Centre for Health Service Studies, PhD Scholarship in Primary/Community Care (ARC KSS)

• The studentship will cover tuition fees at the standard postgraduate Home rate (£4,596 for 2023/24) rate plus an annual maintenance stipend of £17,668 per annum (in line with the UKRI rate for 2023).
• Annual Research Training Support allowance of £750 to cover conference attendance, training courses, equipment and books.

The deadline for this scholarship has now passed.

The studentship opportunity is open to all candidates with the following requirements:

• Have completed a health- or social work/care-related postgraduate training course at Master's level equivalent to merit or distinction.
• A combination of qualifications and/or experience that is equivalent to a relevant UK Master’s level degree may also be accepted.
• This studentship is available for eligible UK home-rate fee candidates only.

PhD Scholarship in Primary care and/or community care supported by the Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS)

The University of Kent, in collaboration with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey, Sussex are offering a PhD scholarship (3-year full-time or 5 years part-time) to be based in the Centre for Health Services Studies. We welcome applications to undertake research focusing on primary and/or community care in line with the areas of interest below commencing in September 2023. The studentship is linked to the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex which aims to develop applied health and social care research across the region for the benefit of patients and the public.

About CHSS, University of Kent

The Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) is a centre of research excellence in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research  within the Division of Law, Society and Social Justice at the University of Kent.  CHSS undertakes high quality research into a wide range of health systems and health services issues at local, national and international levels. CHSS also supports and advises health care staff to develop and undertake research projects. CHSS collaborates with a wide range of partners in Kent, the UK and in other countries to improve the links between research, policy and practice.

About NIHR ARCs

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research and provides the people, facilities and technology that enables research to thrive. NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) support applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems. The NIHR ARC Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) is one of 15 ARCs across England, part of a £135 million investment by the NIHR to improve the health and care of patients and the public.

Each NIHR ARC is made up of local providers of NHS services, local providers of care services, NHS commissioners, local authorities, universities, private companies and charities. These collaborations work together to conduct high quality, generalisable, applied health and care research that addresses the specific health or care issues in their region. NIHR ARCs also act to close the second translational gap and increase the rate at which research findings are implemented into practice. The 15 ARCs work collaboratively to address national research priorities, with individual ARCs providing national leadership in their areas of expertise. NIHR ARC KSS supports applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems. The ARC KSS will focus on regional challenges including:

• Significant social deprivation, mainly located in our coastal towns

• Numerous GP practice closures resulting in a high GP to patient ratios

• Higher than average children in care, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and young people with self-harm and emotional problems

• A higher proportion of older people

• The highest concentration of people with dementia in the UK

Scholarship information

The research studentship will be based within the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent. We welcome applications from prospective students interested in Primary and community care research. Current areas of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• integrated care models - service redesign, integrated care and/or evaluations of new forms of service provision
• sustainable care marginalised and migrant groups
• supporting people to live well with chronic conditions including comorbid mental and physical health conditions
• financially incentivising quality improvement in general practice

• service provision using a place-based approach, focussing on health inequalities and vulnerable groups in the following settings:
  
  • Coastal communities
  • Rural and isolated communities
  • Deprived communities within a largely affluent locality

We are looking for students who are enthusiastic about applied health and social care research and can become part of the research communities within ARC KSS and the University of Kent. The research studentships will be linked to the ARC KSS academy and benefit from research training and support across the Kent, Surrey and Sussex area as well as regional programmes of applied health and social care research.