• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer
  • Accessibility options
University of Brighton
  • About us
  • Business and
    employers
  • Alumni and
    supporters
  • For
    students
  • For
    staff
  • Accessibility
    options
Open menu
Home
Home
  • Close
  • Study here
    • Get to know us
    • Why choose Brighton?
    • Explore our prospectus
    • Chat to our students
    • Ask us a question
    • Meet us
    • Open days and visits
    • Virtual tours
    • Applicant days
    • Meet us in your country
    • Campuses
    • Our campuses
    • Our city
    • Accommodation options
    • Our halls
    • Helping you find a home
    • What you can study
    • Find a course
    • Full A-Z course list
    • Explore our subjects
    • Our academic departments
    • How to apply
    • Undergraduate application process
    • Postgraduate application process
    • International student application process
    • Apprenticeships
    • Transfer from another university
    • International students
    • Clearing
    • Funding your time at uni
    • Fees and financial support
    • What's included in your fees
    • Brighton Boost – extra financial help
    • Advice and guidance
    • Advice for students
    • Guide for offer holders
    • Advice for parents and carers
    • Advice for schools and colleges
    • Supporting you
    • Your academic experience
    • Your wellbeing
    • Your career and employability
  • Research
    • Research and knowledge exchange
    • Research and knowledge exchange organisation
    • The Global Challenges
    • Centres of Research Excellence (COREs)
    • Research Excellence Groups (REGs)
    • Our research database
    • Information for business
    • Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP)
    • Postgraduate research degrees
    • PhD research disciplines and programmes
    • PhD funding opportunities and studentships
    • How to apply for your PhD
    • Research environment
    • Investing in research careers
    • Strategic plan
    • Research concordat
    • News, events, publications and films
    • Featured research and knowledge exchange projects
    • Research and knowledge exchange news
    • Inaugural lectures
    • Research and knowledge exchange publications and films
    • Academic staff search
  • About us
  • Business and employers
  • Alumni, supporters and giving
  • Current students
  • Staff
  • Accessibility
Search our site
A person in silhouette standing up to welcome a morning sunrise
Research and knowledge exchange
  • Research and knowledge exchange
  • Postgraduate research degrees
  • Research features
  • Research organisation
  • Research environment
  • Postgraduate research degrees
  • Our postgraduate research disciplines
  • Health and wellbeing PhD | Resilience PhD

Health and wellbeing PhD | Resilience PhD

The University of Brighton welcomes PhD students to all aspects of its wide ranging and thriving research cultures in health and wellbeing, for which it draws on clinical, professional and sociological perspectives. 

Our Health and wellbeing PhD and Resilience PhD students work across practice and theory in a range of health, public health, community-based and social care-related settings, and across statutory, NHS and/or third sector services.

We offer PhD study in both full and part-time modes and welcome students with significant professional experience, who are able to use and share the career skills they have developed, as well as those who have recently completed first degrees and wish to take advantage of their academic momentum.

Recent and current PhD students have been successful in obtaining studentships covering both fees and living costs through the University of Brighton’s involvement in the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Programme. 

Our research utilises creative, community-engaged, participatory and inclusive methodologies such as co-production, as well as theory-informed qualitative health related research. You will be contributing throughout your studies to a research portfolio that has major impact on understanding the experiences of health, wellbeing and care and the provision and the systems that support it.

Expert supervision is offered, for example, across issues of social justice, resilience, public health, including inequalities in health and illness related to gender, age, sexuality including LGBTQ, disability, as well as living well with long term conditions, digital health, hospital, community and population based interventions, together with new theoretical perspectives, ethical concerns, and all aspects of professional healthcare and civil society work related to health and wellbeing. We have particular strengths in sexual health, mental health, gendered perspectives, diabetes, rehabilitation, growing older, as well as resilience with children and young people, adults and practitioner resilience.

Research into care, health and wellbeing examines interactions between lived experience, policy and practice. We understand that people, policies, protocols, norm and values, as well as different forms of knowledge and technical devices, are all necessary to the achievement of good health, wellbeing and care. We recognise care as central to people’s well-being and significant to both personal relationships and political decisions. We collaborate with users, providers and academics to ensure that our research informs current health and social care practice.

Your research as a Health and Wellbeing or Resilience PhD student will combine a range of theoretical and critical perspectives as well as bringing the skills and satisfactions that come with managing a major project and contributing to knowledge that will make a difference to individuals, families, communities and society.

Apply to 'health SCIENCES' in the applicant portal

Apply with us for funding from the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Programme

Key information

As a PhD student in health, wellbeing and/or resilience at Brighton, you will

  • benefit from a supervisory team comprising two or sometimes three members of academic staff. Depending on your research specialism you may also have an additional supervisor from another School, another research institution, or an external partner from government or industry.
  • be provided with desk space and access to a desktop PC.
  • benefit from access to a range of electronic resources via the University’s Online Library, as well as to the physical book and journal collections housed within the Aldrich Library and other campus libraries.
  • be aligned with school and university-wide research centres/ groups as part of a supportive and developmental research community.

Academic environment

Your work may be aligned with the Public Health and Health Conditions Research Excellence Group.

Students with research in sexuality and gender focus may also be aligned with the Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender.

As a Health and wellbeing PhD or Resilience PhD student, you will take an active role in a range of intellectual and social activities within the School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences.

The Brighton Doctoral College offers a training programme for postgraduate researchers, covering research methods and transferable (including employability) skills. Attendance at appropriate modules within this programme is encouraged, as is contribution to the schools’ various seminar series. Academic and technical staff also provide more subject-specific training.

Some of our supervisors

Profile photo for Dr Paul Boyle

Dr Paul Boyle

Paul values public involvement in research and is interested to support rights-based research in: living with disability; user experiences of health, social care and education services; adolescent development and working with the family; disability, human rights and rehabilitation; understanding physical disability and mental health. He supervises Masters and doctoral students undertaking qualitative research and is particularly keen to support phenomenological research.

Profile photo for Dr Channine Clarke

Dr Channine Clarke

Channine is an experienced research supervisor at both Masters and  Doctoral level. She has a particular interest in practice education. She is known internationally for her research and publications on role-emerging placements and diverse practice and is interested in further research in these areas. 

As an occupational therapist, Channine is also interested in understanding the influence of occupations on health and well-being.

Channine is a qualitative researcher, with expertise in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. 

Profile photo for Dr Chris Cocking

Dr Chris Cocking

I am interested in supervising people with an interest in social psychology, crowd behaviour, or collective action. For example I am currently researching the protests calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict & would welcome PG research projects into these and other topical collective action protests. I am also interested in public intervention in emergencies/mass casualty incidents (a concept known as 'zero-responders') and public behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its implications for emergency planning and response. Therefore, I would be especially interested in supervising emergency responders and other public health professionals who wish to do PG research. 

I am also interested in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the broader area of collective resilience in response to general adversity. I would be keen to work with health professionals interested in postgraduate research in any of these areas.  

Profile photo for Prof Jorg Huber

Prof Jorg Huber

I am happy to supervise projects within my range of expertise which includes health psychology and applied health, medical and health care research in the widest sense. Given my background I tend to focus on quantitative and experimental or interventionist methods. Increasingly i am involved in mixed methods projects with a strong qualitative method. In the past i have supervised projects in the field of diabetes and also forensic mental health. 

My current interests are very much about applying a relationship approach to e.g. long term conditions and the way people live with and adjust to long term conditions or other health challenges. Resilience and stigma in long term conditions is of interest to me, extending my current work on diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Exploring links around adjustment, stigma and the additional challenges due to social and health inequalities is a priority to me. Finally, development of interventions in these fields would be of considerable interest to me. 

Profile photo for Dr Hannah Morris-Ingram

Dr Hannah Morris-Ingram

I am keen to supervise PhD, MSc and MRes students researching home based care for older people, the coproduction of care, and care ethics. As a qualitative researcher I am interested in social constructionism and post humanism. I have experience in focussed ethnographic research, specifically in community nursing.

Profile photo for Dr Anastasiya Khomutova

Dr Anastasiya Khomutova

My research and supervisory interests cover Sport and Exercise Psychology, with particular focus on cultural sport psychology (immigrated athletes and coaches, culturally diverse sport teams, acculturation and adaptation in a new environment), as well as athletes' well-being (safeguarding, coach-athlete relationship). I currently lead an international research project on behalf of FEPSAC, which investigates career trajectories of sport psychology graduates in Europe.

Profile photo for Dr Alexandra Sawyer

Dr Alexandra Sawyer

Current PhD students

  • Arthur Gaillard - Production of knowledge in Sport for Development
  • Diroshi Neththikumara Haththellage - Being a woman in Sri Lanka; a phenomenological approach

I am interested in supervising Masters and PhD students in all areas of health psychology, health promotion, and public health. Particular interests include:

  • preterm birth and its impact on families;
  • parents' experiences of participating in neonatal trials;
  • sexual and reproductove health;
  • maternal mental health.
Profile photo for Prof Nigel Sherriff

Prof Nigel Sherriff

I am interested in supervising PhD candidates in a number of public health and health promotion areas. My current research (see profile) includes a global project on health services during CV-19, European research on syphilis, substance (mis)use, and LGBTI inequalities taking an international perspective. PhD candidates are welcome to contact me to develop PhD projects around these areas, but also any of the below:

  • Sexual health (including HIV and other STIs) and sexual orientation
  • Access to health and social care services for ‘vulnerable’ populations
  • Healthy public policy and health inequalities
  • Mental health
  • Parenthood (including fathers supporting breastfeeding)
  • Young people
  • LGBT lives
  • Tackling stigma and discrimination
  • Gender identities (masculinities and femininities)
  • Peer group cultures
  • Sexual assault/gender based violence/intimate partner violence

I also supervise candidates for PhD by publication and welcome applications/enquiries

Profile photo for Dr Jane Thomas

Dr Jane Thomas

I am interested in supervising PhDs in social policy, and health policy in particular. A possible PhD project concerns attitudes towards NHS privatisation. Further areas I am interested in supervising include: inequalities in health, local government public health policy, empowerment and public control over the determinants of health, public access to information, public health leadership, policy on climate change and workplace health.

Jane is supervising PhD researchers, including:

practitioners' conceptions of 'holism' and midwifes' attitudes and practice concerning contraceptive advice. 

Profile photo for Dr Linda Tip

Dr Linda Tip

I supervise PhD students on a variety of topics that focus on the psychological side of migration. I welcome proposals from students who want to investigate well-being or mental health of migrants, refugees, or international students. Within that topic, I am particularly interested in the role of social relationships and/or the role of digital technology in wellbeing and mental health. I also accept projects looking into British people's attitudes towards migration: i.e., what are predictors of negative and positive attitudes and behaviours towards migration, and what can we do to improve these attitudes and/or support for migrants?

Examples of PhD projects under my supervision:

  • Exploring resilience of international students from a social policy perspective (Isaac Thornton).
  • Exploring the role of digital and print resources in English language and literacy acquisition in relation to wellbeing of refugee children (Liliane Broschart).
  • The impact of digitalisation on public and third sector services supporting people for whom English is an additional language (Sidney Lupupa Mushinge).
Profile photo for Dr Laetitia Zeeman

Dr Laetitia Zeeman

Supervision support can be provided to PhD students who are interested in queer theory, poststructuralism, the application of critical social theory, new materialism, intersectionality and feminist theory in health-related research. Focus areas include LGBTQ+ health and healthcare, health inequalities, resilience, trans health and mental health promotion with the aim to achieve greater health equity. PhD students she has supervised to completion have worked on studies employing critical social theories, new materialism and qualitative creative methods. She has examined PhD/Professional Doctorate studies at universities in the UK and further afield.  

Current PhD students 

  • Sacha Mead, Aile Trumm; Sebastian Beaumont, Elisavet Anastasiadi and Mike Phillips. 

Former PhD students (PhD completions)

  • Esther Omotola Ayoola, Amy Middleton, H Howitt, Kim Brown, Tracey Harding, Adam Kincel, Jens Schneider.

For further supervisory staff including cross-disciplinary options, please visit research staff on our research website.

Making an application

Once you have prepared a first-rate application you can apply to the University of Brighton through our online application portal. When you do, you will require a research proposal, references, a personal statement and a record of your education.

You will be asked whether you have discussed your research proposal and your suitability for doctoral study with a member of the University of Brighton staff. We strongly recommend that all applications are made with the collaboration of at least one potential supervisor. Approaches to potential supervisors can be made directly through the details available online. If you are unsure, please do contact the Doctoral College for advice.

Please visit our How to apply for a PhD page for detailed information.

Sign in to our online application portal to begin.

Fees and funding

 Funding

Undertaking research study will require university fees as well as support for your research activities and plans for subsistence during full or part-time study.

Funding sources include self-funding, funding by an employer or industrial partners; there are competitive funding opportunities available in most disciplines through, for example, our own university studentships or national (UK) research councils. International students may have options from either their home-based research funding organisations or may be eligible for some UK funds.

Learn more about the funding opportunities available to you.

Tuition fees academic year 2024–25

Standard fees are listed below, but may vary depending on subject area. Some subject areas may charge bench fees/consumables; this will be decided as part of any offer made. Fees for UK and international/EU students on full-time and part-time courses are likely to incur a small inflation rise each year of a research programme.

MPhil/PhD
 Full-timePart-time

UK

£4,786 

£2,393

International (including EU)

£15,900

N/A

International students registered in the School of Humanities and Social Science or in the School of Business and Law

£14,500

N/A


PhD by Publication
Full-time Part-time
 N/A  £2,393

Contact Brighton Doctoral College

To contact the Doctoral College at the University of Brighton we request an email in the first instance. Please visit our contact the Brighton Doctoral College page.

For supervisory contact, please see individual profile pages.

Back to top
  • Facebook
  • X logo
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn icon

Contact us

University of Brighton
Mithras House
Lewes Road
Brighton
BN2 4AT

Main switchboard 01273 600900

Course enquiries

Sign up for updates

University contacts

Report a problem with this page

Quick links Quick links

  • Courses
  • Open days
  • Explore our prospectus
  • Academic departments
  • Academic staff
  • Professional services departments
  • Jobs
  • Privacy and cookie policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Libraries
  • Term dates
  • Maps
  • Graduation
  • Site information
  • Online shop
  • The Student Contract

Information for Information for

  • Current students
  • International students
  • Media/press
  • Careers advisers/teachers
  • Parents/carers
  • Business/employers
  • Alumni/supporters
  • Suppliers
  • Local residents