I am appreciative to IAPS for continuing to support my PhD project. Thanks to its generous funding, the IAPS grant helped me cover expenses incurred for translation services and for a second trip to China.
Part of the grant went towards translations from Chinese to English and vice-versa. My Mandarin skills do not yet allow me to make comprehensive and clear translations; hence, for accuracy purposes it was important to use a trained translator. One of the methods used in my thesis involves discourse analysis on Chinese media; I have already run this analysis in the previous year on a state newspaper, but in order to get a better understanding of how nationalism is portrayed in the wider Chinese media I decided to extend my research and included regional and local newspapers . The funds obtained from IAPS helped me run this analysis and finalise a part of my PhD. In addition, translation services from both English to Chinese and Chinese to English were also required for interviews I conducted via email.
The other part of the grant was used towards my trip to China, which involved an academic exchange with Fudan University, Shanghai. This trip was mainly funded by U21 scheme, but IAPS also contributed towards what proved a fruitful experience, where I met and discussed my research with numerous Chinese scholars, academics and students alike. This opened doors to new sources of information that are invaluable for my research.
Oana Burcu, Doctoral Researcher
Posted on Thursday 9th July 2015