Research degrees with the School of Human and Social Sciences

Principal supervisor: Associate Professor Robert Vaughan

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited condition that leads to problems with breathing and digestion affecting about one in every 2,500 babies in the UK with an average life expectancy of 41 years (Cronly et al, 2019). Research has indicated that mental health concerns like depression and anxiety are common among people with CF, emerging in childhood and, if untreated, can have a negative impact on both physical and psychological quality of life (eg reduced lung function compounds anxiety; Bathgate et al, 2022).

Whilst research attests to the mental health difficulties faced by people with CF, research has primarily used scales developed for the general population reducing precision and ignoring the lived uniqueness of the condition (Finlay et al., 2022). The following programme of research aims to address this issue by developing a clinic-friendly self-report scale assessing mental health in people with CF and reassessing mental health prevalence in the CF community.

For more information please contact: Associate Professor Robert Vaughan

Principal supervisor: Dr Nicole M Miller

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

Ongoing changes in climate have led to acute environmental events such as chronic flooding in the United Kingdom. These events are directly linked to the development of anxiety, depression, substance use, the exacerbation of pre-existing mental health diagnosis and connected to delayed preparedness (Fernandez et al, 2015; Hrabok et al, 2020; Lawrance et al, 2021).

Resilience-based interventions show promise for reducing poor mental health due to flood. However this has not been tested regarding preparedness for future flooding (James et al, 2020). The aim of the project will be to develop and test a resiliency-based intervention with local communities impacted by flood in the UK to reduce poor mental health and enhance future preparedness. The study methodology will include mixed methods.

This interdisciplinary project will span psychological sciences involving both field and desk research.

For more information please contact: Dr Nicole M Miller

Principal supervisor: Mark Coulson

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

In partnership with the Set Them Up Foundation (STUF) this project is a mixed-methods investigation and evaluation of how to improve financial literacy (FL) in young people. FL is a key skill in the 21^st century, and an important and currently neglected area of the curriculum which needs proper delivery and evaluation. 

STUF currently delivers a variety of programmes, which are constantly evolving and developing. The successful candidate will evaluate the outcomes and processes of these programmes, and be involved in developing new approaches and methods. 

The long-term aim of UWL’s partnership with STUF, which you will make a key contribution to, is to develop a suite of financial literacy tools with proven effectiveness that will be made available to all young people, setting them up for a successful life of managing their own finances.

For more information please contact: Mark Coulson

Principal supervisor: Professor Mark Coulson

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

Homesickness is an important factor affecting the wellbeing of people who move from an identified home to a new place, whether for reasons of study, work, conflict, or natural events. It is distinct from nostalgia, sojourner adjustment, culture shock, and separation anxiety. Estimates suggest that homesick students are three times more likely to drop out of university. This project will focus on the development and evaluation of interventions designed to ameliorate homesickness. In particular, while homesickness involves missing both people and places, the advent of cheap and ubiquitous digital communications makes contacting those ‘at home’ almost effortless. In contrast, the physical sense of homesickness for places is not so easily addressed. We have produced pilot data which suggests three sessions of fifteen minutes VR immersion in participants’ home environments (defined as their local neighbourhood, accessible though Google Streetview) reduces homesickness and decreases feelings of attachment to home. The successful candidate will develop and expand this work, ideally using RCT methods and VR, and examine correlates and mediators of the experience and treatment of homesickness.

For more information please contact: Professor Mark Coulson

Principal supervisor: Professor Ben Hine

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

Join us to explore the critical and complex issue of parental alienation (PA), a form of abuse that targets the parent-child relationship (Hine, 2023). This project an opportunity to deep dive into a subject that is increasingly recognized in both psychological and legal contexts, particularly in England and Wales (Barnett, 2020).

Parental alienation occurs when a child is influenced by one parent to reject the other parent without justification, leading to long-term psychological impact (Harman et al., 2022). This programme would focus on understanding the nuances of PA, its long-term effects on children as they transition into adulthood, and its intricate role within the legal frameworks of England and Wales.

You will therefore be at the forefront of a burgeoning field of study. You will explore critical questions: How does PA shape the psychological development of children into adulthood? What are its lasting emotional and mental health impacts? How is PA perceived and addressed in family law courts, and what are the implications for legal decisions in custody disputes?

For more information please contact: Professor Ben Hine

Principal supervisor: Associate Professor Robert Vaughan

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

Athlete burnout is a pervasive psychophysiological dysfunction caused by chronic stress (Gustafsson et al, 2017). High burnout can lead to several detrimental biopsychosocial outcomes (eg depression, exhaustion and demotivation; Ryu et al, 2015). This prolonged exposure to stress can also lead to a reduction in cognitive health (Renaud & Lacroix, 2023).

To date, research has focused on the antecedents of burnout in effort to attenuate potential interventions and treatments with mixed success (Renaud & Lacroix, 2023). The following research seeks to explore the bi-directional relationship between executive functions, a top-down set of cognitive processes responsible for controlling behaviour (Diamond, 2016) and athlete burnout. Efforts to understand this relationship have been largely exploratory and cross-sectional creating a research gap for the current work to; a) conduct a literature synthesis of the research thus far, b) understand the direct and possible indirect relationship, c) estimate the longitudinal association, and d) design a scalable intervention.

For more information please contact: Associate Professor Robert Vaughan

Principal supervisor: Dr Linda Dinc

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Principal supervisor: Professor Ben Hine

Start date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic:

Embark on a transformative academic journey with this PhD project focused on "understanding perpetrators of domestic violence." This programme will delve into the complexities of domestic violence (DV), emphasizing the critical need to understand the situational and distal factors influencing perpetrators' behaviour.

This could include exploring the efficacy and impact of Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programs (DAPPs). These interventions are central to addressing DV, yet there is much to learn about their effectiveness and how they can be improved (Hine et al., 2022). As a PhD candidate, you will have the opportunity to contribute to this vital area of study, exploring innovative strategies to enhance the efficacy of DAPPs.

Your research will involve an in-depth analysis of various intervention models, examining their outcomes and identifying key factors that contribute to their success or failure. You will study the psychological, social, and environmental factors that influence abusive behaviour, aiming to develop more tailored and effective intervention strategies.

For more information please contact: Professor Ben Hine

Supervisor: Dr Kyprianos Georgiou

Start Date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic: Chemical interactions between wet powder suspension and fingermark residue

For more information on this please email Dr Kyprianos Georgiou

Supervisor: Dr Maya Flax

Start Date: January, May or September of each academic year

Duration: 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part time)

Topic: Instead of treating Antisemitism and Islamophobia as divergent in this project we are seeking applicants interested in examining their commonalities. This can be done in a number of ways, such as focussing on:

• perpetrators 
• ideologies, for instance, exploring the factors that contribute to the development of Islamophobic/antisemitic beliefs (such as the role of prejudice, stereotypes, and cognitive biases and the way that these shape individual attitudes towards Muslims/Jews
• media representations, for instance, exploring the impact of positive or negative portrayals on Islamophobic/antisemitic incidents; and examining the role of social media in the spread of Islamophobic / antisemitic content
• and/or manifestations in one or more localities.

We are also open to applications who wish to look at – and possibly work with – organisations that seek to combat both Antisemitism and Islamophobia. Analyse trends, platforms, and the effectiveness of countermeasures in combating online hate speech against Muslims / Jews. 

This project has been set up in an open way to invite candidates with a strong interest in taking it in a particular direction.

For more information on this please email Dr Maya Flax.