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Studentship description/person specification
REF: LB/AK
Summary details
Unit name:
Division/Section:
Job title
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
Evaluating the Effects on Health of Social
Interventions Programme
PhD Research Studentship: Social integration in
neighbourhoods and schools: does it happen and
does it make a difference?
£13,590 pa
N/A
3 years or 1+3 years
36/week
*Salary range:
*Band (Grade):
*Contract type (e.g. Open/Fixed term):
*Hours (e.g. full or part time):
Detailed job description
Studentship details
This is an exciting opportunity to study for a PhD in a leading research institution and represents a
major stepping stone to a research or academic career.
The studentship project
Access to universal education is often considered key to improving life chances. Certainly
educational attainment is related to health outcomes. There is however, debate as to whether
educational achievement is primarily a reflection of family background, with school effects largely
explained by the socio-demographic mix of students, or whether schools can make a difference
regardless of this mix; indeed, whether the education system is capable of reducing social
inequalities or merely entrenches them. The underlying premise for this project is that
neighbourhood context has small, but not unimportant, effects on young people’s educational and
developmental outcomes, and a school’s socio-demographic mix also has an effect on student
outcomes.
GoWell, a 10-year evaluation programme of urban regeneration in Glasgow, provides an
opportunity to examine the effects of neighbourhood SEP and school SEP mix through the ‘natural
experiment’ of a housing regeneration policy aimed at creating a mixture of housing stock and
tenure. One of the claimed outcomes for mixed tenure is to produce a mixing of students and
through them also a mixing of families of differing SEP although there is little quality evidence that
this occurs. This studentship will use mixed methods to examine this. Specifically the studentship
will:,
1. Use Glasgow City Council data which includes SEP and education outcome data at the
student level for all schools in Glasgow, from several decades, to examine changes in
socio-economic mix in primary and secondary schools, to determine whether SEP
integration is achieved through schooling, and what impact this has on educational
outcomes.
2. Undertake individual interviews with school students in schools with different SEP mix to
understand the likely impact of mixed tenure policies on their friendship groups, educational
aspirations and health behaviours.
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Working relationships
The successful student will be supervised by Professor Lyndal Bond at the MRC / CSO Social and
Public Health Sciences Unit and Professor Ade Kearns, Urban Studies, University of Glasgow.
The student will join the following programmes of research “Evaluating the Effects on Health of
Social Interventions” led by Professor Lyndal Bond and the GoWell project led by Professor Ade
Kearns. Further details of these programmes can be found on the MRC/CSO SPHSU website at
http://www.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/research-programmes/ev/ and http://www.gowellonline.com
respectively.
About the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
The aim of the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit is to promote human health via the study of
social and environmental influences on health. Our more specific objectives include:
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Studying how people’s social positions, and their social and physical environments,
influence their physical and mental health and capacity to lead healthy lives;
Designing and evaluating interventions aiming to improve public health and reduce social
inequalities in health; and
Influencing policy and practice by communicating the results and implications of research.
Current research programmes are (programme leader in brackets):
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Measuring health, variations in health and determinants of health (Alastair Leyland).
Ethnicity and health (Seeromanie Harding)
Evaluating the health effects of social interventions (Lyndal Bond)
Gender and health (Kate Hunt)
Neighbourhoods and health (Anne Ellaway)
Sexual health and families (Danny Wight)
Social patterning of health over the lifecourse (Michaela Benzeval)
Understandings and use of public health research (Shona Hilton)
The Unit is centrally located in the Glasgow University campus and has its own specialist library
and librarian, a network of PCs running a wide range of software, access to e-mail and the internet,
and skilled in-house computing, statistical and clerical support. We use standard Microsoft
packages and more specialised software. There are currently around 45 researchers, 15 support
staff and 12 full-time PhD students in the Unit.
Our researchers and students have backgrounds in statistics, epidemiology, psychology, sociology,
anthropology, medicine, economics, history, geography and human sciences. We are the largest
concentration of health social scientists in the MRC’s intramural programme, and have an active
PhD programme.
We are jointly funded by the MRC and the Chief Scientist Office at the Scottish Government Health
Directorate, and receive grant funding from Government Departments, charities and other
Research Councils (e.g. DfID, CRUK, ESRC, NIHR).
For further information about the Unit, including details of the research programmes, visit
http://www.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/
About the Evaluating the Effects on Health of Social Interventions Programme
Policy makers, such as politicians and civil servants, make decisions on a daily basis which affect
our lives and possibly our health. These include decisions about whether and where to build new
roads, how much to spend on building new housing, and how best to improve the public's health.
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To help with this decision-making process they need continual access to good quality health
research. This programme contributes to this by carrying out new studies, for example, into the
effects of housing on health. It also brings together existing research and publishes it in summary
form, as systematic literature reviews. Our overall aim is to ensure that policy decisions which may
affect our health are based on the most reliable research evidence, rather than on poor evidence,
anecdote, conventional wisdom, or "what has been done in the past".
This programme, funded by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government Health
Directorates, aims to produce evidence to support public health decision-making. In particular we
focus on primary research and systematic reviews as a means of evaluating the actual health
impacts of social interventions.
The main objectives of the programme are to:
 Undertake systematic reviews of the effectiveness of social or health interventions (policies,
programmes and projects) in improving health, and
 Carry out primary studies evaluating the health impacts of social and health policies and
interventions.
Much of our research at present is examining the effects on health and health inequalities of
housing and regeneration, employment and welfare, and major sporting events. We also participate
in projects aimed at developing new methodologies for evaluation and evidence synthesis.
Details of the current and recent work of the programme can be found on the Unit’s website
www.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk.
About GoWell
GoWell is a research and learning programme that aims to investigate the impact of investment in
housing, regeneration and neighbourhood renewal on the health and wellbeing of individuals,
families and communities over a ten-year period. The programme aims to establish the nature and
extent of these impacts, to learn about the relative effectiveness of different approaches, and to
inform policy and practice in Scotland and beyond. GoWell is a joint programme with Urban
Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Centre for Population Health and MRC/CSO Social and
Public Health Sciences Unit. There will be opportunities for the successful candidate to engage
with the GoWell team and participate in research team discussions, events and interactions with
policy and practice organisations. Details of GoWell’s research can be found at
www.gowellonline.com.
Qualifications/requirements:
It is essential that candidates should have a 2.1 or 1st class degree in Sociology, Education,
Psychology, Urban Studies, or another relevant social science that included a significant and
demonstrable focus on social determinants of health and quantitative research methods. We also
welcome applicants with a 2.1 or 1st class degree in Statistics or similar who have a strong and
demonstrable interest in the social determinants of health. Applicants with a Masters (obtained or
expected to be obtained by autumn 2012) in the previously mentioned disciplines (additionally
including epidemiology or public health) are encouraged even if their undergraduate degree was
not in the previously mentioned disciplines.
Duration and conditions of award:
The studentship is funded by the MRC. The successful candidate will be located in the MRC Social
and Public Health Sciences Unit and will register for a PhD at the University of Glasgow. Both the
MRC and the University place a high value on training in generic and specific research skills and in
transferable skills.
Those without a Masters degree in a relevant discipline will receive a 1+3 years award, with the
requirement that they successfully complete a Masters in Social Science Research at the
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University of Glasgow (or suitable equivalent course) during their first year, before proceeding to
register as a PhD student.
The Unit and Glasgow University have review processes in place to ensure that all students are
making adequate progress and the student will be obliged to comply with these.
The starting date for the studentship is expected to be September 2012.
Further details about MRC studentships can be found in the MRC Postgraduate Studentships
handbook:http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Newspublications/News/MRC002630
Eligibility:
UK Residence
To be eligible for a full MRC studentship (stipend and university fees), candidates must be able to
demonstrate a relevant connection1 to the United Kingdom at the date of application.
UK nationals who have lived most of their lives in the UK will have demonstrated a relevant
connection.
Individuals who were not born in the UK but have been granted UK citizenship or have come to
settle in the UK (e.g. immigrant status, refugee or an individual granted humanitarian protection)
need to demonstrate that they have a relevant connection through ordinary residence.2
European Economic Area3 citizens who are migrant workers4 (or their spouse or children) and can
demonstrate ordinary residence in the EEA are eligible.
EU nationals who have spent the three years prior to application resident in the UK (this can
include residence while undertaking undergraduate study)
1. 1 A relevant connection can be established if an individual has been ordinarily resident in the UK
throughout the 3 years preceding the date of application. Candidates may be classed as
demonstrating ordinary residence when they are temporarily absent overseas (see below) where
the nature of their profession demands that they spend periods overseas (e.g. research) or have
been receiving full-time education overseas.
2. 2 Lord Scarman defined ordinary residence as ‘habitual and normal……from choice and for a
settled purpose throughout the prescribed period, apart from temporary or occasional absence’
‘…voluntarily adopted…..’ ‘there must be some degree of settled purpose (and) a sufficient degree
of continuity to be properly described as settled’. Ordinary residence is proven if a candidate would
have been in the UK (or EEA) if it were not for the fact that s/he, his/her spouse, parent or guardian
is/was
temporarily
employed
outside
of
the
area.
3. European Economic Area means the areas comprised by the member states of the European
Community (currently Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and UK).
4. An EEA migrant worker can be defined (for these purposes) as a citizen of a member state of the
EEA who is employed in the UK and who should be treated as a national of the UK. The
employment of an EEA migrant worker can be full-time or part-time but must be relevant to the
candidate’s previous or future training. Candidate’s employed in part-time or short-term casual
employment or who are effectively unemployed cannot be considered to hold migrant worker
status.
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The European Economic Area is constantly growing; member countries should be checked
regularly.
Visa/Work Permits
Candidates who are resident in the UK on a student visa, work permit or dependent visa which
have restrictions on the time they may stay in the UK, and cannot demonstrate a relevant
connection or settled status will not be eligible on residence grounds.
Nationals of European Economic Area (EEA) Member States
A migrant worker, or the spouse or child of a migrant worker, is eligible for a full MRC award
(maintenance stipend plus fees) if they are employed in the UK at the time the application is made,
and are either:
(a)
An EU national with a relevant connection to the European Union; or,
(b)
A national of a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA) not in the EU
i.e. Iceland, Norway, Switzerland or Liechtenstein with a relevant connection to the EEA.
Nationals of the European Union
If a student is from an EU country, but cannot demonstrate a relevant connection through ordinary
residence, they may be eligible for a studentship for tuition fees, but not for a maintenance stipend.
Nationals of the Isle of Man
Candidates from the Isle of Man are not normally eligible for an MRC Studentship and should apply
to their education authority for support:
The Isle of Man Education Department, St George’s Court, Upper Church Street, Douglas, Isle of
Man, IMI 2SG (Telephone: 01624 685820).
A candidate from the Isle of Man will not have established eligibility for consideration for an MRC
Studentship through any period of ordinary residence in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern
Ireland during which s/he has been in full-time education.
This relates to the tax status of an individual or their parents, if no tax is received from residents of
the Isle of Man then they are not eligible for certain benefits. As tax is paid locally it is the Isle of
Man that is responsible for the education costs of its subjects.
Equality & Diversity
The MRC values the diverse skills and experience of its employees and is committed to achieving
equality of treatment for all. Our objectives are that all individuals shall have equal opportunities for
employment and advancement on the basis of their skills, aptitudes and abilities. The MRC is
committed to the engagement and retention of the best possible talent and to creating an
environment that encourages excellence in scientific research through good equalities and diversity
leadership and management.
Corporate/Local responsibilities & requirements
The student must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the MRC’s:
 Code of Conduct
 Equality and Diversity policy
 Health and Safety policy
 Data Protection and Security policy
The above lists are not exhaustive and the student is required to undertake such duties as may
reasonably be requested within the scope of the post. All employees are required to act
professionally, co-operatively and flexibly in line with the requirements of the post and the MRC.
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How to apply
If you would like to apply, please send a covering letter and CV to Susan Wilkie
([email protected]) quoting REF: LB/AK. Please also supply the details of two
academic referees. Closing date for applications:
5th January 2012 at 12
noon. Interviews are expected to be held in February 2012.
Please note that appointment will be made subject to eligibility, health and security screening
and suitable academic references.
Additional information
Shortlisted candidates will be requested to provide a sample of their written academic work
(e.g. an essay or chapter from a dissertation) prior to interview, and a brief outline of their
ideas for the studentship (no more than one page of A4).
Please note that appointment will be made subject to pre-employment health, security
screening and suitable academic references.
Person requirements
Education/qualifications/training:
Essential: 1st or 2:1 Honours degree in Sociology, Education, Psychology, Urban Studies, or
another relevant social science that included a significant and demonstrable focus on social
determinants of health and quantitative research methods. We also welcome applicants with a 2.1
or 1st class degree in Statistics or similar who have a strong and demonstrable interest in the social
determinants of health.
Desirable: Applicants with a Masters (obtained or expected to be obtained by autumn 2012) in the
previously mentioned disciplines (additionally including epidemiology or public health) are
encouraged even if their undergraduate degree was not in the previously mentioned disciplines.
Literature searching and critical appraisal skills
Essential: Ability to assimilate, summarise and evaluate relevant research literature
Desirable: Awareness and experience of systematic review methods, experience of conducting a
literature review
Communication
Essential: Good oral and written communication skills. Ability to engage with people from diverse
social backgrounds.
Time management
Essential: Ability to work to clear deadlines without close supervision.
Self direction
Essential: Ability to direct work in an efficient and productive manner, and to respond to
constructive criticism. Motivation to gain a PhD.
Team working
Essential: Readiness to participate in, and contribute to, Unit-wide activities and activities of the
Evaluating the Effects on Health of Social Interventions Programme.
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