Dina Kucherbayeva is an applied linguistics student from Kazakhstan, who came to EdUHK through the Research Grants Council (RGC)’s prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, established to attract the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD studies in Hong Kong's universities.
Everyone at the University has been so welcoming and helpful ever since I first came to EdUHK in 2019. It has been one of the happiest experiences of my life. I was able to choose my own topic of study, and the University organised forums and workshops to share research interests with colleagues, while my supervisor and his team gave me very helpful guidance on presenting topics and methodology, conducting research, and writing a proposal and thesis.
When classes had to go online, the transition was smooth and the support provided continued to be excellent, as well as compassionate and considerate. On completion of my PhD, I would love to remain in Hong Kong. I love that it is multicultural and multilingual and, as well as its famed shopping and skyscrapers, it is so much greener than I had imagined – especially around the Tai Po campus.
Jet Buenconsejo is a Research Postgraduate student who is also a licensed psychologist and psychometrician in the Philippines. He holds an MA in counselling psychology, and is studying for a Doctor of Philosophy at EdUHK on an RGC scholarship. His research focuses on Positive Youth Development (PYD) as well as adolescent mental health and well-being.
As a child, I was always interested in understanding people’s behaviour and listening to their stories and experiences. I also wanted to make a difference and help people, so I suppose studying psychology was a logical step for me. It was my current supervisor, Dr Jesus Alfonso Datu, who introduced EdUHK and the academic opportunities here. I also liked the idea of being in Hong Kong for its diversity of cultures.
I’m very happy at the University. I love its facilities and resources; especially those in the Library and the Graduate School, which I use the most in writing manuscripts. The Department of Special Education and Counselling also has a great balance between research and practice. Thanks to its connections with experts in the field, I was able to establish collaborations with well-being scientists in the mainland, the United States, and Europe. I’m very grateful that EdUHK places a premium on the students’ holistic development, through cultural tours, hall activities, Cantonese classes, and other opportunities for self-improvement.