PhD Studentship in Mental Health and Kidney Disease
The Department of Health Sciences, University of York, invites applications for a fully-funded full-time PhD studentship to start in September/October 2024. The project is about the relationship between chronic kidney disease and mental health conditions. The successful candidate will be part of the department’s Mental Health and Addiction Research Group (MHARG).
Project details
- Are you interested in the relationship between mental health and kidney disease?
- Do you want to work at the leading-edge of mental health and population science?
- Do you want to undertake a Doctoral training programme in a rich interdisciplinary environment at one the UK’s leading centres for applied and population mental health research?
- Do you want to contribute to kidney disease research with supervision from expert clinicians and researchers in the field?
Supervisor: Dr Claire Carswell (Co-supervisors TBC)
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a progressive, long-term condition that presents a growing burden worldwide, and is predicted to be the fifth leading cause of life years lost by 2040. People with CKD experience difficult symptoms and substantial treatment burden. As a result, depression is highly prevalent among people with CKD, particularly in the later stages of the disease, contributing to worse outcomes and acting as an independent predictor of mortality. Despite this, depression is underdiagnosed and undertreated among people with CKD.
There are many potential reasons for the lack of service provision to support the mental health of people with CKD. This includes the overlap between the symptoms of CKD (uremia) and the symptoms of depression, the stigma associated with mental health conditions, the lack of robust trial evidence for the efficacy of antidepressants in this population, and the practical issues of balancing support and treatment burden. This PhD will complement work being undertaken as part of an NIHR Advanced Fellowship to develop a robust understanding of the dynamic between mental health and CKD. The fellowship aims to explore the inverse direction, exploring the risk of CKD among people with severe mental illness with a mixed-methods approach, using exploratory qualitative methods and analysis of large population-level datasets.
The aim of the PhD project will be to improve the identification and management of depression among people living with CKD.
Skills and Training
This PhD will suit candidates with mixed-methods skills and interest, and background in disciplines including psychology, epidemiology, health sciences, and sociology. You will hold a strong first degree in one of these or a related subject. Possession of a master’s degree which provided skills in quantitative or qualitative methods (particularly applied health science) would be an advantage but is not essential. You will be encouraged to undertake relevant methodological training during the PhD programme. Your methods training will be interwoven with the first year of the Doctoral programme, giving you the opportunity to enhance your knowledge and skills.
As part of this Doctoral programme you will access the masters-level learning opportunities in the University of York Department of Health Sciences. You will be able to undertake training in quantitative analysis, public health, epidemiology and statistics, health risk behaviours via access to courses offered on the Masters in Public Health and Masters in Health Research.
Funding
The scholarship is open to UK citizens on a full-time basis. The 3-year studentship provides a tax-free stipend per annum for UK citizens in line with UKRI standard rates (currently £18,622 for 2023/24), plus annual tuition fees at the UK rate, and £3,000 total research costs. Prospective students from elsewhere may also apply, though would be expected to provide evidence of the ability to fund the difference in tuition fees applicable to EU and international (non-EU) students. See https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/fees/ for further information.
Essential and desirable requirements
Applicants will need to hold at least an upper second-class honours (2:1) degree or equivalent in a relevant subject. It will be desirable that the candidate will also have a masters degree with a significant applied health research or population health component.
Applicants are required to submit a short research proposal (max 500 words) outlining how they would approach developing a research proposal in the area outlined above. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr Claire Carswell to discuss the project before applying (contact details under Informal Enquiries below).
For students whose first language is not English, there is a minimum requirement of an IELTS score of at least 6.5 in each component of the test and an overall score of at least 7.
Process for Application
Applications should be received no later than 22nd March 2024 16:00h. Applications will not be considered for the studentships after this date.
Applications should be made using the Department of Health Sciences on-line application process which can be accessed using the following link.
http://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/apply?course=DRPHSCSHSC3
When completing the electronic form, applicants will need to state that they are applying for the advertised studentship and include ref: MHARGCKD2024 under the ‘How studies will be funded’ section, in order to be considered for the scholarship.
Shortlisting: Shortlisting will take place as soon as possible after the closing date and shortlisted applicants will be notified promptly.
Start date: September/October 2024
Interviews
Individuals with the strongest academic record, experience, and research proposal ideas will be shortlisted and invited to interview in April/May 2024. Interviews will be conducted face-to-face or via Zoom or similar communication tools.
Informal enquiries
For informal enquiries please contact Dr Claire Carswell (claire.carswell@york.ac.uk)
Department of Health Sciences
The Mental Health and Addiction Research Group (MHARG) is based in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York and our work is supported by the Hull York Medical School (HYMS). Our research informs mental health and addiction policy and services, particularly in the NHS. We integrate population, clinical, behavioural, economic, environmental and other scientific perspectives. We work in partnership with people with addictions or mental health ill health. Taking a population perspective, we are especially focussed on prevention, early intervention and in understanding mental ill health and addictions across the lifecourse.
The Department of Health Sciences includes over 300 academics, teachers, researchers and support staff engaged in delivering research, professional development, education and training. Our core aim is excellence in research and teaching, while contributing to improving health and healthcare through the application of our research to policy and practice. We are a multidisciplinary department, involving clinicians from a range of health professions including medicine, nursing and midwifery alongside disciplines such as statistics, health economics, health services research, psychology, sociology and epidemiology. Our research is ranked 6th in the UK for research power in the Times Higher Education ranking of the latest REF results with over 92% (REF 2021).
Our research activity is organized around six core themes: mental health and addiction; trials and statistics; public health and society; cancer epidemiology; cardiovascular health; and health services and policy. The successful candidate will join a vibrant community of postgraduate students in our Graduate Research School. Our PhD students are embedded in one of our research groups and have the flexibility to tailor their studies to pursue their own research interests, and a bespoke training programme is designed in conjunction with the supervisory team to support the development of essential subject-specific and transferable skills for their future careers.
The University
The University of York is one of the foremost Universities in the UK and a member of the Russell Group of leading UK Universities. It has an outstanding record of research, teaching, and training across a full range of disciplines. The latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 places us in the top 10 institutions in the UK for research. The University has a particular strength in health-related research.
The main campus is a 200-acre landscaped park, with colleges and academic buildings within walking distance of each other. Proximity to the historic city of York makes the University a popular choice and provides a pleasant working environment. Transport connections to York are fast and effective.