Postgraduate Students' Life After Nus
Karen Lai Peak Yue, M.Soc.Sci, 2005

Karen Lai submitted her Masters thesis on "'Imagineering’ Emerging Markets financial Knowledge Networks in Singapore and London" in August 2004 and was awarded her M.Soc.Sci degree later in the year.
She then enrolled in a PhD programme at the School of Geography, University of Nottingham.

"It was pretty hectic going from one degree programme to another, especially having to deal with adminstrative and logistics issues of moving overseas.
But I was excited about the new research environment and prospects of developing on my research interests.

At the University of Nottingham, I am part of the New Economic Geographies Research Group that focuses on cultural and sociological approaches to the analysis of economic phenomena. My PhD research on financial markets and international financial centre development in China ("Making Markets in Global Cities: Developing Shanghai as an International Financial Centre") positions me very nicely within the university trajectory of becoming more China-focused in terms of research agendas and administrative policies. My
Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking abilites helped tremendously in that aspect, as well as the solid grounding in theories and contexts of East Asian development and policies that I had during my time in the department of Geography in NUS.

I was recently given a research grant by the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham to fund my fieldwork in China, to help build up the research capacities of the new institute. This has put me into contact with other like-minded academics, think tanks and policy makers that has opened many new and exciting opportunities. I am currently preparing for fieldwork in London and China in 2006."