Tuesday 24 April 2018

First Time Abroad from Iran to Start a PhD within the new Newcastle-Oxford Research Centre for Conflict and Cohesion

Yasser Saeedian has just commenced a PhD in the School of Psychology with the Newcastle-Oxford Research Centre for Conflict and Cohesion (NORCCC) that will explore people’s daily experiences of intergroup contact and intergroup anxiety using experience sampling methods and psychophysiological measures. Yasser’s interest in working with world-class researchers in a multicultural context has taken him from Iran to Australia.

“Living in a culturally diverse environment and undertaking my PhD with NORCCC, supervised by Associate Professor Stefania Paolini and Dr Elise Kalokerinos, have provided me with a tremendous opportunity not only to increase long term research capabilities, but also to develop a global identity by interacting with people from different ethnic backgrounds that I have never had contact before” Yasser said.

Photo: Yasser with Prof Miles Hewstone

The first two weeks of his PhD coincided with Professor Miles Hewstone’s visit to UoN. Prof Hewstone is one of the most influential and productive Social Psychologists in the world, currently at the University of Oxford and Global Innovation Chair in NORCCC at UoN.

“All I was thinking during these two weeks was how I could make the most of Professor Hewstone’s visit. His valuable suggestions for my PhD were so inspiring. Through the informal meetings, he provided us with his practical tips on how to stay academically motivated and maintain a work-life balance. It was also very exciting to listen to his experience about his involvement in public policy input relating to improving intergroup relations in the UK. I think they were two extraordinary weeks” he said, smiling.





Photo: Prof Miles Hewstone meets SOPRG research students and staff – UON Social and Organisational Psychology Research group – as part of NORCCC mentoring activities.

For more information on the Newcastle-Oxford Research centre for Conflict and Cohesion:  https://www.norccc.org/