PhD Studentship in Parent-infant Relationships

Lead supervisor: Professor Sarah Blower

Co-supervisors: Dr. Kate Mooney, Professor Paul Tiffin

The University of York’s Department of Health Sciences is inviting applications for a PhD studentship. The student would be based on campus in the Family Wellbeing Team at the University of York (the PhD studentship is not suitable for distance learning). The Family Wellbeing Team is an interdisciplinary group nested within the Public Health and Society Research Group. Our focus is on developing and evaluating interventions to improve child and family outcomes, particularly in the early years. This includes the development and testing of measures and tools that can be used in practice to identify needs and evaluate services.

The studentship is nested within the STRIVE programme (STRategies for the Identification, enrolment, attendance and retention of families into parenting interVentions in Early life) led by Prof Sarah Blower in the Department of Health Sciences in partnership with colleagues from Hull York Medical School, the Centre for Health Economics and Bradford Institute for Health Research. Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), STRIVE aims to tackle child health inequalities by improving access to evidence-based parenting support for disadvantaged families.

This studentship will have a specific focus on understanding the parent-infant relationship and/or related constructs in the early years. Strong parent-infant relationships support a child’s long-term socio-emotional, behavioural, and biological development. A lack of support for early parent-infant relationship difficulties can impact long-term infant health, however, it can be challenging for parents to disclose difficulties, and challenging for practitioners working with parents to identify families that may need more support.

The candidate should develop their own research questions and apply either a quantitative or a mixed-methods approach to their project. The main focus of proposed research should be on one of these topics:

• The quality and robustness of existing measurement tools used to assess the quality of parent-infant relationships in diverse groups and populations.
• How existing tools could be made more effective in practice, for example, understanding how practitioners currently experience and use them.
• Evaluating novel approaches to rating parent-infant relationships, including AI and machine learning, and their potential feasibility in everyday practice.
• Work understanding, and aimed at disentangling, measures of parent-infant relationships and those evaluating parental mental health.

Candidates are welcome to develop alternative/additional questions related to parent-infant relationships using quantitative and/or mixed methods approaches. Candidates with a relevant degree (see below), and an interest in building their quantitative and/or mixed methods research skills, are encouraged to apply.

The candidate will have the opportunity to access data resources to support their research (subject to relevant approvals). These include data from the Born in Bradford’s Better Start cohort study (includes measurements of parent-infant relationships, mental health, and other constructs), the Enhancing Social Emotional health and wellbeing in the Early years (E-SEE) study (includes video observations and measurements of parenting, mental health, and other constructs), and data from clinical services administering the Me and My Baby (MaMB) questionnaire in practice. Candidates are also welcome to develop their own proposals using other primary and secondary data sources, including collecting their own primary quantitative and/or qualitative data.

Skills and training

This PhD will suit candidates with an interest in the early years and/or parent-infant relationships. You will hold a strong first degree in a relevant subject. Possession of a relevant master’s degree with quantitative modules would be an advantage but is not essential. You will be encouraged to undertake further training in research methods which 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 (and other departments). For example, you will be able to undertake training in quantitative analysis, qualitative research, public health, and epidemiology and statistics 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 £21,805 p.a. for 2026/27), 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 international students. See www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/fees for further information. Please note that this PhD is not available on a part-time basis due to funding restrictions.

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 (e.g. psychology, sociology, social sciences, health sciences, computational science or related subjects). A relevant postgraduate degree in research methods with a quantitative data analysis component, or equivalent experience is desirable. Desirable attributes include any work or relevant personal experiences relating to supporting parents or working with families in a social care or health services context.

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

The closing date for applications is 4pm on 20^th November 2026. Applications will not be considered for the studentships after this date.

Applicants are required to submit a short research proposal (max 750 words) outlining how they would approach developing a research proposal in the area outlined above. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr. Sarah Blower to discuss proposal ideas before applying (contact details under Informal Enquiries below).

Applications should be made using the Department of Health Sciences on-line application process which can be accessed using the following link.

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: PHSSTRIVE2026 under the ‘How studies will be funded’ section, in order to be considered for the scholarship.

If AI is used in generating your proposal please include a short appendix explaining how you have used AI and listing any prompts used (the 750 word count does not apply to any material in the appendix). Candidates will be questioned about their understanding of their proposal during the interview.

Shortlisting: Shortlisting will take place as soon as possible after the closing date and shortlisted applicants will be notified promptly.

Start date: negotiable, ideally January 2027 but no later than March 2027.

Interviews:

Individuals with the strongest academic record, experience, and research proposal ideas will be shortlisted and invited to interview on 1^st December 2026 (TBC). Interviews will be conducted face-to-face (or via Zoom).

Informal enquiries

For informal enquiries please contact Prof Sarah Blower (sarah.blower@york.ac.uk)

Department of health sciences

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: public health and society; mental health and addiction; trials and statistics; 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 of York

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.