Maetinee Hemrit

1. What is the attraction of doing research?

In short, it would be “knowledge creation” yields from doing research. Personally, there are two experiences combined that led me into this venture.

Firstly, I did well in the first research paper during the Bachelor degree. It was challenging yet motivating to go through steps of research process, i.e. from coming up with my own research question to articulating the answers obtained. And, it was the most insightful way of understanding all the literature and long lectures.

Secondly, during my very first year working as a junior economist at the Central Bank, I was inspired by intellectual discussions with PhD graduated colleagues. That sense of wisdom surely drove me forward.

2. Why choose SSE if you want to become a researcher?

Serendipity I must say but things seem to happen for a reason. SSE has that eclectic mix of all great ingredients that has indeed shaped me not only in academia but also as an individual.

Given my economic and finance background, my PhD research was in the area of international business where literature was perfectly drawn from the good old spirit of Heckscher-Ohlin theorem to today’s knowledge-based view of multinational corporations. I then contextualized those concepts, well-embedded at SSE and the modern world of Scandinavian Simplicity, with Asian firms via explorative research. The learning curve was immense. Personally, I also evolved much through contrasting viewpoints from cultural as well as climate differences.

3. What is the best thing about SSE if you are a PhD student?

I would say frontier research together with thought-provoking multi-cultural folks in the corridor.   

4. What characterized the PhD education at SSE?

A rather opened space to fulfill intellectuals and excel in discipline.