The research assistants of the Center

Yağmur Kalayci, an ICSID research assistant, discusses her experience as an international student at HSE.

Tell us a little about yourself.

• I'm a social psychologist who is about to complete a master’s degree in HSE. At the end of last year, I attended one of the fair projects of the center, which is called "Conspiracy theories as a component of populist rhetoric" to help with the data collection process of the research. I enjoyed the topic that we were studying, therefore, I eventually accepted the offer to become a research assistant at ICSID and contribute to the manuscript of the project as a co-author. During this process, I had more chances to learn about conspiracy theories and populism, along with experiencing the academic work environment for the first time as a research assistant. 

What made this position interesting for you?

• The Center provides an interdisciplinary research setting by containing researchers from various backgrounds. Therefore, by working here, I found an opportunity to practice different perspectives on science that I was not familiar with before. Working in a research center and conducting research while studying can be challenging and overwhelming sometimes. However, seeing these challenges as a space for development helped me a lot to overcome these issues. Moreover, as an international student in Russia, I always had a hard time dealing with legal documents and procedures that I had to go through for various purposes. So, before I started working, I was worried about these employment procedures more than the work itself. But the Center has been very helpful to me the whole way through this journey.

What are your impressions of the recent ICSID workshop for young researchers?

• I attended two workshops conducted by ICSID. In one of these workshops, I and other young researchers working at the center presented our work. It was a great experience to present our work to a senior researcher and hear their comments. As students, we always present our work in class to the same audience or to tutors that share similar backgrounds as us. But in this workshop, it was interesting to present our work in a different atmosphere to a different audience with various backgrounds. 

What are your plans for the future?

• I want to continue my career in academia by pursuing a PhD degree. Before starting a PhD, I found my time in ICSID very helpful to expand my knowledge in different fields of science and experience what my life will be like when I become the researcher that I always wanted to be. Therefore, I recommend the center to anyone who shares the same goals as me.