Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences

Research Studentship – Psychology

The Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences is offering 1 full-time PhD studentship within the discipline of Psychology. The bursary offers candidates the opportunity to undertake a programme of doctoral research whilst also, potentially, developing their experience of learning and teaching in higher education in a supportive and supervised environment.

The studentship is funded by The F Glenister Woodger Trust and carries a tax-free stipend of 15,400 per annum, in addition to covering tuition fees. Students accepting the bursary may also undertake teaching duties, subject to availability. Such duties will be remunerated.

The bursary is funded for the duration of the PhD and subject to satisfactory annual review.

The preference is for the student to undertake full-time research starting on the 1 February 2022 (starting date negotiable).

The Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences has a strong research environment and has achieved excellent results in the most recent Research Evaluation Framework. In the area of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience 47% of our research deemed to be internationally recognised and over 47% deemed to be internationally excellent. We have over 100 full-time members of staff at the Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences, researching various topics within Psychology, Criminology, Sociology and Education. We currently have a cohort of 29 MPhil/PhD students.

Details of the available projects and who to contact for informal enquiries are provided below.

Virtual Reality Based Training to Enhance Cognitive Development and Academic Achievement

For children in the UK, academic achievement can impact life satisfaction and can have long-term implications for their further career prospects. The ability to pay attention, remember information and structure behaviour is essential to achieve in an educational environment. Despite this, the schooling system often does not target these baseline cognitive functions, instead concentrating on subject specific material. Incorporating targeted cognitive training as part of the curriculum could help to develop these essential skills and has the potential to support academic achievement. Computerised training has successfully been implemented in a school environment, demonstrating that cognitive functions can be improved and that this improvement transfers to functions such as reading ability. Although these results are promising, they are far from optimal and can often be varied. Virtual reality is an assessable and engaging technology that can help enhance training effects due to its immersive qualities. The current studentship aims support a PhD student to undertake a body of research examining the effectiveness of virtual reality based cognitive training within schools in West Wittering and the surrounding area.

The Application Process

For an informal discussion concerning the project please contact the project Director of Studies, Dr Rachel King (R.King@chi.ac.uk).

Application deadline: 12 January 2022

Interview date: 20 January 2022

Starting Date: 01 February 2022 (negotiable)

Click here to download the person specification for the project. Successful applicants will be shortlisted and advised of interview dates.