Dr L Sampson, Dr J Huntley, Prof P Stone
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
The Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department (MCPCRD) at University College London (UCL) is seeking an outstanding, motivated and enthusiastic candidate. This is an exciting opportunity to undertake a PhD funded by the charity Marie Curie: Care and Support through Terminal Illness.
As people with dementia approach the end of their lives they can experience symptoms including pain, agitation, anxiety and breathlessness. Ensuring comfort is a key underlying principle of palliative care however, people with severe dementia may not be able to express how they feel. There is increasing interest in technologies in end-of-life care in dementia, including pain monitoring and Bispectral index (BIS) technologies. BIS initially developed to monitor anaesthetic depth during surgery. Limited pilot work has been undertaken in palliative care patients, but this has not been tested in people with dementia.
The PhD student will explore the acceptability and feasibility of using BIS technology and pain monitoring tools in people with dementia who are unable to communicate. This builds on the work of MCPCRD. Precise aims will be determined in consultation between the supervisory team and the successful candidate but are likely to include:
1) a systematic of the literature on the use of technology for monitoring pain and awareness in people with advanced dementia.
2) An acceptability and feasibility study; exact details will depend on the outcomes of the literature review and acceptability study.
The project runs alongside and complements an ongoing collaborative study between the Division of Psychiatry and ION, examining the use of EEG and fMRI to objectively assess awareness in people with advanced dementia. This places the student in a wider collaboration examining the use of technology to monitor awareness in advanced dementia, providing potential opportunities for training and experience in different EEG and imaging methodologies.
The student will gain experience methodologies such as systematic reviewing, with expert input from our in-house systematic reviewer, qualitative and focus group work, clinical studies and quantitative research, supported by our statistician. They will join a cohort of over 50 PhD students in the Division of Psychiatry at UCL.
Potential applicants should visit www.ucl.ac.uk/mcpcru and https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=ELSAM39 to read more.
Person specification
Essential criteria
• Fluent in English
• Upper 2:1 (>=65 pass mark) or 1st class undergraduate degree in a relevant health or social science discipline and a Master’s degree in research methodology, clinical studies, dementia studies, public health, psychology or social science topic, expected to be awarded prior to beginning the PhD
• Evidence of
o experience or training in research methodology
o good attention to detail
o excellent organisational, problem-solving and analytical skills
o data management skills
• Willingness to travel for research purposes
• Willingness and ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Willingness and ability to work with Marie Curie for example presenting findings at their conference, meeting trustees and conducting research in their hospices
Desirable criteria
• Experience of working with/conducting mixed methods research with health care professionals and service users
• Experience of conducting systematic reviews
• Experience of working with/conducting and understanding of dementia research in clinical populations or care homes
• Publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. Please briefly describe your contribution to these in your CV.
Application procedure
Please submit applications to Yana Kitova, citing reference MCPCRD – 01/2018in the following format:
• A CV, including full details of all University grades.
• Contact details for two academic or professional referees.
• A personal statement (750 words maximum) outlining (i) your suitability for the PhD, with reference to the criteria above, (ii) what you hope to achieve from the PhD, (iii) your research experience.
• Please support your application by detailing any relevant modules or courses undertaken, research internships and outputs, or employment.
Application Deadline: 5pm, 4th September 2018.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interview date 10th September 2018 (TBC).
Contact details for enquiries and electronic applications (please cite the reference above):
Contact name: Yana Kitova
[Email Address Removed]. Tel: 020 7679 9713
Further Information
For full details about postgraduate study at UCL and the graduate admission policy, visit: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/
For information about language requirements, see: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/life/international
Funding Notes
3-year funded PhD scholarship starting in 2018 to cover University fees (2018/19: £5,060), maintenance stipend (2018/19: £23,037) and some research expenses.
Eligibility: Only applicants eligible to pay fees at the UK/EU rate will be considered. You must normally be a national of a European Union (EU) country, or the relevant family member of an EU national, and have been ordinarily resident within the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland for the three year period before the first day of the first academic year of the programme.
Students whose first language is not English must have been graded Good or above on IELTS Academic Version no more than two years prior to enrolment.
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