The School of Health and Psychological Sciences (SHPS) is offering four (4) PhD studentships for applicants to commence studies from October 2023. These 4 studentships are funded by the School itself.
Closing application date: Tuesday, 16th May 2023
Two of these four School-funded studentships are protected for applicants from a Black, Black British, Caribbean, or African background. Eligibility for these two studentships additionally includes that the applicant:
- is a UK-permanent resident (UK fee-paying student)
- is from the following ethnic group: Black (this includes Black or Black British African, Black or Black British Caribbean, Black or Black British other or Mixed Black or Black British). Applicants are requested to self-identify in their covering letter.
Funding
- Funding is available for UK students studying full-time or part-time
- Full-time students will receive a maintenance grant currently £19,668 per annum that will rise in line with UKRI stipends, and this is paid pro-rata for part-time students. Tuition fees are also paid. Applications are welcome from EU and overseas applicants, but the applicant must make appropriate arrangements to cover the difference between the EU/ overseas and UK tuition fee
- In addition to resources within the School, project/consumable costs of £1,000 are provided.
What we offer
In the School, we offer PhD candidates a world-class research environment:
- 100% of our research environment and impact was judged as world leading or internationally excellent in the Allied Health Professions Unit of Assessment
- 82.5% of our impact was judged as world leading or internationally excellent in the Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience Unit of Assessment.
Within the SHPS, we place a priority on:
- researcher development
- creating a positive research culture
- strengthening interdisciplinary research
- working with our communities and achieving a strong impact through our research.
Projects
Applicants are encouraged to review the list of available supervisors and project proposals in these areas below and establish contact with the first named supervisor to discuss the planned project further.
Applicants are also welcome to submit their own research proposal, providing it aligns with expertise of staff in the School.
Centrally funded projects
(still available for consideration)
Applied Vision
Evaluating gene-therapies for inherited eye diseases, using vision home-monitoring
Gene-therapies promise to restore vision to children with inherited eye diseases. This project will integrate new vision-monitoring technologies - developed at City, and which enable patients to monitor their own vision at home - into upcoming gene-therapy trials.
In collaboration with Moorfields Eye Hospital (Prof Yu-Wai-Man), Oxford University (Dr Jolly) and UCL (Dr Dekker), we shall evaluate the efficacy of new gene-therapies, assess the feasibility of vision home-monitoring, and compare eye-test data to structural measures of the eye (OCT) and brain (fMRI).
This project will yield new tools for future clinical trials, and improve our understanding of gene-therapy’s long-term impacts.
Primary supervisor: Professor David Crabb
Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS)
Research shows that only 9-15% of people with Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) inform medical professionals of their hallucinations due to concerns that they may be linked to mental health problems. When they are discussed with care providers, people often encounter a lack of understanding about CBS and feel unsupported.
This PhD project will use mixed methods to investigate CBS diagnosis and management patterns currently used in optometry and other primary care settings. In addition, the PhD student will explore the evidence for employing self-management strategies, where current evidence is limited to anecdotal evidence or reports including small numbers of people.
Primary supervisor: Dr Alison Binns
Dr Tamsin Callaghan (External)
Geographic Atrophy
The world’s first treatment for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has recently been approved for use in patients. However, this (and similar therapies currently in clinical trials) slows, but does not stop, disease progression, and requires lifelong commitment to regular injections into the eye. Therefore, it is vital to understand whether people with GA would find it acceptable to commence and adhere to such treatments.
In collaboration with Central Middlesex Hospital (Miss Christiana Dinah; Dr Arevik Ghulakhszian), and King’s College London (Dr Mandeep Sekhon), the aim of this PhD project will be to explore the acceptability of these therapies for GA.
Primary Supervisor: Professor David Crabb
Interventions to improve uptake of eye screening in young adults with diabetes
People with diabetes may develop severe vision loss because of the damaging effects of the disease on small blood vessels at the back of the eye (diabetic retinopathy). In the UK, everyone with diabetes aged 12 years and over is offered annual eye screening. Attendance for screening in particular demographic groups is consistently below recommended levels. This problem is greatest amongst young adults.
Our group has recently completed a NIHR-funded project to identify potential behavioural targets that could be used to address modifiable barriers and enhance enablers to attendance in young adults. The aim of this doctoral project is to further develop and test these tailored implementation interventions to improve screening uptake.
Primary Supervisor: Professor John Lawrenson
Dr Fabiana Lorencatto (External)
Photobiomodulation as a potential intervention for myopia control
Short-sightedness (myopia), affecting approximately 20% of children in the UK, can impair many aspects of life, including educational and occupational activities and also puts the eye at greater risk of sight-threatening eye diseases later in life. A number of optical and pharmacological treatments are available to control myopia (see recent Cochrane review by our team) although evidence on the efficacy of these treatments is limited by short study durations and variability in response.
An emerging novel treatment is daily low-level red-light therapy. However, there is limited evidence of efficacy of this treatment in European populations.
This study will investigate the acceptability, safety and efficacy of this red-light intervention in myopic children in the UK.
Primary Supervisor: Professor John Lawrenson
Please visit our PhD Programmes webpage for more details and how to apply.
Food Policy
Nutrition Transitions towards a Sustainable Balanced diet among migrant groups living in the United Kingdom.
This PhD project aims to investigate sustainable balanced diets among migrant groups in the UK, examining the understudied dietary-related non-communicable disease risks and environmental impacts. Ethnic minorities have health inequalities and are underrepresented in clinical research, with higher non-communicable disease risks than the UK average.
The project will use both qualitative and quantitative approaches and aims to address gaps in evidence, potentially informing tailored policy interventions for improved health outcomes and sustainability in underrepresented populations in the UK.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Christian Reynolds
Can adequate vitamin D intake be achieved within Sustainability limits in different ethnic groups in the UK with or without food fortification?
This PhD project would investigate the feasibility of achieving sufficient vitamin D intake within sustainability limits in different ethnic groups in the UK, with or without food fortification.
The study would involve analyzing dietary habits and vitamin D levels in different ethnic groups and evaluating the environmental impact of increasing vitamin D intake with and without food fortification. The project may also involve conducting interventions or randomized controlled trials to test the effectiveness of vitamin D-fortified foods on improving vitamin D levels in different ethnic groups.
The results of this research could inform policy recommendations on vitamin D fortification in the UK that consider sustainability and the diverse nutritional needs of different ethnic groups.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Christian Reynolds
Uptake of Healthy Start Vitamins
The UK government’s Healthy Start scheme supports low-income pregnant women and young families to make healthy food choices by providing subsidies of £4.25-£8.50 per week; free vitamins are also available to eligible families. The uptake rate of these vitamins is extremely low. The reasons for low uptake are unknown.
This PhD will investigate the reasons for low uptake of Healthy Start vitamins at a national level and in three case study areas: Southampton, Redbridge (London) and Manchester. This studentship complements a current NIHR Policy Research Programme funded study evaluating the use of Healthy Start subsidies (PI: Prof Vogel).
Primary Supervisor: Professor Christina Vogel
Health Services Research
Follow-up feasibility study to refine and enhance a parental-child communication intervention for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder typically manifest before three years of age and characterized by difficulties with social interaction, communication, and restricted or repetitive behaviour. Around 45% of children with ASD show no intellectual or language disabilities but their long-term life outcomes are poor in terms of employment, housing, deprivation, relationships and health.
We have conducted a pilot study of a parental-child communication intervention for intellectually able children with ASD. Preliminary findings were positive (i.e. feasibility, acceptability and impact). The aim of the doctoral research is to evaluate refinements to the training and delivery of the intervention.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Martin Cartwright
Exploring the challenges of implementing Artificial Intelligence in healthcare practice
There is currently a hype around the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Yet, very few AI innovations are currently implemented in practice.
This project will explore the challenges of implementing and spreading AI innovation in the NHS. It will build on links the supervisory team has with the Royal Marsden through the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre collaboration and will benefit from the interdisciplinary nature of the Centre for Healthcare Innovation Research, which works with colleagues across different Schools at City on AI in healthcare.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Charitini Stavropoulou
The role of pilot studies in evidence mobilisation for the implementation and spread of innovation in healthcare
Pilot studies are an important part of the innovation process. They are helpful in generating evidence on whether an innovation works and hence support a case for later implementation. Yet, the role of pilot studies in supporting the wider adoption of innovation in different contexts is not clear.
Instead, it has been argued that pilot studies are often conducted without considering different contexts, they are unnecessarily repeated, leading to the phenomenon of pilotitis, and hence failing to support the wider spread of innovation.
This project will explore the empirical evidence on how pilots are used in the NHS to support the wider adoption and spread of innovation.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Charitini Stavropoulou
Developing an intervention to promote help-seeking for signs of Oral Cancer in people of South Asian heritage in the UK (ORCAS study)
The incidence of oral cancer (OCa) is highest in South Asian (SA) countries. This observation is attributed to culturally embedded practices such as alcohol use, smoking, chewing tobacco, betel quid and gutkha. UK evidence suggests higher incident of OCa in SA men and, especially, SA women.
Cultural transfer of carcinogenic practices is likely to lead to even higher rates of OCa in British-born and immigrant SA population in the years ahead.
The aim of the doctoral research is to investigate the ‘journey’ to OCa diagnosis for SAs in the UK, and to identify culturally appropriate intervention options for secondary prevention.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Martin Cartwright
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and red-light therapy
Skin exposure to specific wavelengths of red light can reduce inflammation and associated pain, it also increases connective tissue volume, strength and organisation. People with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), suffer from joint and muscle inflammation, and associated pain. These symptoms are currently managed pharmaceutically or physiotherapy.
The use of red-light therapy, has not to our knowledge been formally tested in people with EDS; although there are anecdotal reports of its benefits in informal on-line discussions. Pilot testing its effects in a controlled environment, with reliable and valid measurements would provide valuable insight into the potential this therapy holds for this group.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Shashi Hirani
Pressure Ulcers
Pressure ulcers (PU) are a healthcare priority. PU cause family carers of older people living at home a lot of anxiety; however, few studies explore family carers’ experiences of caring for an older person with or at high-risk of PU or assess pressure ulcer related support needs.
This research proposes to explore views and experiences of family carers for older people with to understand the barriers and enablers to providing PU care and develop of a carer focused intervention to promote family caregiver wellbeing, and to improve clinical outcomes for older people at risk of PU.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Kathleen Mulligan
Vitamin D intake
In the UK, black African-Caribbeans and South Asians have 3-6 times higher risk of developing diabetes than white Caucasians. Meanwhile 50% of SAs and 33% of ACs have vitamin D deficiency vs. 18% in white Caucasians. Vitamin D may help improving glycaemic control and insulin resistance in type-2 diabetes patients.
Randomised control trials of vitamin D supplementation produced conflicting results, however earlier intervention on minority groups in the UK is lacking. The project will assess vitamin D intake, knowledge and perception of vitamin D, vitamin D supplementation on glycaemic response in young and older adults from minority background.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Shashi Hirani
Dr Samford Wong
Language and Communication Science
Improving mental health and promoting wellbeing in people with post-stroke aphasia
Improving mental health and promoting wellbeing in people with post-stroke aphasia. We have completed varied research in this area including longitudinal predictor studies of quality of life, emotional distress, social support; patient-reported outcome measure development (quality of life, social networks); qualitative exploration of both the lived experience of people with stroke, and therapists’ views and practice in supporting wellbeing; intervention development, feasibility and efficacy testing for psychological interventions (peer-befriending, solution focused brief therapy).
We have specific project ideas in this area (e.g., collaborative working with mental health professionals; developing training; PROMs) and welcome candidates’ own ideas we can develop further.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Katerina Hilari
Improving listening and reading comprehension in children from disadvantaged backgrounds with delayed language development.
This PhD will use co-production to develop a new Listening And Reading Comprehension (LARC) intervention for young children from disadvantaged backgrounds who have challenges with language development.
LARC will be based around two established intervention approaches: (1) shared reading; and (2) working memory training. These interventions, respectively, have been shown to improve language outcomes in children from disadvantaged backgrounds and in children with language difficulties.
The PhD researcher will work with teachers, parents, and speech and language therapists to develop an ‘in-school’ administered intervention that is practical, feasible and acceptable. The LARC intervention will then be tested using a randomised controlled trial feasibility study methodology.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Lucy Henry
Narrative skills in autistic adolescents with learning disabilities
This PhD will use co-production to: (1) develop sensitive, acceptable ways of assessing narrative skills in autistic adolescents with additional learning disabilities (LD); and (2) incorporate dynamic assessment into the measurement of narrative, thereby working towards intervention approaches to support and improve narrative abilities, which this group can find challenging. Autistic adolescents with LD are under-represented in autism research; and effective evidence-based interventions for their language skills are lacking.
The PhD researcher will work closely with autistic individuals (with and without LD), teachers, parents, and speech-language therapists to co-produce accessible materials and generate an autism-friendly approach to dynamic assessment.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Nicola Botting
Witness skills in children with developmental language disorder
This PhD will use co-production to design a study investigating eyewitness skills in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). This vulnerable group is considerably over-represented within the criminal justice system. The student will work with a co-production team including an Intermediary (a communication specialist in the justice system), a specialist police officer, a speech and language therapist, and 1-2 parents of children with DLD to design a naturalistic study of ‘event memory’ in children with DLD. The overall aim will be to understand the specific strengths and vulnerabilities of witnesses with DLD (e.g., volume, accuracy, coherence of their witness accounts) compared to an appropriate comparison group.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Lucy Henry
Cognitive communication
Improving the cognitive-communication skills of people with brain injury, including traumatic brain injury. We have completed studies on intervention development including communication partner training, project-based intervention, and adolescent brain injury; feasibility and acceptability for group-based interventions; reliability of conversational measures; telehealth assessment and management; and qualitative exploration of dating and sexuality in traumatic brain injury.
We have specific project ideas in these or similar areas and would also work with candidates’ to develop their own ideas that address the cognitive-communication needs of people with brain injury.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Katerina Hilari
Dynamic Assessment
Mainstream speech and language assessments are known to be biased when used with children from different social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. These children are at a high risk of being misclassified and of not receiving the appropriate input/intervention. Dynamic assessment (DA) is an alternative/complementary approach to assessing children cognitive and language abilities, which looks to measure children’s responses to interactions and learning opportunity.
This approach has been found to be more suitable for use with children from a wide range of backgrounds. We will build on existing research and expertise on DA within the Department of Language and Communication Science, to further develop and evaluate DA procedures, enabling their wider use in practice.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Bernard Camilleri
Maternal and Child Health/ Midwifery
Addressing inequities in maternity outcomes for Black and Asian Mothers
This project will contribute to addressing the paucity of research on equity of access, quality and outcomes of maternity care for racialised women in the UK. There is surprisingly little research on the experiences of maternity care or factors influencing outcomes.
Methods may include: A systematic review of literature relevant to potential factors influencing the disparity of outcomes; Interviews and/or focus groups with women from relevant communities with experience of maternity care; and Secondary analysis of routine maternity and infant datasets and/or large longitudinal birth cohorts.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Christine McCourt
Evaluation of group postnatal care (Parenting Circles)
Parenting Circles is a new model of care where postnatal women and their babies receive care in a group setting together with other parents and babies.
This group is facilitated by health visitors and nursery nurses, with collaboration with midwives during pregnancy (Pregnancy Circles) and postnatally.
The PhD project will evaluate this innovative model of care using mixed methods, collecting data from currently running Parenting Circles.
There is scope within the project to focus on women’s experiences, health outcomes or healthcare professionals' views of group care.
Primary supervisor: Dr Ellinor Olander
Prevalence and impact of sexual trauma on women worldwide
This PhD will work alongside the International Survey of Childbirth-Related PTSD (INTERSECT), a survey of over 18,000 postnatal women in 45 countries.
The PhD research will use the INTERSECT data to look at the prevalence of sexual violence and trauma in countries across the world and the impact of this on women’s experiences of birth and mental health.
It is also possible to conduct qualitative interviews to explore this in more depth. For more information about INTERSECT or the PhD see intersectstudy.org.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Susan Ayers
Screening and assessment of mental health in pregnancy and after birth
Typical methods of screening for mental health problems focus on particular disorders, such as anxiety or depression.
However, symptoms of different disorders are often comorbid so measures may miss important symptoms or not discriminate well between disorders.
During pregnancy and after birth women go through physical and psychosocial changes that further confound assessment.
This PhD will investigate whether a transdiagnostic approach to assessing underlying psychological processes such as coping and emotion regulation provides a more effective way of identifying women in need of support during the perinatal period.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Susan Ayers
Mental Health
Severe mental illness
People with diagnoses of severe mental illness (SMI) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and die 15 years younger than the general population as a result. Healthy lifestyle interventions that work for the general population have not been effective with this group. People from some racialised communities are at increased risk of diagnosis of SMI, while lifestyle interventions are rarely culturally adapted.
Alongside a funded programme of research, this project will take a community participatory approach to exploring and evaluating how dietary interventions might be adapted specifically to reduce CVD risk for people with SMI from racialised communities.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Steve Gillard
Professor Christina Vogel Christina
Trauma and A&E
A large proportion of people seeking help from mental health services have experiences of trauma, including complex trauma that may have begun in childhood, such as abuse or neglect, and is ongoing and repeated. Many of these people present to Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments when in a mental health crisis.
In A&E mental health assessments, practitioners may ask about trauma which can support next steps for appropriate care. However, people have differing experiences of this: sometimes it is helpful and sometimes it is not. This project will use a range of methods, including participatory research approaches and conversation analysis of video recorded A&E assessments, to investigate the potential for a trauma-informed approach to mental health care to begin in A&E.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Rose McCabe
Psychology
Psychotic disorders
People with psychotic disorders frequently show severe suspiciousness in others and experience social cognitive and social functioning problems. Social cognition underpins the understanding of others’ intentions, emotions, and beliefs. Social cognitive impairment can therefore lead to social misunderstandings and a wrong interpretation of social cues. The roots of the social cognitive problems, however, might lie in more basic sensory processing deficits.
During visual perception the early visual system, establishes low-level visual features, which are subsequently combined in higher visual areas. This co-produced, interdisciplinary project (vision/psychology) aims to generate important new insights into the link between early visual processing in paranoid delusions, social cognition and social functioning in psychotic disorders.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Corinna Haenschel
Student mental health
Student mental health has declined over the past two decades. Person-specific, socio-economic and cultural factors impact upon mental health and interact in a complex and synergistic way. This may explain why students from diverse communities show differences in mental health that are embedded in their culture and context and that may lead to disparities educational attainment.
Only a minority of students seeks appropriate support, and there is little consensus across the higher education sector about how best to support a diverse range of students with their mental health. The overarching aim of this coproduced project is to develop a model of intersecting determinants of mental health and to produce tangible recommendations for culturally sensitive student mental health support services, addressing issues of inequality and intervention.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Anne-Kathrin Fett
Stigma
How does stigma impact how people interact with other people and do initial reactions to the stigma created self-fulfilling prophecies? For instance, in the initial interaction with service users (e.g., people with mental disorders), healthcare providers are often guided by the label (e.g., borderline disorder), creating a hostile start to the interaction.
The stigmatized person might then react and reciprocate, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This co-produced project aims to investigate how stigma impacts interactions with people in mental health care, and what might help to overcome stigma, using social-psychological and clinical approaches to stigma, practice, and social interactions.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Anne-Kathrin Fett
Dr Andreas Kappes (The Other Lab)
Subjective wellbeing
The impact of gender inequalities in education, employment, and unpaid work on subjective well-being.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Anke Plagnol
How can we improve science communication around health?
How can we improve science communication around health? Collective intelligence draws on new technologies to aggregate knowledge that is distributed across large numbers of diverse stakeholders. It can be used to promote consensus as well as build trust via the coproduction of knowledge.
In this project we will seek to understand whether a collective intelligence approach can be applied to scientific communication around health, to help combat misinformation and improve public debate. We will also look at whether it could reduce inequalities by increasing health intervention uptake among marginalised groups.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Katy Tapper
Prevention and management of food cravings among those with diabetes or excess weight
In this interdisciplinary project we will recruit a student with a background in computer science, (or related subject) to develop a just-in-time adaptive smartphone intervention (JITAI) for the prevention and management of food cravings among those with diabetes or excess weight.
The project will use machine learning to ensure the timing and content of behaviour change techniques are delivered in a way that optimises effects for each individual. The project will specifically draw on participants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, who are more likely to suffer from obesity and diabetes and will seek their input at all stages of the project.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Katy Tapper
Deconstructing Mindfulness
Deconstructing Mindfulness: Mindfulness training has shown a range of well-being and mental health benefits. A standard mindfulness course usually comprises 8 weeks of daily training and weekly group sessions comprising several different components. Such training requires a high-level commitment. On the other hand, short mindfulness-based interventions (usually elements of the longer training) have been shown to also elicit behaviour changes and positively impact wellbeing and mental health.
Thus, it is important to understand the drivers and ‘dose’ (i.e. time required) of the changes found. Theories of mindfulness have proposed changes in attention as a stepping stone to the wider cognitive and mental health benefits seen. This project would investigate the time course of attention changes in short mindfulness-based interventions to elucidate their effectiveness and contribution to more long-term training to allow for person-centred delivery.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Bettina Forster
Gender, identity and the social self in autism and "personality disorder"
Female sex assignation at birth, non-cis gender identity and the diagnosis of "personality disorder" may each be associated with inequalities in how a person's psychological distress is interpreted and responded to by mental health services. The project will investigate how these inequalities can complicate and potentially bias the diagnosis of autism and "personality disorder", and investigate similarities and differences in the ways that people with each diagnosis construct and experience their identity navigate social interactions and relationships.
The proposed PhD will use both quantitative and qualitative methods, drawing on and adding additional data to our current work exploring the intersection between autism and personality disorder (McPin Foundation)
Primary Supervisor: Dr Sophie Lind
Evaluation of RadSec
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities exhibit heightened risk of experiencing mental health difficulties. However, SGM individuals often achieve poor outcomes from mainstream (untailored) psychological services. Mind has developed a tailored radical self-care (RadSec) group intervention for improving SGM mental health by targeting specific psychological processes (e.g., internalised shame).
We aim to conduct a rigorous evaluation of RadSec for a range of SGM individuals. An additional study would offer a controlled evaluation of an adapted workplace version of the programme, delivered to minority employees. A strength of this proposal stems from the close partnership with the local branch of Mind.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Paul Flaxman
School funded projects
Applied vision
Computational models of the relationship between stimulus size and visibility
The psychophysical summation paradigm is a powerful tool to reveal the effective receptive field structure underlying visual processing for a given stimulus domain, based on the form of summation prevailing in any given spatial range.
This project will focus on visual targets defined by textural properties, including contrast and spatial frequency content.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Joshua Solomon
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and red-light therapy
Skin exposure to specific wavelengths of red light can reduce inflammation and associated pain, it also increases connective tissue volume, strength and organisation. People with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), suffer from joint and muscle inflammation, and associated pain. These symptoms are currently managed pharmaceutically or physiotherapy.
The use of red-light therapy, has not to our knowledge been formally tested in people with EDS; although there are anecdotal reports of its benefits in informal on-line discussions.
Pilot testing its effects in a controlled environment, with reliable and valid measurements would provide valuable insight into the potential this therapy holds for this group.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Shashi Hirani
Health Services Research
Optimising thematic synthesis methods for informing policy and practice
Thematic synthesis is a systematic review method for qualitative research which builds theory that is rooted in the perspectives and experiences of patients and the public.
These theories can inform the development of interventions that are more likely to be taken up and effective.
Despite wide use and endorsement by the international Cochrane Collaboration there has been little work to date to advance the method.
This PhD will develop and test methodological innovation working in collaboration with members of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group and users of thematic synthesis (e.g., policy-makers, guideline developers, community groups and patients).
Primary Supervisor: Prof Angela Harden
Cognitive training for colorectal cancer patients
Patients who have undergone treatment for Colorectal Cancer show impaired cognition compared to their healthy peers. Impaired cognition can significantly impact on a patient’s quality of life leading to reduced well-being.
Computerised cognitive training interventions have shown promise in improving cognitive abilities across a range of conditions. This programme would: i) use existing literature to identify key areas of cognition to be targeted in an intervention and ii) test the feasibility and acceptability of an app based cognitive training intervention in patients who have been treated for colorectal cancer.
The findings would inform a large scale RCT testing training efficacy.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Catherine Hurt
Aesthetic Interventions
Aesthetic interventions are becoming more and more common, with ~20,000 surgical procedures annually in the UK.
The most common facial aesthetic procedure is blepharoplasty to address ageing changes around the eyes with a popular non-surgical intervention being filler injections designed to improve volume loss, a hallmark of the ageing process.
Very little is known about the psychosocial characteristics and drivers of groups presenting for aesthetic surgery, or the nature and magnitude of QoL changes after intervention.
We plan a longitudinal mixed methods study, with interviews and surveys of participants beliefs prior and after surgery, in conjunction with Moorfields hospital.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Catherine Hurt
Language and Communication Science
Social validity judgements of personal narratives from people with aphasia: What makes a good story?
Due to the lack of consensus in research about how best to measure spoken discourse in aphasia, with reviews reporting 500+ measures (Bryant et al. 2016; Dipper et al. 2020), determining treatment effectiveness is complicated, and comparisons across discourse studies is challenging.
Ultimately, success lies in the degree to which a listener considers what they are hearing is a “good story” and constitutes a metric which has been rarely investigated.
The proposed research will explore experts’ and observers’ perceptions of what constitutes a good story from people with aphasia.
The research involves observational studies, which requires recruiting and interviewing groups of experts (i.e., people with aphasia, family members of people with aphasia, practising speech and language therapists; and aphasia/clinical linguistics researchers), and naïve observers (e.g., members of the public with no aphasia experience).
Primary Supervisor: Professor Madeline Cruice
Dr Reem Alyahya
Nursing
Developing and testing a strategy to address Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)
Survivors of critical illness experience a range of challenges after discharge home, with between one quarter and half of all survivors experiencing compromise in one or more areas of physical, cognitive and psychological function.
The problems associated with recovery after critical illness are now collectively referred to as Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS).
Over the past 15 years there has been a range of studies conducted to better understand the challenges associated with recovery, and to test potential interventions. Despite this, few effective interventions have been identified.
The proposed PhD project will be tailored to the specific interest and expertise of the successful applicant but will focus on developing or adapting an intervention to address either physical, cognitive or psychological compromise in critical illness survivors.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Leanne Aitken
Other supervisors: To be determined based on specific area of interest of student
Psychology
Novel approaches in judgement making
An important area in cognitive theory concerns how people make probability judgments. This issue spans the continuum of decisions, from ones with weighty consequences (e.g., in medical or political decision making) to trivial ones (such as whether we think it will rain tomorrow).
We have been at the forefront of a novel approach to related cognitive modelling, using technical tools from quantum theory.
Our more most recent work explored the theoretical potential of so-called Bell-inequalities. The proposed project complements our research, funded from sources such as the Office of Naval Research Global and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Primary Supervisor: Prof Emmanuel Pothos
Bilingual adaptations in infant development
Evidence is emerging that mere exposure to a bilingual environment can affect an infant’s cognitive development (D’Souza et al., 2020; D’Souza & D’Souza, 2021).
This topic is attracting considerable scientific and public interest. There is a sense that a new field of research is coming together.
What is lacking, however, is a mechanistic explanation or theoretical framework that would provide the field with direction. The solution—and challenge—is to relate detailed environmental measures with experimental and observational data from the same infants across cultures and over developmental time. This will be the focus of the PhD project.
The PhD candidate will have the opportunity to identify and shape research questions around understanding how infants adapt to their language environment, and is likely to use two or more different techniques (e.g., behavioural observation, eye tracking, functional near infrared spectroscopy, computational modelling) depending on their interests and expertise.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Dermott Bowler
In your skin
The ability to understand other’s experiences is fundamental to smooth, social interactions and research has suggested that this ability to understand other’s experiences is subserved by simulation of such experiences in somatosensory and motor brain regions.
This project will investigate to what extend and in what way these brain areas are involved in different types of experiences (e.g. observed external like touch or inferred internal like pain) using experimental and neuroimaging (i.e. EEG) approaches.
Primary Supervisor: Professor Bettina Forster
How to apply
Applicants submitting their own proposals must establish contact with SHPS staff and must identify and name appropriate supervisors as part of their application.
If they are pursuing their own research proposal, applicants must make it explicit which theme their proposal falls into, in their covering letter.
All applicants will need to submit a 4 page research proposal plus up to 1 page of references cited in the research proposal, as part of their application.
Applicants are encouraged to read about how to prepare your application and writing the proposal.
Applicants are required to submit their application online. Further information and the online form are available on each of our PhD Programmes webapges.
- PhD Applied Vision
- PhD Food Policy
- PhD Health Services Research
- PhD Language and Communication Science
- PhD Maternal and Child Health/ Midwifery
- PhD Mental Health
- PhD Nursing
- PhD Psychology
- PhD Radiography.
Please make sure you have started your application with sufficient time and understand what documentation is required, for example, certificates of qualifications need to be provided.
The deadline for applications: 16th May 2023.
Applicants can expect to hear the outcome of shortlisting by 1st June 2023.
Shortlisted applicants will be expected to attend an interview between 6th- 9th June 2023 and decisions communicated by 23rd June 2023.
SHPS reserves the right to make final decisions in a manner that optimises equitable distribution of resources across SHPS.
For any queries about the SHPS PhD studentships that are not addressed in the above information or available, please contact SHPS Doctorate Enquiries on SHPSresearch@city.ac.uk.
City, University of London is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all its activities, processes and culture, for our whole community, including staff, students and visitors.
We welcome applications regardless of age, gender, gender identity, trans status, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief or social class.