Thilak Wanasinghe, a doctoral candidate from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, secured a PhD student fellowship under the Global Development Hub Fellows Fund at Imperial College London, Business School from May to July 2024. The Global Development Hub Fellows Fund intends to support high impact, short term placements for PhD students from Least Developed and Lower Middle-Income Countries, to spend time at Imperial College London.
“I would first like to thank GHRU, NIHR, and Professor Marisa Miraldo for making me aware of this opportunity. My supervisors were extremely supportive of this application. I chose to apply for this program because of the unique opportunity it brought to engage with researchers globally. I was particularly motivated by my desire to work with one of the world’s leading and prestigious universities, Imperial College London. I had the opportunity to play a supportive role in the research collaboration between Imperial College London, University of Kelaniya and the Health Promotion Bureau in the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka.
Through this placement, I enrolled in the doctoral training program at Imperial College and participated in the Media Coaching Workshop conducted by the MSc Science Communication program.
Additionally, I followed post-graduate training programs offered by the graduate school. I also worked on a research article with my supervisors and the Health Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka, titled ‘Barriers and Challenges in the Implementation of Health Promotion Activities in Happy Village Plus Project: Experiences from a Sri Lankan community-based project.’ This work allowed me to develop a strong network with the research team at Imperial College Business School.
I highly recommend the Global Development Hub Fellows Fund Fellowship program at Imperial College London to future participants and invite them to fully engage with the opportunities provided, network with peers and mentors, and remain open to new ideas and experiences. This program is an excellent platform for growth and learning for early career researchers like us.”
