Health and Social Care - Research

The School of Health & Social Care welcomes enquiries and applications from those interested in full- or part-time study for MPhil or PhD degrees in health, nursing, social work and psychology or counselling.

The School focuses on applied social science, including sociology and psychology. We have a large and growing PhD programme. Students' progress is supported by a supervisory team and monitored by committees within the School and the university.

Particular areas of strength for health include health policy, the organisation and delivery of health care, health promotion, public health and nursing and midwifery. Young parents and fragile families are a focus of interest in social work. For psychology and counselling, areas of strength are impulsivity and risk taking, the performance and degradation of fine motor skills, kinematics, mental health interventions and social inclusion.

Applicants must identify an area of research that they wish to pursue and submit an outline proposal of approximately 1,000 words with their application form.

In the first two terms applicants are required to take courses in qualitative and quantative methods as well as critical appraisal of the literature in the first two terms, unless they have recently completed courses in these areas that are of a similar standard. Part-time students are expected to devote a minimum of 12 hours per week to their postgraduate work.

Research projects

Recent topics include:

• The subjective experience and effects of chronic life-threatening illness in childhood
• The memory performance in younger and older adults during single- and-dual task conditions
• The influence of family functioning on the development of aggressive behaviour in pre-school
• Cultural rites and rituals associated with pregnancy and childbirth in different cultural groups in London