SCIMITAR-SA PhD Programme 2024

The SCIMITAR-SA programme aims to address tobacco use among people with SMI (primarily schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, psychosis, bipolar illness, and severe depression with psychosis) living in three South Asian countries – Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Research teams will use the full range of research methods including evidence synthesis, qualitative research, clinical trials, economic evaluations and implementation science. 

Your research proposal should complement SCIMITAR-SA aims, and align with your interests, academic strengths and career aspirations. 

4. Identify a potential supervisor

All prospective applicants to the SCIMITAR-SA scholarship scheme are expected to have made contact with a potential supervisor, to help them guide the choice of research topic and support proposal development for the application. 

A list of potential academic supervisors who have indicated an interest in supporting students can be accessed here and their profiles and academic interests can be found on their respective university webpages. Once you have identified a suitable and willing supervisor, then you can work to refine your proposal. (Please note that if a supervisor agrees to support your application, it does not automatically identify them as your PhD supervisor, this will be finalised once successful candidates have been identified) 

You can also make an informal enquiry, either directly to the academic you are interested in working with from the list above, or with one of the PhD programme leads: Professor Simon Gilbody (simon.gilbody@york.ac.uk) or Dr. Faraz Siddiqui (faraz.siddiqui@york.ac.uk) Please include information about your strengths and areas of research interest. 

5. Prepare your application

• Your application is likely to take at least several weeks to prepare - so start early.
• You can download a pdf of the questions  in the online application form and write each section in advance before you start pasting them into the live application form.
• Remember to keep saving your application form.
• There are four main sections to the application form (and strict character limits): 
  • Personal information and eligibility; 
  • Outline of the proposed research topic;
  • Personal statement outlining your aspirations and ambitions; 
  • CV evidencing your academic, work and other relevant skills and experience.
• In making your application, you will need the following documents:
  • Academic transcript/s from previous institution/s.  
  • Research proposal. 
  • Personal statement. 
  • CV.

Guidance on what to include in the research proposal, personal statement and CV can be found below.

• If you are shortlisted for an interview, we will contact two academic referees (see York’s Admissions Policy and further guidance on PGR references).
• For shortlisting and interview stages, applicants will be scored against the following criteria and their answers to questions similar to those outlined below.

6. Prepare for your interview

If you have been shortlisted for an interview, we will notify you by the end of May 2024. Interviews will take place in June 2024. Given the short gap between shortlisting and interviews, you might want to start preparing in advance.

• The interview panel membership is likely to consist of (but not limited to) the Director of SCIMITAR-SA, the Dean of York Graduate Research School and other senior academics from SCIMITAR-SA and/or the Department of Health Sciences, University of York. 
• If the interview takes place in person at the University of York, we will reimburse you for reasonable travel and subsistence costs (within the UK).
• Interviews will take place either in-person or online and will comprise:
  • A five-minute presentation on your proposal (strictly timed)
  • 25 minutes of questions from the Interview Panel.

7. The last steps

We will contact successful candidates with award offers within a week of the last interview. If successful, you will be asked to formally accept the offer within two weeks.

Potential supervisors and contact details

• Professor Simon Gilbody (simon.gilbody@york.ac.uk)
• Professor Kamran Siddiqi (kamran.siddiqi@york.ac.uk)
• Professor Mona Kanaan (mona.kanaan@york.ac.uk)
• Dr. Gerardo Zavala Gomez (gerardo.zavala@york.ac.uk)
• Dr. Hannah Jennings (hannah.jennings@york.ac.uk)
• Dr. Mehreen Faisal (mehreen.faisal@york.ac.uk)
• Dr. Omara Dogar (omara.dogar@york.ac.uk)
• Dr. Saima Afaq (saima.afaq@york.ac.uk)

Research Project Proposal Guidance

Please submit your Research Project Proposal, structured by the following subheadings:

1. Title of the proposed project: This is a working title that best describes the project at this stage. 
2. Background: This sets out the importance of the topic. Why is this research needed? Why is it needed now? What is already known? What are the research gaps? This section should refer to the body of literature on the topic and justify your proposed project.
3. Aims of the project: This section describes the existing research gap(s) that the proposal will address, and the objectives or research questions that the proposal will address. 
4. Methods of research proposal: The research methods section needs to highlight what methods will be used and how, with an appropriate level of detail. In the case of quantitative research, the data set to be generated or accessed and used should be identified and the potential experimental design described. In the case of more qualitative research, again the methods should be briefly described and proposed stakeholders/populations to be interviewed/surveyed should be outlined. Proposals should also highlight ethical issues and potential limitations. 
5. Research plan and high-level timetable of work.
6. Resources available and required (if any).
7. Potential impact: What are the benefits you anticipate and for whom?
8. Limitations: Describe the potential limitations of your proposed methods and potential risks in delivering the project.
9. Bibliography: The proposal should include correct literature citations and a brief bibliography. 

(Note that the proposal should be no more than 2000 words, excluding a bibliography, and include an approx 250-word abstract). 

Personal Statement Guidance

The personal statement should be a maximum of no more than 600 words outlining the following: 

1. Why are you interested in your planned project? 
2. What motivates you to pursue PhD study? 
3. What experiences do you have which prepare you for the challenges of PhD study and the resilience it requires? 
4. What are your career aspirations after you finish your PhD? 
5. What contact have you had with your proposed project supervisor/s? 

Curriculum Vitae Guidance

1. Please provide a short statement of academic interests (2-3 sentences): 
2. Please provide details of your education:
   Name of Higher Education Institution, place and country; Degree/ qualification awarded or ongoing (with dates and classification or overall mark); Completed modules that are relevant to the application.
3. Awards and prizes: This can include scholarships (e.g. travel or research), bursaries, prizes and honours.
4. How have you contributed to the generation of knowledge? 
   This section can be used to explain how you have contributed to the generation of new ideas and hypotheses and which key skills you have used to develop ideas and test hypotheses. This can include research grants awarded (please give details of title, funding body, amount, dates, brief summary of the project and your role in the application and/or delivery of the project). 
   This section can also include undergraduate research projects, summer projects, or other experience obtained in the workplace etc. Please include details of:
   - project title and dates 
   - supervisor(s) 
   - short description of the type of work undertaken and the main findings.
5. How have you contributed to the development of individuals? 
   This section can be used to highlight how you contributed to the success of a team or team members including project management, collaborative contributions, and team support. It can include your teaching activities, workshops or summer schools in which you were involved and work experience activities. 
6. Other work experience, volunteering experience and training courses: 
   This section can include various activities you have engaged in to progress your career or the community more generally. It can be used to mention the organisation of events that have benefited your community. It can be used to describe jobs you have done and appointments to positions of responsibility such as committee membership and corporate roles. It can be used to describe activities to improve organisational or community culture (e.g. gender equality, diversity, social mobility, reward and recognition). 
7. What skills and expertise do you bring to the post? 
   This section can be used to describe your skills and expertise that are relevant to completing a research project, for example, research skills, digital skills, interpersonal skills, transferable/professional skills and other relevant skills. 
8. How have you communicated ideas and information? 
   This section can be used to describe academic and non-academic activities that have involved communicating with groups, teams, general audiences etc via any medium e.g.: 
   ●    This may include attendance and/or presentation at local, national or international conferences or public events. Include titles  of any oral or poster presentations. 
   ●    Contribution to peer-reviewed research papers, reviews, book chapters etc. List authors, title, journal or book title, publisher    and editors (for book chapters only), year of publication, volume and page numbers. 
   ●    Blog/Vlog articles relevant to the application. 
   ●    Reports/policy documents etc.  

Shortlisting and Interview Assessment Criteria

1. Shortlisting criteria

 2. Presentation and Interview Criteria