Nigel Groome Studentship: Alcohol Consumption in Mid-life: Intervention Co-production and Evaluation.

3 Years, full-time funded PhD Studentship

Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who must be permanently resident in the UK

Bursary p.a.: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (current 2024/25 bursary rate is £19,237)

Fees and Bench fees: will be met by the University for the 3 years of the funded Studentship.

Closing date: Friday 17th January 2025 - Midday

Start Date: September 2025 

Supervisors: Dr Emma Davies
                       Dr Jenny Seddon 

Requirements:

Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 6.5 to 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre. 

The studentship requires you to undertake the equivalent of up to 6 hrs teaching per week on average, during semester time, and to include preparation and marking (but no more than 20 hrs per week), and to participate in a teaching skills course without further remuneration.

Project Description:

Alcohol consumption is a significant risk factor for global disease burden contributing to a range of physical and mental health harms. Evidence now suggests that many people in mid-life and older adulthood are drinking at levels that may harm their health. However, there is a lack of research on the determinants of alcohol related harms in many specific subgroups of the population.

This PhD programme will explore factors that contribute to increased alcohol consumption within a predefined population of interest to the student (e.g. mid-life women, older adults; people with mental health conditions; specific occupations; military personnel; people who are neurodivergent). The research will identify factors that prevent help seeking and behaviour change, and will co-develop targeted interventions suitable for the given population. This will begin with scoping work and co-production with the target group in year one and work towards an intervention feasibility trial in year three.

Supervised by Dr Emma Davies and Dr Jenny Seddon, the studentship will involve primary research to inform intervention development and evaluation.

In our research group, we place a high value on co-production and we would expect the studentship to engage with the target group in a meaningful way, for example through a public advisory group. We use systematic frameworks for intervention development, such as the Behaviour Change Wheel, to guide our intervention development work.

For further information contact Dr Emma Davies (edavies@brookes.ac.uk)

Complete applications should include a proposed project proposal (max 1000 words) including background, aims and an outline methodology, applicants can liaise with Dr Davies and Dr Seddon when developing their proposal.

Entry requirements:

This project is advertised on a competitive basis alongside other current Nigel Groome PhD studentship advertisements for Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development projects. Part time MPhil/PhD study will be exceptionally considered.

Application process: Please contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk for details of how to apply.

Contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk with any queries.

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