Type of outward mobility:
PhD PDR student Santander Scholarship
Host university:
Tsinghua University in Beijing, China
Information:
‘My colleague Paul, Head of the Service Design Team at The Centre for Product Design and Development Research (PDR), alerted me to an opportunity to go to Beijing at Tsinghua University after he had run a series of workshops in China.
This happened the same day of the deadline of the Santander scholarships. I thought it could be a great opportunity for me as a PhD researcher experience a completely different context with other people studying the same subject. I sent the application describing the activities I would be involved and in a couple of weeks I received confirmation that I had been awarded the scholarship.
During my stay in Beijing I had the opportunity to visit a couple of design studios that use service design methodology to develop innovative solutions for their clients; becoming bicultural (or multicultural) transforms the way you see the world and how you deal with your professional and personal life.
The Outward Mobility staff have been outstanding; they supported me since the beginning in the preparation for the study visit, also during and after it. Travelling alone to a foreign country 11,000 km from Cardiff can be very daunting but I was made to feel safe knowing I had the backup of the Outward Mobility Team and the Cardiff Metropolitan University representative office in Beijing.’
