Lucy Matson is from the College of College of Education, Psychology and Social Work and is one of the 12 winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence for 2024. Lucy’s thesis was “Stuck on disgust: Investigating disgust’s memorability”
We invited Lucy to share insights into the PhD journey and what winning this award means.
What is your research about?
My PhD thesis investigated memory for disgust in the context of traumatic experiences, finding that people remember disgust better than—and sometimes similarly to—fear, and remembering disgust is associated with more severe posttraumatic stress symptoms. Overall, my thesis suggests a potential reason as to why feelings and memories of disgust are harder to reduce (compared to feelings and memories of fear) during treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is because disgust experiences ‘stick’ in memory.
What does winning the Vice-Chancellors Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence mean to you?
Winning this award is something that I am extremely proud of. This award has combatted the feelings of self-doubt and imposter syndrome that I—along with many PhD students—often feel. This award is not only a testament to my hard work and dedication, but also to my supervisors’ dedication to my growth and development as an academic researcher—I could not have achieved this without them.
What led you to undertake a PhD? What inspired or motivated you?
Throughout my undergraduate studies, my end goal had always been to become a clinical psychologist. I had not considered undertaking a PhD until the honour’s year of my studies. I loved diving deep into an area of research and providing my own small but novel contribution to academia. I also really enjoyed the collaborative nature of my lab, where discussing research (and the occasional tangents) at weekly meetings was a fun and enjoyable experience. From there, I was inspired to undertake a PhD in clinical psychology, where I ultimately continued on in the same lab and extended on my honour’s research.
Tell us about your PhD journey
My PhD journey was both challenging and difficult, but also rewarding and enjoyable. I experienced many setbacks, such as the COVID pandemic (which delayed data collection and in-person conferences), several manuscript submissions that were rejected, and failed attempts with my research materials (e.g., adequately norming stimuli). However, from these setbacks I learned new skills and experienced subsequent successes; ultimately, I have published all of my PhD studies in scientific journals and presented my research at various international conferences in the United States, Japan and Ireland.
What advice would you give to current or prospective PhD students?
My advice to current or prospective PhD students is to stick with it and ride the wave that goes with undertaking a PhD. A PhD takes a significant amount of time to complete, so try to enjoy the journey! Attend conferences, get involved, get to know other PhD students and academic staff, and gain experience as a casual academic member of staff. Also, failure and rejection is a normal, even an inevitable, part of a PhD (and research/academia generally), so take those experiences as an opportunity for growth and learning rather than allowing them to reinforce any self-limiting beliefs or imposter syndrome!