Taylor’s University

At the recent Taylor's University convocation ceremony, five PhD students being supervised through the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts graduated. Not only was this the largest cohort of PhD students in hospitality and tourism to date, but it was also the most globally diverse. The five students came from five different countries, namely Sri Lanka, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan and Malaysia. Not only does this highlight the breadth of international students at Taylor's University, but each of their five supervisors were also from a different country. They came not only from Malaysia, but also from Italy, France, Pakistan and India. While the students focused their PhD studies on a variety of international research topics, a number of them have also contributed to deepening the understanding of tourism in Malaysia. For example, Dr. Jeetesh Kumar (who is originally from Pakistan) looked at "Investigating the size and economic value of business events in Malaysia: A national level perspective", and Dr. Rokhshad Tavakoli (who is originally from Iran) focused on "An Ethnographic study of social capital in Malaysian homestays: Exploring the host gaze". Meeting with the graduates after the ceremony, Professor Perry Hobson, the PVC of Global Engagement, commented that, "this group of graduating PhD students highlights the diversity of the globally community we have at Taylor's University. Not only in terms of international students, but also international academic staff".

One of PhD graduates from Nigeria, Dr. Sam Adeyinka-Ojo, has already been offered an academic position with Australia's Curtin University - and will be based at their campus in Miri, Sarawak (Malaysia). To find out more about post-graduate studies at Taylor's University click here.