First of all, many congratulations for receiving an offer to enrol on a PhD programme at LSE! And while you consider what your next step should be, allow me to assure you why LSE is the right place for you to be for your doctoral studies.
Excellent research ecosystem
As a PhD student, your number one priority is to be working in an environment that is compatible with producing path-breaking and stimulating research that leads to tangible outputs. You want to see fruitful outcomes and real-world impact that benefits the stakeholders of your work. This is exactly what LSE has to offer. The Research Excellence Framework’s evaluation of the institute’s contribution to social science research says it all. Across the parameters of research outputs, research impact and research environment, LSE has been ranked among the top social science institutions in the UK. It is where the research action is happening!
Five-star quality academic experience
The teaching atmosphere at LSE is highly data-driven where research shapes and enhances teaching. LSE offers a world-class luxurious educational experience with an added incentive that the degree you earn will be a gold-standard that sets you up to succeed wherever you choose to go after your PhD. Having such a fantastic teaching environment translates into two benefits for a PhD student:
- You’ll have the opportunities to interact with, learn from and exchange your ideas with experts in your field and this can make a world of difference to your research
- If you choose to work as a graduate teaching assistant, you’ll have the opportunity to be at the fore-front of teaching innovation and understand the system. This experience can do wonders for you if you pursue a career in academia.
Wide range of resources for PhD students
At LSE, doctoral students are at the heart of the research ecosystem. As a result of this, LSE has several resources and opportunities that are specifically tailored for PhD students’ training needs. These include but are not limited to the PhD Academy, an exchange programme that is specifically designed for PhD students, and a dedicated Department of Methodology for research support. There are many other services too that can either directly support you or can point you in the right direction to further support services across the School.
LSE’s central location, top rankings, diverse academic community, affiliation to the University of London are factors that provide several advantages to being a PhD student here.
To wrap this up, I’d like to briefly share my personal experience thus far. LSE was my first choice for the PhD programme ever since I decided on pursuing one because my department’s research output defined the kind of scholarship I aim to accomplish and my supervisors’ work closely resembled my research interests. At the beginning of the application process, these two reasons were my strongest motivators for applying. However, through the application process I came upon several more reasons that solidified my interest in studying at LSE. These included:
- a great deal of support from my programme manager which helped me contact my supervisors;
- excellent experience working with my supervisor on developing my research proposal;
- my interview discussion with the panel allowed me a glimpse into the remarkable research culture at LSE.
So, when I received my offer, I knew I would accept it and it’s a choice I’ve been proud of. Since I’ve started my PhD, I’ve been working with some brilliant minds in Psychological Science and my work is informed by top experts. The experience has gone above and beyond my expectations in terms of the intellectual challenge it offers and how energised I feel engaging with the community. The PhD experience has already proved to be life-transforming and I feel it already. The best part, I’ve only just begun.
If you’re wondering whether you should accept your offer, my advice is to do it. Your future self will be glad you did! 🙂
