Weile Zhang and Yuhong Lei, two PhD students in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, won the awards as part of the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Research Awards scheme.

Established in 2003, the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Research Awards are made to students undertaking research to advance geographical knowledge and aim to help students establish themselves in their particular field.

Weile’s PhD research looks at the role of business drinking in Chinese working life and how it shapes relationships between professionals and affects opportunities and workplace power dynamics.

The funding Weile has received will support her fieldwork in China, where she will organise workshops with professional women to explore their experiences of business drinking and workplace socialising.

Weile explained: “In many industries, important discussions and negotiations often take place over dinners and drinks rather than in formal offices. These gatherings also involve particular social rituals and expectations which can shape workplace relationships and power dynamics. I’m interested in how these informal spaces influence workplace dynamics and career experiences, particularly for women.

“I’m delighted and very grateful to receive this award, it is a fantastic opportunity. I’m also very thankful to my supervisory team and colleagues in the School for creating such a supportive research environment.”

Weile is co-supervised by Professor Rachel Pain, Dr Jessa Loomis and Dr Emily Yarrow. Dr Loomis said: “We are all thrilled that Weile has received this prestigious award from the Royal Geographical Society to support her timely and important doctoral research. Using a novel participatory mapping approach, Weile’s research will offer new insights into power dynamics and socio-spatial relations in China’s workplace culture.” 

Yuhong has been awarded the RBS-IBG Hong Kong Research Grant, which provides funding for postgraduate research in the Greater China region.

Yuhong’s PhD aims to investigate how the adoption of robotics and automation is transforming labour processes and regional industrial development in China’s garment industry through a comparative study of two key garment production centres, Guangzhou and Hangzhou.

By providing comparative evidence from these two cities, Yuhong’s research will advance understanding of how robotisation develops unevenly across regions, and how automation restructures local labour markets.

Yuhong said: “I am very pleased to receive this prestigious award, which represents significant recognition from the Royal Geographical Society. I feel deeply grateful and motivated to continue moving forward and working hard. It reminds me that the work I am doing is valuable and has the potential to contribute to the geography research community.

“My sincere thanks go to my supervisors, Professor Andy Pike and Dr Kean Fan Lim, for their guidance and encouragement. I am also grateful to my colleagues at CURDS and in the Geography Department for creating such an inclusive and supportive environment that has made this possible.”

Dr Kean Fan Lim, Reader in Economic Geography, and Yuhong’s PhD supervisor, said: “Yuhong's success reflects not only his hard work but also the originality of his research project. It has been such a joy to work with Yuhong on developing his research ideas since he joined us at Newcastle, and this support from the RGS-IBG further affirms the immense potential of his work.

“This external recognition is testament to the innovative research being conducted by our doctoral researchers and reflects the consistently high quality of our Geography postgraduates.”