International students at FSV UK: Rose Smith and Ronan Wordsworth about their studies, life in Prague and PhD journey

In the latest episode of the De Facto podcast, we wanted to introduce some of our international students and highlight their experiences, academic journeys, and the work they are doing here at FSV UK. Our guests were two doctoral students — Rose Smith from the Institute of International Studies and Ronan Wordsworth from the Institute of Political Studies. They came to our faculty through our international degree programs, and both are now continuing their academic paths as PhD students. We looked back at how their journeys began, what brought them to Prague, and what they are researching.

“I’ve studied in Russia, the UK, and Prague, and now I’m doing a cotutelle with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Of course, it can be exhausting at times. Sometimes you just want a familiar routine or a system you’re already used to. But my personality doesn’t really like ‘easy’ — I genuinely enjoy figuring out new ways of thinking, meeting new people, and building a new academic network. I simply love being immersed in a new academic culture,” says Rose Smith, who studied the program International Masters in Economy, State and Society (IMESS) at FSV UK and is close to completing her joint-degree PhD at both Charles University and the University of Groningen.

“While living in Zimbabwe, I always had a strong background interest in geopolitics and political science. However, I initially worked as a civil engineer. During my free time, I never found myself reading about engineering — I was always reading about global politics instead. That’s when I realized I wanted to explore this academic path while I still could. I thought, let’s try it — let’s go to Prague and see what happens. And Prague is a beautiful city to live in, which is a big plus,” says Ronan Wordsworth, who studied in the Master’s program Geopolitical Studies (GPS) and is now continuing with his PhD research in the same field.

What motivated them to choose FSV UK specifically? Have they got used to living in the Czech Republic? And what do they enjoy most about their research and academic work? Find out in the podcast.

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