Daniel
Daniel comes from the United Kingdom. Before coming to Sweden he completed his bachelor programme in Ergonomics and Human Factors Design at Loughborough University. He is a dual British and Swedish citizen, and in his spare time, he loves watching and playing football, asking strangers if I he can pet their dogs, and generally just being out and about in nature.
What are the best aspects of your programme?
It's hard to pick one thing that is the best in the programme when pretty much everything is fantastic. If I had to highlight a few things, firstly, the teachers are truly excellent. They are leading researchers in the world in their field, but they are still so caring in their teaching - they truly care about helping you achieve the best you can, both inside and outside of the programme. There have been times when they have sent me emails about further external courses and things I have mentioned in seminars that I am interested in without me even asking anything. As well as that, I would say that the way the programme helps you develop by practising the actual things you will be doing in work after graduating, for example, the many projects that involve contacting an organisation and conducting work with them, for example, risk assessments or interviews.
Have you chosen a specialisation track within the programme?
I chose the ergonomics track, as that is what I studied for my bachelor's degree, so it felt like the natural choice. Also, this track offers a lot of flexibility with courses in the second year, so I was able to choose some really interesting optional courses from other schools at KTH. However, I plan on taking some of the courses offered on the Work Environment Engineering track in my second year.
What are some of your favourite courses so far?
I have enjoyed all of the courses differently, but if I had to pick a couple that stood out, I would say System Safety and Risk Management and Leadership and Sustainable Work. Being able to choose the topics of our projects is really something that makes studies enjoyable. In the system safety course, I was able to choose a topic that really resonated with my interests. As a big football and Liverpool fan, with my group, I studied the Hillsborough Disaster, and when you have the freedom to study something so close to your interests, it really doesn't feel like work at all. The leadership course was one of the only times in my life where I could notice the personal development I had throughout one course – some of the lectures and seminars were truly inspirational.
How do studies at KTH differ from your previous studies?
I think KTH really stands out from my previous studies in the sense of how engaging the learning is. Even in lectures, there are always frequent breaks for discussion, and the teachers are always open to questions and comments. You always feel like your opinion is valued by the teachers and they take time to engage in discussion with you and your classmates. In addition, I would say the international experience you get at KTH is unique and a learning experience in itself. You get to work, interact, and make friends with people from all over the world, and learning how to navigate things such as language and cultural barriers is useful for future work and life in general.
What would you like to say to students thinking of choosing KTH for master’s studies?
Coming to KTH may be the best decision I have made in my life, I have learned and developed so much academically and in life in only the one year that I have been here so far. Stockholm (or Flemingsberg!) is incredibly peaceful for a capital city, and there is so much lovely nature right on the doorstep. To those worrying about the cold weather, don't! It is really not that bad with the right clothing (for which there are so many great shops!), and the summer is truly beautiful here. Lastly, I would really recommend putting as much effort into learning Swedish as you have time for. Even though most people here are great at English, it is much easier to acclimatise and mix with Swedes if you can understand and speak even just a bit of Swedish.