In April, two of our final year students, Alessia Adam and Mya Luggha, attended the Midwest Political Science Assocaition (MPSA) Annual Conference in Chicago, USA, where they presented their dissertation research.
The annual Midwest Political Science Association conference took place on 13-16 April 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Our final-year students, Alessia Adam and Mya Luggha, presented research undertaken for their dissertations at the undergraduate poster session. You can see Alessia's poster here, and Mya's poster here.
Here is what they had to say on their experience:
"The MPSA conference was an insightful experience, which opened my eyes towards the world of academia beyond university. The conference was overall very welcoming, and it allowed me to connect with a varied pool of people across the world, which could offer knowledge on a matter of different topics.
The presentation itself was a bit daunting at first, as I was unsure if people would be interested in my research but I was quickly pleasantly surprised with the wave of interest I was receiving. This was very refreshing and extremely helpful as I used the feedback to further improve my dissertation, the varied fields of the attendees offered some amazing new approaches in which I took my dissertation. Overall, I found MPSA to be a great opportunity for anyone, it opened my eyes to new opportunities for the future and it allowed me to create new lasting memories", Alessia Adam.
"My experience at the MPSA conference was a fantastic taster of what academia is like beyond undergraduate study. While intimidating being probably one of the youngest attending, meeting scholars from all backgrounds and learning about their own academic career progression was very insightful and reassuring for someone like me who doesn’t know what the next phase of their lives will lead them.
Presenting my dissertation in the Poster Session was nerve-racking at first, but I was very surprised at how many individuals were interested in what the undergraduates had to contribute to the conference. In addition to this, it was very comforting to hear that Royal Holloway is familiar across the pond, with people remarking that they knew faculty members or had done their year abroad in Egham! Overall it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I did not expect, made friends and created memories that will be cherished!", Mya Luggah
"The MPSA conference was an insightful experience, which opened my eyes towards the world of academia beyond university. The conference was overall very welcoming, and it allowed me to connect with a varied pool of people across the world, which could offer knowledge on a matter of different topics.
The presentation itself was a bit daunting at first, as I was unsure if people would be interested in my research but I was quickly pleasantly surprised with the wave of interest I was receiving. This was very refreshing and extremely helpful as I used the feedback to further improve my dissertation, the varied fields of the attendees offered some amazing new approaches in which I took my dissertation. Overall, I found MPSA to be a great opportunity for anyone, it opened my eyes to new opportunities for the future and it allowed me to create new lasting memories", Alessia Adam.
"My experience at the MPSA conference was a fantastic taster of what academia is like beyond undergraduate study. While intimidating being probably one of the youngest attending, meeting scholars from all backgrounds and learning about their own academic career progression was very insightful and reassuring for someone like me who doesn’t know what the next phase of their lives will lead them.
Presenting my dissertation in the Poster Session was nerve-racking at first, but I was very surprised at how many individuals were interested in what the undergraduates had to contribute to the conference. In addition to this, it was very comforting to hear that Royal Holloway is familiar across the pond, with people remarking that they knew faculty members or had done their year abroad in Egham! Overall it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I did not expect, made friends and created memories that will be cherished!", Mya Luggah
