Opportunities

Staff in HSRU are fully supported in undertaking a PhD.  They are also encouraged to provide supervisory support for full or part-time PhD students.  A number of our staff are currently accepting PhD's.  Please refer to our People page to view individual staff profiles.

HSRU has a strong track record of PhD supervision in health service research.  As a PhD student you will be part of HSRU interacting with a team of researchers working in your area of interest.

Details of potential funding for PhD research within HSRU may be found in the University of Aberdeen Funding Database.

For general enquiries about undertaking a PhD within HSRU please email hsru@abdn.ac.uk.

Please click here to view all current University of Aberdeen opportunities. 

Below are our current HSRU ongoing PhD projects.

Ongoing projects

• Eliciting and incorporating patients’ opinions about missing data in randomised controlled trials - Sophie Greenwood
• Ewait: Effects of waiting times on quality of life, leisure activities and support needs in patients awaiting elective surgery in Scotland - Elisabeth Kirchner
• Improvement without exception? An investigation of enactments of ‘Treatment as Prevention’ and strategies to enhance responsiveness to diverse priorities for wellbeing in HIV care - Paul Kefford
• Making it easier for trial teams to design inclusive trials - Azar Alexander-Sefre
• Optimising the responsible use of antibiotics - Shazia Yousuf
• ‘Soft’ Intelligence and Online Patient Feedback: Using Care Opinion for NHS Quality Improvement in Scotland - Emma Berry
• Understanding family experiences of inherited motor neurone disease (MND) - a qualitative study - Jade Howard

Examples of recently completed projects

• Behavioural interventions to improve clinical trial recruitment and retention - Taylor Coffey
• Complex designs in randomised clinical trials – a case study in dentistry - Beatriz Goulao
• IDENTIFY - The Investigation and Detection of Urological Neoplasia in Patients Referred with suspected urinary tract cancer: A Multicentre cohort study - Sinan Khadhouri
• Interrupted times series (ITS) evaluation - Jemma Hudson
• What is the best way to avoid recruitment and retention problems in trials? - Adel El Feky
• Making clinical trials more efficient: consolidating, communicating and improving knowledge of patient recruitment interventions - Heidi Gardner
• Towards improvement in care delivery in Huntington's disease (HD) - Daniela Rae

There are no current job opportunities within HSRU but please check back again soon as opportunities can arise at any time.

University of Aberdeen job opportunities can be viewed here.

Experts from our Clinical Trials Unit (CHaRT) and HSRU deliver a 12 week short course on Designing Real World Trials. 

This course takes you through the process of designing a randomised controlled trial (RCT). The course will focus on trials in the evaluation of real-world healthcare and public health settings.  The course aims to develop your knowledge and awareness of how to design a fair test, the appropriate use of trials and alternative trial designs, involving patients and the public, the logistics and practicalities of designing real-world trials and the role of clinical trials units.

To find out more visit the course page or contact Dr Kirsty McCormack

HSRU contributes teaching to the:

• Master of Public Health (MPH) 
• MSc in Global Health and Management 
• Research Methods for Health (PgCert). 

We offer a number of student projects each year to students on the MSc and Intercalated BMedSci courses.

Our Designing Real-World Trials short course will earn you 15 credits at Masters level (SCQF Level 11).

Clinical

HSRU actively mentors NHS Research Scotland (NRS) fellowships.  Recent NRS Clinical Fellows were:

Current

• Dr Callum Kaye, Consultant in Anaesthesia & Critical Care, NHS Grampian - BIS-TBI

Completed

• Mr Jan Jansen, Consultant Surgeon, NHS Grampian - Geospatial Evaluation of Systems of Trauma Care for Scotland.
   
• Dr Andy Keen, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, NHS Grampian - The application of psychological interventions (including mindfulness based approaches) to health and illness.

Non-clinical

HSRU actively encourages the development of staff through seeking prestigious research fellowships. Several funded research fellowships are supported including for example topics on the surgical trial methodology and methodological investigation of decision support for trial participation

Current

• Dr Katie Gillies - BOOST: Behavioural Optimisation and Operational Strategies for Trials
• Dr Beatriz Goulao - PINpoINT: Patient and public INvolvement in target differences in Trials

Completed

• Dr Eilidh Duncan - Improving healthcare through advancing the evolution of audit and feedback

We offer summer student work placements to current University of Aberdeen students wishing to improve their knowledge and experience in a research-focused environment.  This summer we will be welcoming 8 interns.  

2023 projects:  

1. HSRU PPIE gap analysis
2. Trial Forge EDI updates
3. Remote and rural doctors
4. Carbon footprint of clinical treatments and its role in patient’s decision making
5. Designing greener trials: what ‘carbon relevant’ factors influence patients’ decision making?
6. Planned mode of birth
7. Interventions for fibromyalgia
8. Compensatory behaviour

Applications for these roles are now closed but please check back next Spring for 2024 opportunities.

There are lots of opportunities for patients and the public to be involved with our research.

You can find out more here