RAISED in Yorkshire teenager citizen scientists addressing oral health equality & behavioural change.

RAISED in Yorkshire (RiY-Research Activity in Schools Evaluating Dental health) works with young people to empower them as Citizen Scientists working throughout the research process as co-developers and co-deliverers. RiY supports young people to work in true partnership and increases their locus of control through co-creation of research projects. The partnership with schools enables bi-directional gain – students from the most socially deprived areas with the greatest oral health inequality are provide career enhancing opportunities and we achieve reach into at-risk underserved communities.[1] The embedded principles of listening, co-development, co-delivery drives and empowers and motivates student citizen scientists groups to explore solutions and evaluate their own science approaches[2,3]. The students gain invaluable career-enhancing experiences and raised aspirations.

The RiY Programme extends Patient Public Involvement and Engagement(PPIE) towards a participatory research approach that delivers via collaboration empowerment of young people from vulnerable communities impactful oral health promotion and prevention research experiences.

The PhD researcher will work with young people enrolled in RiY to support them to find solutions to key societal oral health challenges. They will facilitate young people to co- design a series of citizen science oral health research projects and support the RiY Student Research fellows to evaluate their research – including data collection, analysis and interpretation of the results. Importantly they will co-design innovative dissemination approaches, drawing in further expertise in arts, design and comms to present their oral health needs and achieve oral heath improvement.

This PhD will draw on supervisors’ expertise of citizen science, participatory co-design, PPIE, behavioural science and dental public health.

Aim: To empower young people to identify problems and devise solutions for key societal oral health challenges. 

Objectives:

1. Create a series of co-designed citizen science oral health research projects delivered by young people in communities with high oral health inequality:
2. To work with young people and support them to form RiY Youth Research Teams(YRT) to agree and address the most urgent and neglected oral health questions
3. Using rapid evidence synthesis to translate priorities into core research activities. [3] To support RiY-YRT to enhance understanding of a problem and collaboratively design new primary research to address evidence gaps and deliver an understanding of oral health behavioural change
4. To lead RiY-YRT to work alongside Leeds academics to more effectively communicate findings to youth audiences
5. Establish a framework for RiY Citizen Science for oral health

You should hold a first degree equivalent to at least a UK upper second class honours degree in a relevant subject such as psychology, social sciences, dentistry. 

The Faculty of Medicine and Health minimum requirements are:

• British Council IELTS - score of 6.5 overall, with no element less than 6.0
• TOEFL iBT - overall score of 92 with the listening and reading element no less than 21, writing element no less than 22 and the speaking element no less than 23.

How to apply:

To apply for this scholarship applicants should complete an online Faculty Scholarship Application form and send this alongside a full academic CV, degree transcripts (or marks so far if still studying) and degree certificates to the Faculty Graduate School [Email Address Removed]  

We also require 2 academic references to support your application. Please ask your referees to complete the online Scholarship Reference form on your behalf and send directly to [Email Address Removed]  by no later than Friday 9 April 2021.

If you have already applied for other scholarships using the Faculty Scholarship Application form you do not need to complete this form again. Instead you should email [Email Address Removed]  to inform us you would like to be considered for this scholarship project.

Any queries regarding the application process should be directed to [Email Address Removed]   

Closing date for this scholarship is Friday 9 April 2021.