Fifteen years ago, the Sustainable Trials Study Group concluded that ‘clinical trials contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.’ and current estimates predict that the 350,000 trials registered on clinicaltrials.gov have a carbon usage of 27.5M tonnes. General recommendations targeting the reduction of carbon usage in research (NIHR Carbon Reduction Guidelines) were published in 2019 yet progress to decarbonise trials remains slow. Of the small number of studies that have explored carbon usage in clinical trials, factors such as trial team and participant related travel have been identified as key impacts.
Of the sources of carbon usage across clinical trials many of these are linked to the role of human behaviour and rely on people (patients, clinicians, trial staff) performing actions (such as receiving or delivering a trial intervention or attending a clinic). There are many influences on participants, trial staff, and clinicians’ behaviours within clinical trials. These trial-related environmental behaviours are common across trial designs and clinical contexts often contextually dependent and amenable to change. Applying behavioural science to the problem of carbon usage in clinical trials offers critical, replicable, and generalisable insights for the clinical trials community.
This studentship aims to address this knowledge gap by applying behavioural science to investigate the key challenges and opportunities for delivery of low carbon trials.
This studentship aims to identify the challenges and opportunities for delivery of low carbon trials. Specifically, it will:
1. Determine which carbon ‘hotspots’ across the trial lifecycle (design, conduct, analysis, and reporting) can be considered as priority pro-environmental behaviours that are potentially amenable to change (literature review and re-analysis of process map);
2. Identify key opportunities and challenges faced by trial teams in relation to pro-environmental behaviours related to trial design, conduct, analysis, and reporting (interviews/focus groups and survey);
3. Develop pro-environmental behaviour change intervention(s) to target trial teams during the trial lifecycle and establish feasibility and acceptability (behaviour change intervention development and participatory approaches);
4. Produce a ‘how-to’ guide for trial teams on how to develop and implement behavioural diagnostics and solutions for supporting low carbon trials.
Dr Katie Gillies (Trials methodologist, mixed-methods researcher, with expertise in applying behavioural science to trials) will act as lead supervisor for the student with co-supervision from Dr Eilidh Duncan (Health Psychologist with expertise in behavioural science), and Prof Paula Williamson (statistician and trials methodologist).
The PhD project will be a mixed-methods study with some of the qualitative components requiring interview and/or focus group data collection from a wide geographical spread of trial teams. Ideally, some of these will be conducted in person (to aid training in these methods) but the majority will be done remotely (as both a cost and carbon reduction strategy). The student will have opportunities to spend time at the University of Liverpool, other CTUs, and organisations relevant for low carbon trials e.g., Sustainable Health Coalition.
The student will be supported (by the supervisory team and a PPIE coordinator at HSRU) to interact with the HSRU Public/patient Involvement Partnership (PIP). The PIP group will be consulted at key project milestones for input into the objectives and/or findings from the work.
HOW TO APPLY
You are applying for a PhD studentship from the MRC TMRP DTP. A list of potential projects and the application form is available online at:
http://www.methodologyhubs.mrc.ac.uk/about/tmrp-doctoral-training-partnership/
Please complete the form fully. Incomplete forms will not be considered. CVs will not be accepted for this scheme.
Please apply giving details for your first choice project. You can provide details of up to two other TMRP DTP projects you may be interested in at section B of the application form.
Before making an application, applicants should contact the project supervisor to find out more about the project and to discuss their interests in the research before 09 January 2023.
The deadline for applications is 4pm (GMT) 16 January 2023. Late applications will not be considered.
Completed application forms must be returned to: [Email Address Removed]
Informal enquiries may be made to [Email Address Removed]