PhD Studentship: Developing and Validating a Behaviour Checklist for Adults with Intellectual Disability

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD (fees and stipend) to begin March 2026 on a research project developing an adult version of the Behaviour Checklist, a tool originally developed for children with intellectual disability. The successful candidate will be based at University of Warwick and will be co-supervised by Dr Hayley Crawford (Warwick), Professor Caroline Richards, Professor Kylie Gray and Professor Peter Langdon (University of Birmingham).

Project description:

There are 1.5 million people with an intellectual disability (ID) in the UK and over half of these present with intellectual disability associated with either a rare genetic syndrome or a co-occurring condition such as autism. People with moderate-profound intellectual disability and complex needs are at high risk for poor behavioural outcomes. We previously co-designed a clinical checklist of common and critical causes of poor behavioural outcomes to improve identification, monitoring and intervention pathways for children with intellectual disability and complex needs. This fully funded PhD will aim to revise this checklist for an adult population, identify implementation opportunities and examine psychometric properties.

With your application, please provide a two-page project proposal for the PhD, outlining a plan for your PhD research within this area. Within the two-page proposal, please include a 250 work lay-summary suitable for families of children with rare genetic syndromes, explaining the purpose and value of the research.

The candidate:

The successful applicant will use a mixed-methods approach to the research. They will conduct relevant systematic and/or meta-analytic reviews to describe the current literature and inform their research. They will undertake qualitative data collection and analysis and use advanced statistical analyses to examine psychometric properties. They will undertake work with stakeholders to develop their research and ensure it is meaningful and acceptable to the communities the work benefits. They will communicate with families and stakeholders to ensure effective dissemination of the work. The successful applicant will join a team of post-doctoral researchers, PhD students, and undergraduate students at the University of Warwick and work closely with relevant networks including Cerebra Network and Midlands Mental Health and Neuroscience PhD Programme for Healthcare Professionals.

Funding:

The award will cover the UK tuition fee level for 4 years, plus a tax-free stipend, currently £20,780 (2025/2026), paid at the prevailing UKRI rate for 3 years of full-time study and a one-off research training grant of up to £5,000.

Please visit our website for further information on how to apply.

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