A 3-year PhD Studentship funded by the Beryl Alexander Charity and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is available in the Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, Great Ormond Street UCL Institute of Child Health. The studentship will commence in October 2021 under the supervision of Professor Roz Shafran, Professor Sir Terence Stephenson and a wider supervisory team of Professors Isobel Heyman, Tamsin Ford, Trudie Chalder and Esther Crawley.
The CLoCk study will recruit 6000 children and young people identified from public health records to help us understand the mental and physical health of children who have tested positive for COVID-19. We will also have a group of comparable children and young people who have tested negative as this will help us understand the role of the physical health component (infection) as well as the other factors that could influence Long Covid such as anxiety due to lockdown. We will be following these children over a 2 year period and they will be answering questions on their physical and mental health so we can track the trajectory of symptoms over time. This large-scale national data-based project (CLoCk) would be enhanced by an understanding of the experience of long COVID from the young person’s perspective and greater understanding of the role of mental health vulnerabilities and the role of parental mental health. We also want to conduct a preliminary evaluation of a Stepped Care approach to intervention, building on prior work funded by the Beryl Alexander Charity in the form of the ‘Lucy’ project. A PhD student commencing in September 2021 would be in an ideal position to undertake more intensive research to investigate the relationship between mental health and recovery from post-viral infection with a view towards evaluating effective interventions. The PhD student will also obtain generic skills by attending relevant courses run by UCL.
The student will receive a starting stipend of up to £26,000 per annum (including London weighting) depending on clinical qualification and skills, as well as the cost of tuition fees based on UK fee or international fee status.
Personal Specification
Applicants should have, or expect to receive an upper second-class Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree (or equivalent work experience) in a relevant discipline or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.
Eligibilty
This studentship covers the cost of tuition fees based on the UK (Home) rate or International Fees.
NB: You will be asked about your likely fee status at the interview so we would advise you to contact the
UCL Graduate Admissions Office for advice should you be unsure whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria for Home fee status. Further information on Brexit and the definitions for fee status assessment can be found on the
UCL website and also the
UKCISA website (Higher Education: Definitions for fee status assessment).
Application
To apply, please send a current CV including the contact details of two professional referees as well as a cover letter to
leonard.jones@ucl.ac.uk. Enquiries regarding the post can be made to
r.shafran@ucl.ac.uk.
Deadline for receipt of applications: Friday 2nd July 2021
Interview date: Friday 16th July 2021
