Job Purpose The Department of Health Sciences has been awarded funding by the Health Foundation for three prestigious doctoral fellowships in the field of improvement science in healthcare. These fellowships are intended to provide doctoral training – including development in research, leadership, and wider professional skills – to individuals demonstrating outstanding promise. The University of Leicester is one of only eight leading centres in the UK chosen to host these fellowships by the Health Foundation, an independent charitable foundation that works to continuously improve the quality of healthcare in the UK. Fellows will have access to world-leading scholars in the social and clinical sciences to support their development.
The fellowships will provide tax-free stipends of up to £23,000 per annum for three years and full tuition fees. Fellows will be expected to complete a self-contained project focused on patient safety or quality in healthcare. An indicative choice of research projects that might be undertaken will be released next week. Fellows will enjoy a programme of personal and professional development that will include bespoke doctoral-level training, opportunities for networking with leading thinkers in the field, and funding to attend conferences.
Research Areas and Supervision Please see the four indicative projects that might be undertaken by successful applicants for the doctoral fellowships in healthcare quality and safety improvement in the Department of Health Sciences.
Applicants with their own, alternative project proposals are invited to include a summary of these in their applications.
In all cases, students will be expected to take a lead role in the development and execution of the project they undertake, with appropriate assistance from their supervisors.
Supervision will be confirmed subject to agreement of a suitable project.
Entry Requirements Applicants will be highly promising individuals who are early in their research careers. They should have Masters level training (or equivalent experience) in a relevant area, including sound training in research methods.
Relevant backgrounds include medicine, nursing, allied health professions, management, psychology, sociology, political science, geography, criminology, law, and other fields with a substantial health or social science content. Suitable arrangements may be made for doctors who are currently in training posts.
Applicants must have a first-class or high upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent qualification) in a relevant discipline and meet the University’s standard English language entry requirements.
Due to funding restrictions, these fellowships are only available to applicants who are eligible to pay the UK/EU tuition fee – i.e., those who are permanently resident in the UK or another EU country. Applicants from outside the EU are not eligible for these fellowships unless they have been granted permanent UK residency/citizenship.
The fellowships are for full-time study only and applicants must be able to commence their studies in October 2013.
Informal Enquiries We are keen to attract the very best applicants for these exceptional opportunities. We will be pleased to have informal conversations with interested individuals prior to applications – please contact:
Professor Graham Martin
â¢+44 (0)116 252 3207 or
Professor Mary Dixon-Woods md11@le.ac.uk
â¢+44 (0)116 229 7262
Apply Now Applicants should submit a formal application making sure to include:
1.An indication of which project at you would most like to work on – or a 300-word description of an alternative project in the field of healthcare quality and safety improvement that you would like to undertake
2.A statement of no more than 500 words on why you think you are suitable for this opportunity
3.A statement of no more than 500 words on your medium-term career ambitions and how this opportunity would help you achieve them
4.A brief description of three areas of training and development that you would like to undertake as part of the