Pembroke Travels: Klaudia Wegschaider

NEWS |

This September, Pembroke student Klaudia Wegschaider (2018, DPhil Politics) used the Melandra Castle Fund to present her doctoral research work at the Annual Conference of the American Political Science Association (APSA).

Klaudia spent a week in Montreal, Canada, where the conference was held, taking part cutting-edge methods training, attending panels, meetings with other researchers in her field and more. Klaudia shares:

“[During the conference] I presented my work on the effect of simultaneous proposals in referendum votes. This paper was inspired by my fieldwork in Switzerland and combines a survey experiment, analysis of observational voting data, and qualitative case studies…. Based on the feedback that I had received there, I had made significant changes to the paper by expanding the scope of my argument. APSA would be a useful signal to tell me whether my changes were convincing, and how a political science audience would react to the paper.

The panel that I was part of was on electoral systems and voting behaviour—a perfect match for my work. Even better, I had the most phenomenal discussant. I received actionable and detailed feedback as well as incredibly encouraging words. Beyond my panel, I also attended many others and learned about the latest developments in the discipline.”

She also adds:I am grateful for the generous support of the Melandra Castle Fund. I am also grateful for the flexibility that Pembroke College allowed me when things did not go as planned. What a good fortune to be in a college that one can count on."

Find Klaudia’s full report here.

Every year, Pembroke College offers its undergraduate and graduate students a diverse range of academic grants and travel funds to help them undertake further study or research alongside their degree. A full list can be found here.

The Melandra Castle Fund is available for graduate students. It covers academic and travel costs in the furtherance of the applicant’s research. In previous years, the total fund has been £1000.

 

Headshot of Klaudia on the left side and a photo of her badge from the conference on right