My experience as a Panelist at the Political Studies Association Undergraduate Conference
Several months have passed since the Political Studies Association (PSA) Conference which took place in April 2019. Since then I have written a blog entry about my research which I will be posting on my LinkedIn in the following weeks, and in June 2019, I was given the opportunity to write an article for the Nottingham Trent University SO Magazine on my experience.
I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to present my own project at such an amazing conference. When I first heard about the PSA Conference, I was very excited and wanted to take part and present my own dissertation project, which I had been working on for the past year. Preparing for the conference was a little bit nerve-racking, l had to balance and manage my studies and extracurricular activities, alongside preparing for the conference and deciding what I should include. With only ten minutes to present, I was trying to condense a lot of information as my project on ‘How are migration and energy-trade securitized in the Italian-Libyan relations during the Renzi and Gentiloni governments?’ covered a lot of detail and information.
On the day of the conference, I was very excited to attend and network with students from other universities who were also presenting their research. When I arrived, a feeling of excitement and nervousness was in the air. All the students present were enjoying a small breakfast and networking with each other before the introductory session. The event opened with a welcoming speech and then the students started to head to the panels that were running in the first hour. The security panel was the first panel of the day, where I presented my research. As the last presenter, I listened to the others talking about their interesting research topics, which ranged from the impact of armed drones to analysing the Russian private military company, Wagner. After delivering my presentation, I felt extremely happy with how it went and even happier when students asked insightful questions about the project. At the end of the panel, I also received feedback, which was very helpful as it allowed me to further address and fine tune additional areas of my research. I would recommend students take part in additional activities, events or conferences where they can apply the skills and knowledge gained from their degrees, alongside developing additional transferable skills. Additionally, this opportunity looks good on a CV, and it also helps your professional and self-development.
Throughout the day, I attended interesting research presentations, including two incredible talks about Euroscepticism and early careers progression. Listening to experts and employability advisors who gave advice on job opportunities, applications and future steps after our degrees was very reassuring and helped me realise what I want to pursue in the future. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity to take part in and I really want to thank the PSA and NTU for hosting this year’s undergraduate conference.