Francis Darko is from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and is one of the recipients for the 2025 Best Higher Degree by Research Student Publication Award and is supervised by Prof Susanne Schech and Prof
Udoy Saikia.
Francis’s publication was titled “Internal migration and multidimensional wellbeing: A case study of North-South migration in Ghana”
We invited Francis to share insights into the PhD journey and what winning this award means and advice to fellow students.
What does your publication explore?
My publication explored how wellbeing is understood in the context of internal migration in Ghana and beyond by shifting attention from income-based assessments to a multidimensional understanding. Through a holistic and bespoke framework developed here at Flinders University, the paper pushes the boundaries of wellbeing research by analysing contributing factors such as health, social connection, and political participation. By focusing on internal migrants, the paper brings awareness to the social and cultural impacts of internal migration in a highly ethnically and unequal countries that can lead to better policy outcomes.
What is your research about?
Migration is often assumed to improve wellbeing and quality of life, but dominant research tends to focus narrowly on economic motivations and outcomes, with little attention to socio-cultural dimensions of the migrant experiences. Through a mixed method approach, my research broadly fills this gap by examining the wellbeing challenges that drive migration of 251 young migrants to urban areas, whether and how migration impacts the quality of life after migration, and their social integration experiences.
Tell us about your PhD journey so far
I have now completed my PhD journey which began in 2021. I would say the experience was intellectually enlightening and transformative. Personally, it offered me the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity in the project I worked on and opened me up to the realities and challenges and conundrum that young people, particularly those moving within their own countries encounter. I am grateful to the Australian Government for the supporting my PhD journey through the RTP scholarship. I am also indebted to my supervisors, Prof Emerita Susanne Schech and Prof Udoy Saikia, for their support and mentorship.
What does winning this award mean to you?
For me, winning this award is a great honour. It tells me this with hard work and consistency, our efforts will be recognised and rewarded. It serves as a drive to even push further to do more by producing novel research that could result in major transformation and policy changes.
What advice would you give to current or prospective PhD students?
Doing a PhD is not an easy exercise. First, it requires, an interest in the project you are working on. Do not allow anyone to force a project on you that you are not interested in. You may end up regretting and abandoning it. So, make sure the PhD project is the right fit for you.
As a wellbeing researcher, I now understand the importance of keeping connected with your peers. The PhD journey can be very isolated, particularly if you are not part of any lab but working individually on your own project. That isolation can have a toll on you if not managed properly. I would encourage current and prospective PhD students to connect with each other, hang out, be a part of an association or community.
This leads to the third thing I want to mention: networking. To any PhD student, networking, personal and professional should be something to develop during the journey. The people you connect with are likely those you’ll meet or contact for opportunities in the future. They can give you recommendations or refer you to some life changing opportunities. So, take advantage of conferences, symposia, workshops, and other students and faculty engagements.
Finally, in your search for a supervisor, make sure to work with professors who are genuinely interested in your project and prospect. Be dedicated to your plans and schedules with them, respond, ask questions, do not just take what is offered you, interrogate them. Importantly, just enjoy the journey. It will not be easy but DO NOT GIVE UP!