By far the most exciting aspect of the course for me was the opportunity to have Professor Robert Service, the most well-known living historian of Russia, as my thesis supervisor. This allowed me to have regular and personal contact with him and was a great inspiration for the work that I wanted to do during the course.
In my first year of the MPhil I found the interdisciplinary aspect of the course an enjoyable challenge. I had to quickly come to grips with aspects of political science, demography, and health policy which I had no previous exposure to as a historian, as well as hold my own in seminars with students with other academic backgrounds.
The REES experience has given me a totally unique background to take into my career with KPMG in financial statement audit. I am able to connect in special ways with clients from the region including Russia and Ukraine which the rest of my Western colleagues cannot, lacking the fundamental understanding of the post-Soviet experience that I now have.