Many PhD aspirants say that they never considered pursuing a career in research because they thought they did not possess the characteristics or skills to qualify for a doctoral programme. A successful PhD student is enthusiastic, passionate and has a deep interest in the subject of research. The most important characteristics of a good PhD candidate are dedication and enthusiasm. Problem-solving and finding logical solutions to problems come with a strong passion and commitment.
Taylor's School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events is proud of having PhD students who have been performing remarkably during their doctoral journey. The School takes the opportunity to congratulate Dr. Mingzhou Wang for being an outstanding research outcome achiever; and Dr. Lei Chun for being the recipient of the doctoral degree in just 32 months.
Dr. Mingzhou Wang, an international student from China enrolled into Taylor's Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality and Tourism programme in March 2019. HIs thesis title was "An Exploratory Study of Tourism Social Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Fanggan Village, China", under the supervision of Dr. Puvaneswaran Kunasekaran (Principal Supervisor) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seyyed Mostafa Rasoolimanesh (Co-Supervisor). Dr. Mingzhou has successfully completed his viva voce and graduated in July 2022.
He has been an outstanding research outcome achiever. During his doctoral journey, he has shown great interest in his research area of ‘Tourism Social Entrepreneurship’ and achieved every milestone while graduating on time. He has published five research articles in Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) Q1 and Q2 journals; namely:-
Kunasekaran, P., Mostafa Rasoolimanesh, S., Wang, M., Ragavan, N. A., & Hamid, Z. A. (2022). Enhancing Local Community Participation towards Heritage Tourism in Taiping, Malaysia: Application of the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) Model. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 1-20.
Wang, M., Kunasekaran, P., & Rasoolimanesh, S. M. (2022). What Influences People’s Willingness to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine for International Travel?. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(2), 192-197.
Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Wang, M., Roldan, J. L., & Kunasekaran, P. (2021). Are We in Right Path for Mediation Analysis? Reviewing the Literature and Proposing Robust Guidelines. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48, 395-405.
Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Wang, M., Mikulić, J., & Kunasekaran, P. (2021). A Critical Review of Moderation Analysis in Tourism and Hospitality Research towards Robust Guidelines. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Wang, M., Rasoolimanesh, S. M., & Kunasekaran, P. (2021). A Review of Social Entrepreneurship Research in Tourism: Knowledge Map, Operational Experiences, and Roadmaps. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-22.
Being an excellent achiever in research, he is now working as an Associate Professor at School of Tourism and Geography Science at Qingdao University, China.
Dr. Lei Chun, also an international student from China enrolled into Taylor's Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality and Tourism programme in June 2019. His thesis title was "The Effects of Robot Service on Hotel Customer’s Service Experience Assessment". His Principal Supervisor was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seyyed Mostafa Rasoolimanesh and Co-Supervisor was Dr. Wong Man Ling. He has successfully completed his viva voce and graduated in July 2022. He has been the recipient of doctoral degree in just 32 months!
Dr. Lei Chun’s doctoral research focused on Robotics in Hotel Customers Service Experience. His motivation behind staying focused was continuous engagement with international academic conferences (doctoral forums) on the topic of his own thesis, get ideas from top scholars and improve the thesis. Further, most importantly keeping literature review update to date and frequent discussion with his supervisors in a constant manner helped him to proceed swiftly.
He is currently working as Associate Professor and Director of Event Management Department at Sanya University, Hainan, China.