The NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) is funding up to 9 bursaries over the course of quinquennium three for a PhD by publication scheme as part of its initiative to build capacity in public health research. This scheme is only available to SPHR researchers that are working within the School already.
This scheme offers a flexible opportunity as part of the SPHR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy for SPHR researchers to pursue a route to a PhD when traditional routes have not been suitable. This scheme provides a bursary to cover the registration and submission fees to submit a PhD by publication.
This scheme is for internal candidates only.
About the School
The SPHR aims to build the evidence base for effective public health practice by bringing together England’s leading public health research expertise in one virtual organisation. The School conducts applied public health research to increase the volume and quality evidence on cost-effective interventions and supports local public health practitioners and policy makers to engage with research and seek out research evidence to inform their decisions.
Established in April 2012 and renewed from 2022–2027, SPHR is a partnership between nine leading centres of academic public health research excellence across England. Members of the School are the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter and Sheffield; Imperial College London; The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); the LiLaC collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool and Lancaster; Fuse, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities; and PHRESH, a collaboration between the Universities of Birmingham, Warwick and Keele.
All PhD’s will be aligned to the SPHR research programmes:
- Health inequalities
- Public mental health
- Healthy places, healthy planet
- Children, young people & families
About the PhD by publication scheme and how to apply.
This scheme is for individuals that are employed as SPHR researchers whose circumstances are such that they cannot pursue this route to a PhD and find their opportunities for progression limited by not having one. We wish to tackle this inequity as part of our EDI agenda and support SPHR researchers in these circumstances to obtain a PhD by publication at one of our Member institutions, and to provide bursaries to cover the cost of registration and submission fees.
To apply for this scheme you need to first submit a PhD by publication at your host institution, which must be a SPHR member. We ask that you submit evidence of the approval of this with your application. You will then need to complete the application form and submit it to sphr.training@ncl.ac.uk along with your CV. If successful at application stage you will be invited to attend an interview.
The guidance on the scheme can be found here if you would like to apply for this scheme please contact sphr.training@ncl.ac.uk
Find out more about capacity building at SPHR
Frequently asked questions
Q1. Is there a deadline for this scheme?
A1. There is no deadline for this scheme. We have 9 bursaries available and this call will close once all bursaries have been awarded.
Q2. Can my time be funded to write up my work?
A2. As there is an expectation that you are already being employed through SPHR funded work, there will be no extra funding available for time. The funding is available is to cover the cost of enrolment, submission and examination of a PhD by publication
Q3. My SPHR Member institution does not have a PhD by publication programme, can I enrol at another member?
A3. Yes this is a possibility as long as you have agreement from both member institutions. You cannot apply for a PhD by publication programme at a non-member institution.
We will publish more FAQs and answers here as we receive them.
If you have a question that is not answered in the advert, the application form or in the FAQs, please email it to sphr.training@ncl.ac.uk.