My name is Jane Kovarikova, I'm a PhD
candidate in the Department of Political
Science. Primary reason why I came to
Western my graduate degree is the
faculty, many of them have world-class
experiences, they are former politician,
they've done a lot of research projects,
and that's why I came here. So my research will
focus on which factors influence
electoral integrity and democratizing
states, I'm going to acquire
international observer collected data,
and use inferential statistics to make
that determination. The specific thing about my
program that allows me to thrive is the
people, so I love sharing an office with
some of my colleagues, or there for peer
support, the faculty also really do care
about us and actually our support staff
are infinitely patient for any questions
you may have for them. The best thing
about being a Western graduate student
is the culture, so in my department it's
very open, so if you have a creative idea
of something you'd like to pursue in
your own career development, then they
are there to support you; one example is a
professional conference that I attended
in Colorado last year, the department was
behind me, they also were behind me when
I brought in the senator to come speak
to our department. The best piece of
advice I'd give to somebody applying to
a PhD in Political Science here, is to
try to work first in the field, because
that will help you narrow down a really
beneficial research avenue for your PhD
studies.
