PhD studentship based in the Centre for Academic Mental Health, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol

The project:

The University of Bristol is offering a three-year full-time PhD studentship based in the Centre for Academic Mental Health to start in October 2016. The scholarship is for a student who meets at least one of our widening participation criteria (see How to apply section for details). The award covers the standard UK stipend (£14,296 in 16/17), tuition fees (£4,121 in 16/17) and a research and training grant of £3,000 per year.

The studentship will be based within the Centre for Academic Mental Health (CAMH) (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/).

The centre brings together researchers working on mental health within the School of Social and Community Medicine (http://www.bris.ac.uk/social-community-medicine/). Our major research strengths comprise six main areas (addiction, depression, neurodevelopmental disorders, personality disorder, psychosis/schizophrenia, and suicide and self-harm). We have an internationally recognised research programme funded by the MRC, NIHR, Wellcome Trust and other medical research charities.  We are multidisciplinary and the researchers in the centre include psychiatrists, epidemiologists, GPs, public health physicians, statisticians, psychologists and social scientists.

We offer a range of potential projects which you can adapt to your interests when preparing your research proposal. The full list of projects can be found at: http://www.bris.ac.uk/social-community-medicine/media/phd/mentalhealthscholarshipprojectlist.pdf. You are strongly encouraged to contact the named supervisors to discuss your research proposal prior to submitting your application.

How to Apply

Please make an online application for this project at http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply. Please select Faculty of Health Sciences and ‘Psychiatry (PhD)’ on the Programme Choice page.  Under Funding, select ‘Other’ and identify ‘Mental Health Scholarship’ as your fee source. Under Research Details, provide the names of the project supervisors for the relevant project, available from the project list.

Please provide a current CV, covering letter, research proposal, certified copies of degree certificates and transcripts, and two academic references.

Widening participation criteria

You are eligible to apply for the scholarship if you meet any of the following criteria:

• You have been in care as a looked-after child for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14.


• You have a disability.


• You are a carer for an ill or disabled family member.


• You come from an area where it is unusual for people to go to university. This is defined by the government’s classification called Polar 3, to meet this criteria your address must fall into quintile 1 or 2. Check your address area using the Participation of Local Areas (POLAR) search tool. We’ll use your home address in your last year of school or college. Please note this information only covers the UK.


• Neither of your parents attended university


• You were/are in receipt of a maintenance grant as an undergraduate or free school meals as a child.


• You are from a black and/or minority ethnic group


• You are returning to the workplace after a career break (due to parental leave)

Candidate requirements:

This is an exciting opportunity for an outstanding and highly motivated graduate to join CAMH. You will have (or are expected to obtain) a good honours degree (minimum of 2:1) or Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. natural sciences, biostatistics, genetics, statistics, psychology).

The candidate must be available to start full time PhD studies in October 2016.

Funding:

Mental health scholarship. Due to funding restrictions, this project is only open to UK/EU applicants.

Contacts:  Please contact supervisors of the project that you are interested in or, for general enquiries, please contact Nicola.Wiles@bristol.ac.uk

Deadline for applicationsClosing date: 5pm on 5September 2016