Vanier Scholarship Allowed Grad Student to Pursue Police Research
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program was set up to help Canada’s universities attract top-tier doctoral students from across Canada and around the world.
Rebecca Mugford won an inaugural Vanier award in 2009. Today, she is planning on completing her PhD in psychology at Carleton by August, 2013.
“The Vanier has allowed me to focus primarily on my research rather than having to worry about working while completing my studies,” says Mugford. “I am very grateful for the time I’ve been able to devote to my different research projects, and without the Vanier scholarship, I know this would have been very difficult to accomplish.”
Mugford noted that the Vanier has also enabled her to attend several conferences where she has shared the results of her research and made some important contacts.
Mugford’s research examines different aspects of policing, including training and recruitment efforts, as well as whether the psychologically-based investigative techniques currently being used by police organizations are effective.
Adds Mugford: “One of my main areas of interest concerns the use of behavioural information from crime scenes, such as the behaviours exhibited by an offender in the context of a sexual assault, to establish connections between two or more crimes. I’m researching whether we could use this behavioural information to determine whether Crime A is similar enough to Crime B for the crimes to be linked to the same offender.”
Ultimately, Mugford hopes her research will inform police training, recruitment and investigative efforts.
Mugford was originally attracted to Carleton because of the undergrad program in criminology and criminal justice.
“Upon doing some research into my options for a graduate degree in psychology, I realized that Carleton has some of the best faculty members across the country in terms of forensic psychology research. The administrative staff in the Department of Psychology has also always been a huge help, making all students feel comfortable and welcome.”
Mugford notes that her supervisor. Craig Bennell, was a deciding factor for her continuing her studies at Carleton. “His enthusiasm for research and advice along the way has been invaluable. I truly do think that a student’s supervisor has a large impact on how their graduate experience is and, thanks to Craig, mine has been great.”
Each of the Vanier recipients received a total of $150,000 for three years, to help them as they pursue and complete their doctoral studies.
For information about awards available to Carleton graduate students, please click HERE.
For more information about graduate degrees in psychology at Carleton University, please go to this website.
