Paresh Wankhade was enjoying a successful career as a civil servant in a senior management position with the Indian Customs and Excise Department, when in 2003 he was selected by the Indian Government to study for a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) in the UK.

Upon completion of his MPA Paresh decided to further his academic training, and in 2005 enrolled on a three year PhD course at Liverpool Hope University, in collaboration with the University of Liverpool.

Paresh comments: “I am due to submit my PhD by August 2008 and I truly cannot believe how quickly my time studying here in the UK has passed.

Before embarking upon my studies I had held important positions in India including customs sea port assessment, anti-smuggling and central excise tax administration and investigation, and had also completed a Masters degree in Political Science at Vikram University. However, I was delighted to be offered a scholarship to study in the UK even though I knew it would be a huge challenge, which would demand complete commitment from myself and my young family.

Identifying the right university was the most important issue, I knew that once I had chosen a university then the rest of my preparations would be fairly straight forward. I would advise any students considering studying in the UK to not simply make a choice of university by league table rankings, but to take into consideration the experience of staff and other students. I was particularly impressed with the amount of widely published professors who taught at Hope.

My course supervisor at Hope, Dr John Brinkman has been an incredible influence throughout my studies, and his tutoring and general support has ensured that my three years here have been very enjoyable and rewarding. His experience has ensured that my studies have been well directed and knowledgeable.

My PhD is an evaluation of the performance measurement framework, it explores whether it brings dysfunctional behaviour in a public setting by analysing the evidence from an ethnographic case study in the English NHS Ambulance Trust. Due to the nature of my PhD and as part of my contract with Liverpool Hope University, I also fulfil some teaching requirements on management related topics such as business and marketing, which has given me the fantastic opportunity of being both a student and a member of University staff.

I have thoroughly enjoyed studying in the UK, for both my Masters in Public Administration and also for my PhD, and Liverpool Hope University has played a major part in my positive experience. The University is like a big family and I am very proud to be part of it.”

Contact
Ashlyn Whitty
Postgraduate Administrator
Liverpool Hope University
Hope Park 
Liverpool, L16 9JD 

Tel: +44 (0) 151 291 3389
Email: postgraduate@hope.ac.uk
Web: www.hope.ac.uk/postgrad