PhD Studentship in the Institute of Health and Society and Durham County Council – Developing and feasibility testing an intervention to prevent childhood obesity in the early years

Start date and duration:
March-April 2017 for 3 years.

Overview:
Interested in childhood obesity prevention? This PhD project will involve developing and feasibility testing an intervention to prevent obesity in the early years.

This studentship will involve multi-stage and mixed methods work. A rigorous review of existing evidence will be completed including an examination of previously completed health-professional led interventions to improve parental perceptions of child weight status and weighing and feeding behaviours of parents with children aged 0-2 years. Qualitative and co-production work will be completed with key stakeholders to combine academic and tacit knowledge, inform the development of an intervention and identify priority groups/areas.

This studentship also involves the opportunity to work for a time embedded within Durham County Council to further understand the services available and key stakeholders in the area, and so too inform the development of an intervention which will then be feasibility tested within the Durham region.

Sponsor:
Institute of Health and Society (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ihs/), Durham County Council (http://www.durham.gov.uk/) and Fuse (http://fuse.ac.uk/).

Name of supervisor(s):
Professor A Adamson, Institute of Health and Society (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ihs/people/profile/ashley.adamson)

Dr A Jones, Institute of Health and Society (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ihs/people/profile/angela.jones)

Dr N Heslehurst, Institute of Health and Society (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ihs/people/profile/nicola.heslehurst)

Dr L Ells, Teesside University (http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/research/health_socialcare/staff_profile_details.cfm?staffprofileid=U0027319)

Mr C Woodcock, Durham County Council (http://www.durham.gov.uk/)

Eligibility Criteria:
You must have at least a 2:1 honours degree in an appropriate discipline, for example nutrition, psychology or health-related discipline; and a Masters level qualification in a relevant field of research. The award is available to UK/EU applicants only.

If English is not your first language, you must have IELTS 7 with at least 6.5 in the written component, or equivalent.

Experience of literature searching, quantitative and qualitative research, and working flexibly as part of a multi-disciplinary team and independently is advantageous.

How to apply:
You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/). Only mandatory fields need to be completed.

However, you will need to include the following information:

•insert the programme code 8300F in the programme of study section
•select ‘PhD in the Faculty of Medical Sciences – Public Health’ as the programme of study
•insert the studentship code HS028 in the studentship/partnership reference field
•attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote the studentship reference code HS028 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
•attach degree transcripts and certificates, and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications.