PhD Research

Now that I've been offered a place on the Esports MA, I started discussing my longer time future with my boss. Something that came up was the idea of pursuing a PhD. This has always been something I've loved the idea of, but always felt I was being unrealistic to aim for. I really enjoy learning and researching and I think by choosing to go into the esports industry, I've put myself in a position to do some research that could actually have a real world impact (as esports in so new and not as thoroughly explored as other sectors).

As this is just a thought at the moment, I decided to make some early inquiries just to see if it's a good idea for me. Firstly, I looked up the details of what PhD programs Staffs supports/encourages and found that for 2018 entry, they were interested in students who were looking into community and diversity in esports. I found this quiet funny, as those are the two areas I'm looking into, career-wise. I also found out that the alumni discount may still apply to me (even though I've already received it once), and that there are 5 scholarship spots for games-centered PhDs.

After this, I decided to ask people with real world experience of PhDs. This included emailing Games and Esports lecturer Dr Ying-Ying Law (who's thesis centered around diversity in esports), and then casting a wider net by asking for opinions on the open student forum site, The Student Room...