NEW PhD PROGRAMME
Last year, 2010, before I took my research sabbatical, I established a new PhD programme in Occupational Health under the title Occupational Health: Psychology & Management. When my sabbatical ended, I took up the position of Director of this new programme. I will retire from full time employment with the Institute on 31st May 2012 when Professor Amanda Griffiths will become Director of this programme. I will probably continue to be associated with it, possibly in an Emeritus position, through my own PhD students.
My aims in establishing this new programme were twofold. First, I wanted to provide a doctoral degree with a title appropriate to our area of interest and specialism for those studying for their PhDs with members of the OH Group. Second, I wanted us to provide a more managed programme in our area to enhance the student experience.
This programme will bring together our doctoral students and supervisors as a group offering an extra framework for shared learning and development through collaborative research, group seminars, workshops and mentoring. Within this framework, we hope to be able to offer each student supervision through a lead or main supervisor supported by, at least, one other supervisor. These will work together with the student in a team. This should ensure good supervision, easy access to supervisors and a range of specialist expertise. We think that this is an innovative development of the basic supervisory process.
The possible advantages of the new programme, if this clearly is your area, lie in the appropriateness of the degree title for future career development and in the extras afforded by the new programme. Everything else remains the same including supervision and costs.This more managed approach to PhD research in our area will be extra to what one would normally expect and can be achieved at no extra cost to students.
At present, our prospective PhD students can register for a more general PhD in Applied Psychology (although this may soon cease to be an option) or for our new PhD programme in Occupational Health: Psychology & Management. The choice is currently theirs: it could prove an important one. Some of our current PhD students, already registered for the PhD in Applied Psychology, are considering changing their registration to our new programme.
Entry Requirements
The new programme offers a specialist doctoral degree by research (PhD) in occupational health: psychology and management. It will be open to those with good undergraduate degrees in psychology, ergonomics or human factors, nursing or medicine or another relevant discipline and to those with a relevant Masters degree.
Obviously, those already studying for Masters degress with the Institute will have an easy route into this programme and we wish to encourage them to consider their options for achieving doctoral status and all that that brings for their job and career development.
Arrangements
Normally, it takes about 3 years to successfully complete a PhD full time and about 4 years to complete part time (depending on the degree of commitment that can be given to this challenge). If the degree is taken part time then satisfactory supervisory arrangements have to be agreed and a programme of supporting work established with blended learning support. There are advantages of registering part-time which include the ability to continue earning and better manage costs and the opportunity to work and research in your own country or organization.
Those wishing to join the programme, at a distance, can do so part time if certain safeguards are in place with regards communication and supervision. These focus on two things: (1) Availability across each year of study for substantive face to face meetings and (2) Access to and use of a satisfactory Skype or similar arrangement, an adequate email system and a telephone contact which is usable on a day-to-day basis.
Supervisors
The new programme offers a managed programme of research. Supervisors will be drawn largely from the academic staff of the OH Group. Where possible, they will work in teams of three with a designated lead or main supervisor. This should ensure that the research undertaken by those on the programme will be well supervised and informed, meaningful and effective. Supervisors will include: Professor Amanda Griffiths, Dr Stavroula Leka, and Dr Jonathan Houdmont and may also include Professor John Richards and Dr Nigel Hunt. Their details can be found on the University of Nottingham’s web pages under the Institute.
Topics
Our doctoral research is organized around topics and projects of interest to staff in the OH Group and, obviously, our doctoral students. I shall continue to update and publish a list of likely areas but, again, there is information on the Institute’s web pages on staff research interests and these are best explored with individual members of staff possibly by email but also by phone or Skype. We have strong interests in psychosocial risk management and work-related stress (both empirical and policy related research); ageing, work and health; rail transport, crowding and passenger health; cancer survivorship and working life; and disasters, work organizations and communities, resilience and health.
Research & Career Development
Besides being more focused than the existing PhD provision, the new programme is enhanced by a dedicated seminar series and journal club, research tutorials and workshop based opportunities to gain a wider skill set appropriate not only to being an applied researcher but also a teacher and a practitioner. Those on the programme may also take up opportunities offered by both the wider Institute and the University.
Contact
Those who are interested in joining or transferring to this new programme should write in the first instance to: amanda.griffiths@nottingham.ac.uk. Applications will be made through the University’s web-based system and will be supported by a resume (CV) and an outline research proposal. Applicants will be expected to offer the names of two academic referees.
