A fully funded three-year full-time PhD studentship based within an established research group in the University of York’s, Department of Health Sciences is available as part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leeds, York, Bradford Research Alliance (LYBRA) Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) initiative.

Funding will include a yearly stipend (currently £13,290), as well as course fees and research expenses. The stipend will be based on 2010/2011 research council rates.

The Department of Health Sciences has a wide range of multidisciplinary research groups working in the health and social care field (research website). In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, we were rated first nationally for Health Services Research, together with colleagues from the Centre for Health Economics and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. In addition, we were ranked fourth for Nursing and Midwifery research and nineteenth for Epidemiology and Public Health.

Project Details

In this studentship, methods of evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of health interventions in early years will be explored and, where possible, piloted using data from the Born in Bradford cohort study. There will be particular challenges, such as the long timescale over which benefits may be realised, and the need for a multidisciplinary approach. Human capital models and theories around the economics of the family will be developed and applied, and psychological theories of health behaviour in families will also be incorporated. In the context of emerging research on the roles of income and family backgrounds in contributing to child health and development, this project will explore the economic returns to health and other behavioural interventions in early childhood, and the optimal time to intervene.

This studentship will be supervised by Dr Karen Bloor, and will be supported by a research advisory group including Professor Kate Pickett and Professor Alan Maynard, also in the Department of Health Sciences, and Professor Kathleen Kiernan from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work.

The studentship is likely to appeal to applicants with a background in economics and/or psychology, and with an interest in working across disciplines. Candidates should have a good first degree in a health or social science related discipline.

Start month: October 2010

Entry requirements: Candidates should have a good first degree in a health or social science related discipline.

Academic contact: Dr Karen Bloor:Email: keb3@york.ac.uk

Administrative contact and how to apply: Please visit our studentships webpage for more information and to apply: http://www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/gsp/studentships.htm