Tingyu Liang

"I’ve enjoyed my academic work so far, and I want to continue it. I really want to become an independent researcher, so the PhD is my best chance of achieving it. I’m also passionate about my topic of choice and feel not enough attention has been paid to it, especially the questions I’m looking to answer through my research.

I studied for my postgraduate degree at Surrey, and as I was familiar with it, choosing to continue my education here saved time in adapting to the environment and study model, so I could directly start my PhD study. I feel the University has accumulated an extremely high global reputation and research recognition in hospitality and tourism management, providing a great platform for every creative and shining idea. I hope to still work on my research in the field of hospitality and tourism management through our doctoral programme, since it not only accords with my long-term research interests, but it also plays an important role in influencing my future development and career planning.

"I’ve always been interested in the global gender issue, and as an undergraduate student I found I liked studying this area."

I have tried to research the gender image propaganda for a brand, and the development of women's public space in China. Recently, I had the chance to do some original research on my masters about how gender influences the motivation to attend music festivals and that inspired me to take up the challenge of doing a PhD and research ‘How Chinese couples make tourism decisions  from a gender perspective’. Based on my sociological and event area background, I’d love to combine my research with these.

I am really excited to do my PhD on my research topic, this has been my topic of interest since my undergraduate studies. During my PhD period, I will explore it further and want to use it as the foundation for a fruitful research career – I’d like to be an academic."

Discover our programmes in hospitality, events, tourism and transport including our PhD Hospitality and Tourism Management.