Scholarship value
Tuition fees at the home rate and an annual stipend at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 25/26) for 3 years.
Deadline
The deadline for this scholarship has now passed.
Criteria
The Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent (CHSS see https://research.kent.ac.uk/chss/ for more information) is advertising three PhD positions, full-time only, to join the existing research team of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children project in England (HBSC see www.hbscengland.org for more detail about the England project and team). HBSC is an international study, sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO see www.HBSC.org for more detail about the international project) which collects health related attitudes and behaviours data from school pupils aged 11, 13 and 15 years old using a cross-sectional, probabilistic, stratified, random, two-stages cluster sampling approach.
The successful candidates will be expected to carve a specific research question that aligns with their own research interest while, at the same time, addressing one of the three main priorities set by the funders, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education. The three set research priority areas are for now specified as:
- Investigating how the relationship between Social Media Use and Mental Health in young people aged 11, 13 and 15 years old, might be mediated/moderated by other aspects of their Physical Health (e.g. physical activity, nutrition, etc.).
- Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of various methods of data linkage between HBSC data and other administrative data (e.g. health records, school records, etc.).
- Improving the way we conceptualise and measure ‘Loneliness’ in young people aged 11,13 and 15 years old. What does it mean for young people to ‘feel lonely’ and how can we best measure those feelings with a survey instrument?
All applicants will be required to have at least an undergraduate and a Master level degree in a relevant field (e.g. Psychology, Health Studies, Child Development, or similar). At least two of the positions will also require the application of quantitative research methods, good existing quantitative analytical skills and the willingness to develop statistical and data management skills to a higher level. This would allow candidates to take full advantage of a dataset that comprises a multilevel structure, an international element, and 40 years of trends in some countries.
One of the scholarships would be allowed to extend their methodology and include a mixed method approach with a prominent qualitative element, to allow for the development of new measures, the improvement of existing ones or the advancement of existing methodologies.
Further details
Successful candidates will be expected to contribute to the England HBSC data collection waves, to attend regular meetings of the England HBSC research team as well as joining one of the Special Interest groups of the International HBSC Network. They will become part of the HBSC International network comprising over 450 researchers across 50 countries in Europe, Central Asia and Canada.
All candidates will be expected to engage with youths and schools as part of their research, undergo DBS checks, GDPR training and comply with existing ways of working of the research team.
At the same time, successful candidates will benefit from the opportunity to contribute to the writing of the England HBSC National Reports and other forms of academic peer reviewed or not publications and dissemination activities.
How to apply
Please submit an application of study for a PhD Applied Health Research
Applications should name Dr. Sabina Hulbert or Prof. Sally Kendall as a potential supervisors and outline a simple research proposal based on some of the outcome measures already included in the HBSC study (see national or international reports for more information) and expanding one of three research priorities listed above.
Candidates meeting the necessary entry requirements will be invited to an interview.
For more information contact:
Dr. Sabina Hulbert @ s.hulbert@kent.ac.uk
