benefits in Philippine Blue Carbon Projects
Name: Ryan Taehyoung Kim
Degree: MSc Development Management
Fieldwork Location: Vietnam
Topic: Assessing the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) Measures for Economic Development in Southeast Asia.
Name: Hannah Gwynneth Pimentel
Degree: MSc in Political Science and Political Economy
Fieldwork location: Philippines
Topic: Political Alignment Dynamics and Fiscal Surpluses: Insights from Local Governance in the Philippines
Name: Sahil Bhagat
Degree: Columbia-LSE Dual MA/MSc in International and World History
Fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: Spice Bombs on the Plantation: Transnational Connectivities of Malayan Indian Anti-colonialism
Name: Naura Haryanto
Degree: MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Non-Governmental Organisations)
Fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Unpacking the Role and Approach of Gender-Focused NGOs in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Policy Change
Name: Collin TEO Jun Kai
Degree: LSE-PKU Double MSc Degree in International Affairs
Fieldwork Location: Singapore and Maryland, USA
Topic: How the Vietnam War Shaped Singapore-US Relations in its Formative Years, 1965-68
Name: Amanda Fidelino
Degree: MSc Political Sociology
Fieldwork location: Philippines
Topic: How does the new Metro Manila middle class view institutional changes in the post-EDSA normative order?
Name: Yuyang Chen
Degree: LSE–Peking University Double MSc in International Affairs
Fieldwork location: China (in person) and Indonesia (Remote)
Topic: Struggle and Adaptation: Identity of Indonesian Chinese ‘Returnees’ in the 1950s and 1960s
Name: Ferth Vandensteen Manaysay
Degree: MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation
Fieldwork location: Vietnam and Philippines
Topic: Envisioning a transition towards a circular plastics economy: Policy narratives in the extended producer responsibility regulations of Vietnam and the Philippines
Name: Khairin Amin
Degree: Msc Social and Cultural Psychology
Fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: Mental Health Conceptions in Malaysia: A social representational study of a multi-ethnic context
Hanson Chong
Degree: MSc Social Research Methods
Proposed fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: Interethnic Friendships under Ethnic Segregation: The Case of MalaysiaRead Hanson's blog post on his fieldwork here.
Jiajun Deng
Degree: MSc Anthropology and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: Losing or Winning? Development and Dispossession in Malaysia
Wisarut Junsook
Degree: MSc International and Asian History
Proposed fieldwork location: Thailand
Topic: The Bowring Treaty of 1855 and the Transformation of Siamese Foreign Policies toward BritainRead Wisarut's blog post on his fieldwork here.
Jia Kok
Degree: MSc Media and Communications
Proposed fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: An investigation of Malaysian Chinese's 'Chineseness' and its relationship with Chinese social media, RED and popular culture in facilitation and maintenance of a Chinese identity
Yenuarizki Soedjoko
Degree: MSc Social and Public Communication
Proposed fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Understanding Indonesian Conservatives and Liberals' Moral Values to Viral Social Media Contents in the #SahkanRUUPKS Campaign
Si-Qi Tan
Degree: MSc International Social and Public Policy
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: The interrelationship between Social Policy, Confucianism and Loneliness among the elderly in Singapore
Ruth Luzminda Warren
Degree: MSc Urbanisation and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Philippines
Topic: Climate-resilient urban planning and aging populations in Asia: understanding gendered experiences of aging and housing in Cagayan de Oro
SEAC was delighted to recieve so many competitive applications for the 2021/22 grants. The nine student awardees were selected based on the strength of their applications, and their proposed dissertation fieldwork and research.
Alexia Faugeroux
Degree: MSc Development Management
Proposed fieldwork location: Cambodia
Topic: Impact evaluation of single-sex schooling on gender equality in education: a case study of Toutes à l’école in CambodiaRead Alexia's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Michelle Yue Huang
Degree: MSc Conflict Studies
Proposed fieldwork location: Myanmar
Topic: Mobilisation and Resistance Post-Democratisation: Continuity, Change, and Learning in Myanmar’s Spring RevolutionRead Michelle's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Chen En Lee
Degree: MSc Sociology
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore and Malaysia
Topic: Is it just for the money: A look at Malaysian cross-border workers in Singapore
Dianwidhi Michelle Pranoto
Degree: MSc in Media and Communications (Data and Society)
Proposed fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Exploring the Influence of Socio-cultural Predictors of Digital Exclusion on Outcomes of Digital Engagement between the Western and Eastern Part of Indonesia
Xiao Tong Quek
Degree: MSc International, Social and Public Policy
Proposed fieldwork location: Indonesia and Malaysia
Topic: The socio-economic impacts of mitigation policies implemented post-ratification of ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution on smallholder farmers in Indonesia and MalaysiaRead Xiao Tong's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Pavla Yzabelle Tan
Degree: MSc Gender, Media and Culture
Proposed fieldwork location: Philippines
Topic: Nationalist Discourses in the 2022 Philippine Elections: The (Re)Construction of the Nation by Leading Presidential Candidates Leni Robredo versus Bongbong Marcos
Jeffrey Tong
Degree: MSc Regional and Urban Planning Studies
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Governing Urban Nature-based Solutions: An Analysis of High-rise Green Infrastructure Regulation in Singapore
Myra Torcheux
Degree: MSc Human Rights and Politics
Proposed fieldwork location: Cambodia
Topic: Transnational Justice and Politics in the Cambodian DiasporaRead Myra's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Sophie Worrall
Degree: MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation
Proposed fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: Drivers of sustainable palm oil certification? Case study of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) and barriers for smallholder uptake
For this year, with in-person student fieldwork strictly limited, our 12 awardees impressed with innovative research and methods to work around travel restrictions.
Awardees have also been encouraged to pay close attention to LSE and governmental news and health and safety updates, in and in liaison with their dissertation supervisors, in order that appropriate duty of care, for both themselves and any research participants, is ensured.
Gray Brakke
Degree: MSc Urbanisation and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Vietnam (remotely)
Topic: Strategic Differentiation: The Dialectic of Urban Citizenship and State Authority in Hanoi and Its Periurban FringeRead Gray's blog post on his fieldwork here.
Marcus Chee
Degree: MSc International Affairs
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore and Malaysia (remotely)
Topic: British Colonial gaze in the Malaya Command 1939-1942
Soon Yung Low
Degree: MSc Applied Social Data Science
Proposed fieldwork location: Malaysia (remotely)
Topic: Ethnic Stereotypes in Malaysia: A quantitative measure based on word embedding
Jeremiah Magpile
Degree: MSc Local Economic Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Philippines (remotely)
Topic: Is Pasig City ready for Industry 4.0? The role of institutions in enhancing workforce technology readiness
Amanda Munoz Gamage
Degree: MSc Human Rights
Proposed fieldwork location: Across Southeast Asia (remotely)
Topic: Exploring the production of knowledge in Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) – A case study of Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APFWLD)Read Amanda's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Luisa Pineda
Degree: MSc Media, Communication and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Philippines (remotely)
Topic: Feminist media activism in the Philippines:Communication, community, and collective action amid COVID-19Read Luisa's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Safira Prabawidya Pusparani
Degree: MSc Public Policy and Administration
Proposed fieldwork location: Indonesia (remotely)
Topic:Do women run the world (of policymaking)? Uncovering the dichotomy of descriptive and substantive gender representation in Indonesia's legislation processes post-2014 and 2019 electionsRead Safira's blog post on her fieldwork here.
Ili Kaiyisah Mohammad Rahan
Degree: MSc Environment and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore (remotely)
Topic: Food for thought: Analyzing Singapore’s food resilience strategies
Dominic Rose
Degree: MSc Applied Social Data Science
Proposed fieldwork location: Thailand, Cambodia (remotely)
Topic: Using Deep Learning and Google Street View to Identify Poverty in Southeast Asia
Gabbie Santos
Degree: MSc Political Sociology
Proposed fieldwork location: Philippines (remotely)
Topic: How does the embourgeoisement of a rising Filipino middle class reshape labour politics and massmobilisation in the Philippines, and what are the political implications?Read Gabbie's blog post on his fieldwork here.
Joshua Tham
Degree: BA History
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore (remotely)
Topic: Counter-Communist Efforts by the Catholic Church in Post-War Singapore, 1948-70
Nicholas Williamson
Degree: MSc Health and International Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Thailand (remotely)
Topic: A Qualitative Study on the Politics of Abortion Legalisation in ThailandRead Nick's blog post on his fieldwork here.
Important note from SEAC:
While any in-person fieldwork will inevitably be reconsidered, including cancellation, due to the current pandemic, we would like to congratulate the 10 successful applicants of SEAC’s 2019/20 LSE Southeast Asia Student Dissertation Fieldwork Grant based on their original proposals. Awardees have been assured that SEAC is very much aware of significant restrictions and that we will be sympathetic to any changes to the nature, scope and timing of their proposed research, including researching remotely if appropriate. Awardees have also been encouraged to pay close attention to LSE and governmental news and health and safety updates, in liaison with their dissertation supervisors, in order that appropriate duty of care, for both themselves and any research participants, is ensured.
Rahma Anggraini
Degree: MSc International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies
Proposed fieldwork location: Indonesia
Topic: Contestation within Civil Society and Policy Changes: Examining the Impact of Advocacy by Different Women Groups to the Bill Legalization Process in Indonesia
Hayli Chiu
Degree: BSc Environment and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Malaysia
Topic: Individual Decisions in Agent-Based Models: An Analysis of the Influence of Southeast Asian Haze Episodes on the Migration Patterns in Malaysia
Jonathan Formella
Degree: Columbia-LSE Dual MA/MSc in International and World History
Proposed fieldwork location: Vietnam
Topic: Exhumed Furies: Maoist Radicalism in the Chinese and Vietnamese Revolutions
Saanjh Gupta
Degree: MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Hawker Centre Redevelopment and Singaporean National Identity, 1968-86
Zhen Jun Al Lim
Degree: MSc Urbanisation and Development
Proposed fieldwork location: Thailand
Topic: Phuket’s Smart City Surveillance: an investigation of its Eagle Eyes CCTV Network
Woon Wei Look
Degree: MSc City Design and Social Science
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: What is homelessness? Defining homelessness and a critical examination of governmental responses in Singapore
Rishik Elias Menon
Degree: MSc Criminal Justice Policy
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Crime Prevention and the Compliance-Industrial Complex: Analysing the Ideas, Interests and Institutions which Influence Singapore’s Anti-Money Laundering Regime
Cheyenne Ong
Degree: BSc in History and International Relations
Proposed fieldwork location: Singapore and Malaysia
Topic: The extent to which Communists influenced the Chinese middle school students’ movement in Singapore from 1954-1961
Leanne Sajor
Degree: MSc Inequalities and Social Science
Proposed fieldwork location: Philippines
Topic: Topographies of resistance: implications of the Human Rights Impact Assessment on movements against inequalities in the Manila Bay Project
Johanna Sutton
Degree: MSc Urbanisation and DevelopmentProposed fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Making cities more resilient: blue-green infrastructure and governance
Tiffany Bennett
Degree: MSc Development Management
Fieldwork location:Cambodia
Topic: Belonging on the Margins: Exploring National Identity Among Cham Muslims in Rangsei Village, Cambodia
Lazarus Chok
Degree:BA Geography
Fieldwork location: Singapore
Topic: Terminal estates: An ethnographic study of planned obsolescence in public housing estates in Singapore
Ming Kit Lim
Degree: MSc Public Administration and Government
Fieldwork location:Singapore
Topic: Engendering Participatory Governance in Paternalistic States: A Case Study of ‘Our Singapore Conversation’
Rio Grace Otara
Degree: MSc in Gender, Development and Globalization
Fieldwork location:Philippines
Topic: Life Histories of Muslim Women Leaders of the Bangsamoro Islamic Women’s Auxiliary Brigade in the Philippines
Katie Parkinson
Degree: MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies
Fieldwork location:Thailand
Topic: Constructing ‘Home’ in Exile: Perspectives of Shan Refugees in Thailand