About the Project
For full details of this project please visit: http://kess2.ac.uk/21051-2/
Here is an exciting opportunity to study a technology which could lead to entirely new approaches in powered wheelchair usage.
This is a funded MRes, including a generous stipend and tuition fees, with well-resourced circumstances for a successful scholarship.
The selected candidate will apply their data collection and analytical skills and ambition to assessing user attitudes and engagement with a new assistive technology. This mixed methods research project will allow the student to develop transferable knowledge and skills in this most exciting and active field of applied psychological research.
This Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS) project will be held in the Faculty Life Sciences and Education at the University of South Wales. KESS is a programme funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) awarded by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) in the Welsh Government. The project will focus on an exciting new development in assistive technology for powered wheelchair users; one which provides clear feedback to users about their implementation of prescribed functions. This will allow the manufacturer to enhance the usability of their technology so that users can optimise their engagement with clinically prescribed seating functions, enhancing their quality of life and reducing the rate of health complications.
The project is backed by Invacare. Invacare is a leading disability manufacturer who has helped people with reduced function, mobility and disability live as full a life as possible since 1885. Today, Invacare has a comprehensive product range of mobility, home-care, long-term care and acute equipment.
For full details of this project, including the Programme of Research, please visit: http://kess2.ac.uk/21051-2/
Studentship:
The studentship will cover the fees for a 1-year full-time MRes programme and pay a stipend of circa £11 k p.a. There is also around £3k project support costs available for consumables, travel, minor equipment, training (including the KESS Grad School) and conference attendance.
The position is available from 1st October 2018/1st January 2019
Eligibility of Student:
To be eligible to hold a KESS studentship, you must:
• have a home address in the Convergence area (details below)* at the time of registration.
• have the right to take up paid work in the Convergence area* on completion of the scholarship.
• be classified by the University as ‘home’ or ‘EU’ for tuition fees purposes according to the University’s guidelines.
• satisfy University of South Wales’s admissions criteria: see below, qualifications and experience and application process
*The Convergence area covers West Wales and the Valleys, and is made up of the following 15 local authorities: Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen.
Qualifications and experience:
Eligible applicants will:
• Have a degree (2i or higher) in an appropriate discipline
• Possess a reasonable understanding of qualitative and quantitative data collection
• Be highly self-motivated, with capacity to learn and develop analytical techniques
• Have well-developed and positively collaborative interpersonal skills
• Have an ability to deliver technical reports and communicate findings
• Be willing to travel and work in clinical and community support settings
Application Process:
To download an application package, please visit: http://gro.southwales.ac.uk/studentships/KESSII/participant/
For queries on eligibility, please contact KESS Team: [Email Address Removed] Tel: 01443 482578
For informal enquiries or further programme information, please contact: Dr Rachel Taylor ([Email Address Removed]) Further info: http://staff.southwales.ac.uk/users/449-rtaylor
Closing date for applications: : midnight Sunday 29th July 2018 (Interviews 2nd August 2018)