Faisal Mushtaq

I chose to study at Leeds due to the University’s strong academic credentials and decided to read Psychology because of a general interest in the subject. However, just like many psychology undergraduate students, I had no obvious career path in mind.

During the second year of my course, students were given an opportunity to apply for research grants to work in the department. I was lucky enough to get grant funding and spent the summer working as a research assistant. During this time, I learnt how to design, run and analyse psychology experiments- skills that would prove extremely useful in my dissertation project. But beyond the obvious benefits to my studies, I found the research process extremely enjoyable. It was at this point that I decided that I wanted to continue to focus on psychology research after my degree and so I applied to do a PhD in the department. The skills that I’d developed in critical thinking and research methods during my degree provided strong preparation for postgraduate study.

When I completed my doctoral thesis I continued my career development by working as a postdoctoral research fellow. I am now employed as a Lecturer in the department- which is very surreal as I get to teach lectures that I used to attend as a student and enjoy spending time designing, running and analysing psychology experiments with a new crop of undergraduates. Studying psychology at Leeds-although I didn’t know it at the time- ended up being the best career move I made.