PhD Studentship: Tackling Health Inequalities Through Physical Activity – Exploring the Implementation and Impact of a National System Partnership

The School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex is offering a fully funded PhD studentship starting in January 2024. A stipend will be paid in line with UKRI guidelines, starting at £18,622pa in 2023-24, plus Home tuition fees, for a maximum of 36 months. International candidates are welcome to apply but would need to be able to fund the fee difference. 

The proposed interdisciplinary PhD is jointly funded by the University of Essex and a local social enterprise, Sport for Confidence (SFC), which places Occupational Therapists and specialist Sports Coaches into leisure centre settings to create accessible and inclusive opportunities. The studentship is focused on evaluating aspects of a national system partnership SFC has with Sport England. 

Key aims of the studentship are:

• To understand and map the national system involved in promoting physical activity amongst marginalised and seldom heard populations (to include delivery, strategic and pre-registration health education systems).
• To examine the barriers and enablers of implementing a national system partnership.
• To examine the impact of this work on reducing health inequalities, tackling physical inactivity, and promoting wellbeing, particularly amongst marginalised and seldom heard populations.

The student will join a vibrant school with an active cohort of doctoral students and supportive team of academics, administrators, and technicians; being supervised by three experienced members of research staff from the School of Health and Social Care and the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences: Dr Anna Pettican, Dr Paul Freeman and Dr Andrew Brinkley. Additionally, the student will be integrated within SFC, working as part of the organisation to support a culture of collecting and utilising data to promote learning and inform practice. 

To have an informal discussion about the studentship, please contact Anna, Paul, or Andrew on anna.pettican@essex.ac.uk, pfreeman@essex.ac.uk or andrew.brinkley@essex.ac.uk.

Essential criteria

• BSc (2:1 or above) in Sport and Exercise Science, Psychology, Data Analytics or Health and Social Care related disciplines
• Experience of qualitative research methods and analysis
• Knowledge and experience in experimental research design and quantitative data analysis
• Experience of working collaboratively with individuals from marginalised and seldom heard populations
• Experience of working within community health systems/services and/or using health service data
• Ability to work both independently and cooperatively as part of a team

Desirable criteria

• MSc/MRes in Sport and Exercise Science, Psychology, Data Analytics or Health related disciplines
• Registered health professional (ideally an Occupational Therapist)
• High levels of resourcefulness and attention to detail
• Experience of communicating and disseminating research to academic and non-academic audiences

How to apply

Application closing date: 12pm midday on Friday 20 October 2023.

Interview date: Thursday 16 November 2023.

You can apply for this postgraduate research opportunity online (https://www1.essex.ac.uk/pgapply/login.aspx). Applicants should select full-time ‘PhD in Public Health’ when applying and (when asked for your ‘proposed research topic or area of research’) state the studentship title at the top of this advert. Applications MUST include the following documents to be uploaded:

• Research proposal of no more than 600 words, outlining suggested research focus(es), approach(es) and/or studies that applicants would be interested to include within this PhD.
• CV including research experience, skills, and publications (if any).
• Covering letter outlining how you meet the criteria for the studentship.
• Transcripts of any undergraduate or masters’ programmes.

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