Wellbeing research

Why did you choose to do your PhD in the Department of Economics at the University of Sheffield?

I chose to study here for the following reasons:

• I studied at Sheffield for my undergraduate and Masters degree and I like the city of Sheffield
• The department has a number of researchers who are interested in wellbeing research
• The staff and other students seem to conduct interesting work and are supportive of young researchers
• The department/University has a good reputation

What interested you about your particular area of study and your thesis?

I did a module on the economics of wellbeing for my undergraduate degree. I have always been interested in the area of wellbeing and I consider wellbeing to be an important goal of government policy.

"I enjoyed coming up with interesting questions for further research and thinking about how to investigate them."

James Oswold

PhD student

What would you say to someone thinking of studying for a PhD in the Department of Economics at the University of Sheffield?

I would recommend applying! Have a think about which broad areas of economics that you are interested in and what you might like to research within those areas. If you have a specific/broad research question that will improve your chances of being successful, though don't worry if your ideas are not fully thought out/planned. My research proposal related to the effects of migration on subjective wellbeing but I never studied this during my PhD.

What would you say were the highlights of your PhD?

I enjoyed coming up with interesting questions (hypotheses) for further research and thinking about how to investigate them. I also have enjoyed attending wellbeing conferences (such as those held at LSE) and listening to other researchers present their research - I have learnt a lot from this.

I have enjoyed learning how to conduct independent research, especially learning data analysis using Stata.

What careers support have you accessed or received from the University of the Department of Economics?

I was supported by my supervisors and the Department of Economics to undertake a 6-month internship at the Department for Work and Pensions, which helped me realise that I'd like to work for the Civil Service. Following this, I received support from the Careers Service at The University of Sheffield to help prepare for the selection tests of the Government Economic Service Fast Stream, which improved my performance significantly. In addition, my supervisors allowed me to allocate time to prepare for the Fast Stream selection process.