Erin Ling

The University of Surrey is a fantastic place to study and work. The University library offers an abundance of PhD resources and the Research Development Programme provides excellent training and development opportunities, especially for those who have limited prior experience. The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management runs weekly research seminars and a coffee club that allows staff and postgraduate research students to get together to communicate their research, seek collaborations, and share personal stories in a relaxed environment. We also have a monthly social gathering at the University, aimed at enhancing our interactions beyond research.

The staff here are warm and approachable and offer supportive feedback when needed. We also have a diverse community of postgraduate research students from all over the world. The monthly PhD gathering helps us to build and maintain great friendships.

During my time, I have been able to build partnerships with industry experts and continued collaboration from the backing of the ESRC Industry Engagement Fund. This helped me a lot with my subsequent research data collection.

“I have also benefited from the opportunity provided by our School to attend workshops in China and Australia, which provided me with the chance to learn from others and collaborate with them on projects.”

I consider myself extremely lucky to have excellent supervisors, especially my primary supervisor Professor Iis Tussyadiah. She has taught me with patience and offered many opportunities to help me improve, including working as a research assistant in the Digital Lab at our School, and working as the communication officer for the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT). I would not be enjoying my PhD experience as much, without the unwavering support from my supervisors. I came to Surrey with an empty canvas, but each day my painting improves.