PhD Studentship, University of Nottingham

Reference

MED1066

Closing Date

Friday, 15th June 2012

Job Type

Research & Teaching

Department

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Promoting exercise self-efficacy in children with diabetes

We are delighted to invite applications from suitably qualified students for research studentship commencing in October 2012, jointly supervised by Dr Holly Blake (Division of Nursing) and Professor Cris Glazebrook (Division of Psychiatry). This project may be of interest to students with a background in psychology or the health care professions.

Childhood diabetes is a serious illness which can have long-term social, psychological and economic consequences for young people and their families. Establishing healthy and safe exercise patterns is an important part of the lifestyle modification for diabetes self-management. However, many children with T1DM are not active enough; a significant proportion is overweight or obese and many lack the confidence to exercise.  All of which can impact on long-term health. The STAK (Steps to Active Kids) programme is a home-based exercise DVD and educational resource developed to increase exercise self-efficacy and to help young people with long-term health conditions to become more active. It has already been developed and used with children who have asthma. In this PhD study, the STAK will be adapted for use with T1DM, tailoring exercise level and advice to ensure they are appropriate and safe for T1DM. The utility of STAK will be tested in a group of children with T1DM in their homes. This PhD study will investigate whether the children find STAK usable and useful, and what effects it has on their exercise self-efficacy (confidence to exercise), physical and mental health outcomes, and their diabetes control.

Excellent research training accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will be available, as well as supportive academic supervision. The successful applicant will be based in the Institute of Mental Health and join a lively community of other research students across the School and wider University. The studentship offers the equivalent Home/EU tuition fees in addition to a yearly stipend of approx. £13,590 for three years, subject to satisfactory progress. International applicants are also welcome, however they will need to secure the additional funds required to make up the full International tuition fee amount. The University’s Admissions Office can provide further guidance on fees and fee status.

Students should have a first class honours or an upper second class honours degree and have or expect to have a Master’s degree, both in relevant subjects.
 
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Holly Blake, email: Holly.Blake@nottingham.ac.uk, tel: 00 44 (0) 115 82 31049, or Professor Cris Glazebrook, email: cris.glazebrook@nottingham.ac.uk, tel: 00 44 (0) 115 82 30420.

Applications should be made online via the Postgraduate Applications Portal  (https://my.nottingham.ac.uk/pgapps/welcome/) (please do not use the Apply Online link below). Supporting information consisting of a current CV, an example of academic writing (up to 5,000 words) and a covering letter indicating how your experience to date prepares you to undertake PhD level research in this field should be sent to Miss Cin Mond Kong Cin.Kong@nottingham.ac.uk. Please quote ref. MED/1066. Closing date: 15th June 2012.

Interviews will be held on 22nd June 2012. UK-based applicants will be interviewed in person, if possible; international applicants will be interviewed via video-conferencing, SKYPE or telephone. Decisions will be made by the end of June 2012.

• Information for candidates ( pdf | doc )
• Apply Online