Thais Sarda

My doctoral research is about British media representation of the Deep Web and the Dark Web. I am studying how newspapers in the UK discuss these technologies and their uses, and also to which extent discussions about Tor Network are related to surveillance and privacy issues.

Originally from Brazil, in 2007 I graduated in Social Communication from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul State, the second-best university in the country. The experience of writing my final dissertation greatly increased my appreciation for research. So, I went on to complete a specialisation in Criminal Sciences (2009), an MBA in People Management (2012), and a MSc in Communication (2015). My masters’ dissertation was titled “Identity management on social networking sites: Self presentation strategies on Facebook and LinkedIn”, in which I conducted a qualitative research about performances on social media.

In April 2016, I moved to the UK to start my doctoral research under the supervision of Professor John Downey and Dr Simone Natale, at the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture. The idea of choosing my own topic and counting with so experienced academics was the reason why I came to Loughborough.

I have a Loughborough University scholarship.

I want to pursue an academic career, combining teaching and research, and doing my doctoral studies is the formal way to achieve this goal.

Use you time wisely, which includes allowing yourself a social life and holidays.