I feel incredibly honoured to have been awarded the Alan Berkeley Milne Memorial Prize for the best undergraduate psychology thesis. This news came as quite the surprise after seeing all the fantastic work my peers have completed over the year. To say I feel grateful to have been honoured with this prize would be an understatement.
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the family of Dr Alan Milne. Additionally, I wish to thank the School of Psychology and my Supervisor Dr Eva Rubinova who have been greatly supportive and a pleasure to work alongside of. I am also grateful to my family and friends who have been there every step of the way throughout my studies.
When I came back to the University following the summer break after third year, I received news that my original supervisor would not be available anymore and I would regrettably have to select another topic with another supervisor. This left me feeling slightly discouraged but after leaving the first meeting with my new supervisor Dr Eva Rubinova, I felt more excited than ever. While back then I may not have realised this change would inspire me to entirely reshape my career path, I certainly knew I was in great hands.
My thesis focused on a procedural aspect of eyewitness identification, specifically on repeated lineups and their effects on accuracy and choosing. I hope to similarly keep researching eyewitness memory in the future. I am not quite ready to farewell from Aberdeen yet, so I am indescribably excited to pursue a Master of Research and subsequently a PhD at the University of Aberdeen. Considering I do not come from a family of academics I feel very privileged that they have supported me all the way, to not only attend University for my undergraduate degree as I have, but to do so abroad in a place I now get to call home.
Didem graduated from her undergraduate degree in the summer of 2023.
