PhD: Mental Health/Disability and Implementation of Human Rights in an International Context

The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) at the University of Nottingham invites applications for a scholarship on the above topic, to be funded by the IMH. The scholarship forms part of a developing collaboration with the WHO in Geneva relating to human rights and mental health.

The successful student will be enrolled in the four-year doctoral programme in Mental Health and Well-Being, and interdisciplinary social sciences programme co-ordinated through the IMH. This programme includes extensive training in social sciences methodology, offered through the Midlands Doctoral Training Partnership. While successful candidates will have an academic home at the IMH, they will be formally enrolled in one of the IMH’s partner schools, Medicine (Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology), Sociology and Social Policy, Business, Law, Applied Linguistics (part of the School of English) and Health Sciences.

The scholarship is for four-years, including the initial year focussing on structured research training. It covers the equivalent of full HEU fees and maintenance, and a maintenance grant of. £14,400). Continuation of the scholarship is subject to annual review of academic progress. The scholarship is open to UK home students and EU/EEA students only.

The IMH is a partnership between Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Nottingham. It was launched in 2006, and has grown rapidly to become one of the leading mental health institutes in the UK, currently with more than 360 members. It has 21 full professors of the University of Nottingham who provide supervision to PhD students and currently holds research contracts to the value of £28million. This comes in from research councils (for example, the Medical Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council), the National Institute of Health Research (via Programme Grants, Health Technology Assessment and Service Delivery and Organisation), government agencies, and through charities (for example the Wellcome Trust and the Burdett Trust).

In the first instance, expressions of interest including a draft research proposal, a CV, a list of subjects studied and marks attained in each subject, should be sent to Professor Peter Bartlett, peter.bartlett [at] nottingham.ac.uk

Fully funded PhD position: ethical barriers to person centered care

Deadline for applications:  May 4, 2015.

The department of philosophy, linguistics and theory of science at the University of Gothenburg is calling for applications for a fully funded PhD candidate position in practical philosophy, attached to a research project on ethical obstacles to person centred care.

As the position is funded in part by a research grant from FORTE the successful candidate should write her or his doctoral thesis within one of project’s areas. The dissertation project must saliently connect to the FORTE project theme of ethical barriers to person centered care in pediatrics, psychiatry and primary care. The FORTE project will include empirical surveys and other data collection, combined with ethical and philosophical analysis, and the thesis project needs to adapt to this multi-disciplinarity and may itself include parts of the planned data-collection activities. In Gothenburg, there is particular interest in the area of pediatrics and psychiatry, with ongoing collaborations with pediatric endocrinology (diabetes and/or obesity) unit, as well as a forensic psychiatric research and treatment centre. The position also opens opportunity for the successful applicant to develop collaborative work with the Stockholm end of the project, focusing on geriatric psychiatry and primary care, as well as other specific care areas of relevance.

For further details and to apply go here.

PhD scholarship: Neuroethics at Monash University

Closing date for expressions of interest: Friday 26 February 2015, 11:55 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time

A PhD scholarship, equivalent to an Australian Postgraduate Award, is available to examine treatment-induced compulsive behaviours in Parkinson’s disease. The Scholarship is provided by an Australia Research Council Discovery Early Career Award received by Dr Adrian Carter (2014-2017) entitled “Treatment-induced compulsive behaviours: Ethical and policy implications”.

Some medications can produce compulsive behaviours that challenge our understanding of decision-making and raise significant ethical questions about our control over and responsibility for our actions. Around one in five individuals receiving dopamine replacement therapy (DRT), usually for Parkinson’s disease, will develop severe compulsive behaviours or impulse control disorders (ICDs). These behaviours, which include pathological gambling, compulsive buying, hypersexuality, Internet addiction, and compulsive eating, can cause significant harm and distress to sufferers and their families. Individuals have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, homes and businesses from pathological gambling and compulsive buying, while others have developed a compulsive interest in sex that, in some cases, have resulted in criminal prosecutions. These conditions pose an imminent problem not only for these individuals, but also clinicians, judges and loved ones that deal with the consequences of these behaviours.

Very little is known about the impact that these disorders have upon those who suffer from them. Clinicians prescribe these medications with little ethical guidance, while courts make judgements on the culpability of compulsive actions in criminal cases that are minimally informed by the scientific literature. There is also little that can be done to prevent or ameliorate these behaviours other than stopping or reducing a medication that is essential to control life-threatening motor disturbances. There is therefore an urgent need to understand these conditions, the ethical and legal issues that they raise, and to develop more effective methods of minimising their occurrence or the harms that they cause.

The PhD Scholarship aims to:
1. Identify the ethical and legal issues raised by the use of dopaminergic drugs, such as DRT, that cause compulsive behaviour, and the implications they have for agency and moral responsibility.
2. Determine the impact of dopamine-induced compulsive behaviour on affected individuals, including their ability to control their behaviour, their understanding of these behaviours, and their sense of moral agency.
3. Increase knowledge and understanding of the impact of dopaminergic drugs on behaviour and decision-making

Research Plan:
These aims will be achieved using three inter-related methodologies:
1. Critical ethical and policy analysis
2. Qualitative study of affected individuals and clinicians
3. Neuropsychological assessment of persons affected by these disorders.

For further information, including remuneration package, candidate requirements, and application details go here.

Enquiries should be directed to:
Dr Adrian Carter
School of Psychological Sciences
Monash University
adrian.carter@monash.edu
Telephone: +613 9902 9431

PhD Scholarship: ‘Breaking down the distinctions: robotics, disability, dual use’

A PhD Scholarship in applied ethics and novel medical technologies “Breaking down the distinctions: robotics, disability, dual use” has been advertised at the University of Tasmania.

Closing date for applications: 28 February 2015.

The Faculty of Arts is offering one PhD scholarship to work in the area of applied ethics/ technology ethics, within the Ethics, Policy and Public Engagement theme of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES).

This PhD project will work with ACES Chief Investigators Susan Dodds (UTAS) and Rob Sparrow (Monash) to critically explore some key distinctions made in the bioethics literature, and whether they can be sustained in the face of developments in bionics and biotechnology. The specific focus for the PhD topic will be refined in light of the successful applicant’s experience and interest and the fit of these with the overall ACES program.

The focus for the PhD project could include:
– Conceptual work on ethical distinctions made between implants, prosthetics or robotic devices and their ethical significance
– New work on the relationships among concepts of disability, therapy and human enhancement
– Ethical evaluation of the assumptions relating to therapeutic versus potential for military “dual use” of biotechnologies.

The PhD scholarship will be based at the University of Tasmania. The candidate will have the opportunity to travel to other nodes of ACES for further supervision, research, seminars and conferences.

This scholarship provides $25,849 pa (2015 rate) living allowance for 3 years, with a possible 6-month extension.  The scholarship also includes $2,000 pa operational and travel funds to support the PhD research project. It is available to Australian and international candidates.

Further details and application process here.

PhD funding: Gendered perspectives on death, illness and loss

Oxford Brookes University, Department of History, Philosophy and Religion

Deadline for applications: November 24th, 2014

Applications are invited for a funded PhD studentship under the umbrella of ‘Gendered Perspectives on Death, Illness and Loss’. The supervisory team will be led by Professor Beverley Clack, (Philosophy of Religion), with Dr. Molly Cochran (International Relations) and Dr. Victoria Browne (Politics). The team supporting this research project possesses expertise in a number of disciplines, notably philosophy, politics and international relations that will allow for a rich conceptual exploration of how gender intersects with death, illness and loss within the interdisciplinary frame of the medical humanities.

We welcome proposals from applicants specializing in a range of fields, though we are particularly interested in students taking a philosophical and/or political approach.

Possible themes include: Terminal illness and ‘living with dying’; Death, loss and mourning in war; Reproductive loss / prenatal death; Disenfranchised grief; Euthanasia and control over life and death.

Possible theoretical approaches include: Feminist / queer philosophy and theory (e.g. Cavarero, Ahmed, Edelman) ; Biopolitics (e.g. Agamben, Foucault, Butler); Existential philosophy (e.g. Beauvoir, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard); Psychoanalytic theory (e.g. Freud, Irigaray, Kristeva).

Further details here.

PhD Fellowship: UCLA Center for Society and Genetics

Application deadline is February 1, 2011.

The UCLA Center for Society and Genetics announces one or two fellowship positions for UCLA doctoral candidates pursuing an academic program relevant to the mission of the Center. The Center for Society and Genetics seeks to produce innovative scholarship and teaching in areas addressing the complex interaction between the burgeoning genetic sciences, on the one hand, and the social world in which they are embedded, on the other.

Some themes central to our interests include Epigenetics and Epigenomics; Bioethics and Public Science Policy; Medical Genetics and Public Health; Population Genetics and History (and the nexus of studies of human genetics, archaeology, linguistics, history and culture), Evolutionary Biology, Culture and Behavior; and Historical and Social Studies of Science.
Graduate fellows will be expected to help organize and participate in the CSG Colloquium series and fellows’ meetings; interact with faculty, postdocs, and other graduate fellows; and assist in the TAship of two courses.  All graduate fellows will be mentored by a faculty member affiliated with the Center. This mentorship will be determined after an applicant has been selected for interview. There is a stipend available, plus in-state fees, dependent on prior research and teaching experience, status in the graduate program, and percent time of employment.

Please submit applications electronically, including the following: cover letter with contact information, a brief statement of scholarly activity relevant to the Center’s mission, type of teaching apprentice activity you will contribute, curriculum vita, a letter from your advisor, and, if relevant, one publication or manuscript. All applicants must be advanced to candidacy by the end of this academic year, June 2011 to be eligible. Application deadline: February 1, 2011. Send application materials to Center Manager, Ana Wevill, at ana@socgen.ucla.edu.

PhD Studentship: Generation to Reproduction

The University of Cambridge invites applications for a doctoral studentship funded by a Wellcome Trust strategic award in history of medicine. We seek outstanding candidates whose research would fall within the theme ‘Generation to Reproduction’.

Possible areas for doctoral projects include, but are not limited to:
patient–practitioner relations around fertility and other encounters that framed the generative body; the influence of diseases, including venereal diseases, on reproductive behaviour and demographic patterns; representation and communication of generation and reproduction; ancient, medieval and early-modern investigations into generation; generation and childbirth in medical cases and casebooks;
the reorganization of knowledge of generation/reproduction, especially in the age of revolutions; such sciences as embryology, obstetrics, gynaecology, evolutionary biology, reproductive physiology, genetics and developmental biology; reform movements around birth control, population control and sexual science; twentieth-century transformations in techniques, experiences and regulation; networks linking academic biology to reproductive medicine and public health, agriculture, especially animal breeding, and/or pharmaceutical industry; techniques for monitoring and manipulating pregnancy, hormones, genes, gametes and embryos, e.g., pregnancy testing, genetic screening, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer; sexology, psychology and psychoanalysis, including social and psychological practices for making babies and families.

The three-year studentship pays a generous stipend plus University and College fees at the home rate only. Candidates will usually be expected to hold a Master’s in the history of medicine or with strong emphasis on the history of medicine.

Informal inquiries may be made to the award holder with the most relevant interests. A list of award holders can be found here.

Formal applications should be submitted through the relevant Department or Faculty in the usual way, indicating an interest in the studentship. The deadline for applications is 15 February 2011 to be admitted in October 2011. The closing date for online applications is 1 February.  Further details of how to apply can be found here.

PhD Scholarships: 1 year, applied philosophy

SOCIETY FOR APPLIED PHILOSOPHY

The Society for Applied Philosophy intends to offer two scholarships for doctoral work in applied philosophy in a UK university (subject to suitable candidates coming forward). The level of the award will be up to £8,000 per scholarship and will be held for one year only. Applicants must have applied for AHRC funding where eligible (either in the open studentship competition or via a block grant holder), and the SAP scholarship will only be awarded when the AHRC has informed candidates of its decisions. The closing date for 2010 applications is Monday 2nd August (applications for 2011 can be submitted from 1 May 2011) . Applicants are responsible for ensuring that complete applications, including references, arrive by the deadline.

Applicants must send:
– a curriculum vitae (no more than 2 sides of A4),
– an outline of the proposed research (no more than 500 words),
– evidence of an application to the AHRC or a statement explaining lack of eligibility,
– a statement testifying that they have no other source of funding,
– evidence that they have been accepted onto an appropriate Ph.D. programme

Together these items constitute one application, please send (in total) three copies of your application (each application should be independently stapled or paperclipped in the above order) to the postal address below:

S.A.P. Doctoral Scholarship
C/o Jon Cameron
RIISS
19 College Bounds
University of Aberdeen
AB24 3UG
SCOTLAND

In addition: To be considered, applicants must also ask two academic referees to write directly to the above address providing references in support of their application (in total, three copies of each reference are required).

The following further notes should also be considered:
1. In cases where applicants have funding from other sources the SAP grant may be reduced to ensure that the applicant’s overall funding does not exceed the level of a full AHRC grant.
2. Applicants who are not eligible for AHRC funding are expected to have applied for any other sources of funding for which they are eligible. They should list the sources of funding that they have applied for in their application.
3. Incomplete applications, including those with missing references, will not be considered.

PhD bursaries: Healthcare ethics, disability rights, distributive and social justice, professional ethics

Two opportunities for fully-funded PhD research are available within the Social Ethics Research Group (SERG) at the University of Wales, Newport.  Key to the group’s interests are the application of political, ethical and social philosophy to issues of pressing contemporary social concern.  Specialist interests of staff include:

* Distributive and social justice
* The welfare state
* Disability rights
* Professional ethics
* Toleration and multiculturalism
* Equality
* Human rights
* Liberalism
* Migration
* Democracy
* Authority and legitimation
* Environmental ethics
* Healthcare ethics

Start date: either September 2010 or February 2011

Bursary value: £13,290 p.a. + tuition fees waiver (full time, 3 years; full waiver for EU students only)

To apply email a research proposal including a short indicative bibliography (up to 1000 words in total), CV including contact details for two referees, and a covering letter to serg@newport.ac.uk

Deadline for application: 2 August 2010

Shortlisted candidates will be asked for a sample of written work and invited for an on-campus interview. Interviews will be held in mid-August 2010.

For informal enquiries please email gideon.calder@newport.ac.uk or serg@newport.ac.uk – further information here.

The Newport Social Ethics Research Group (SERG) combines research and teaching in a range of fields in the social domain, with special emphasis on political, social and ethical theory – and on the points of intersection between these areas. At the heart of the Group’s concerns is the aim of bringing theoretical debates and developments to bear on contemporary social trends, policies and controversies. To achieve those aims members of SERG pursue individual research as well as collaborative research projects funded by external bodies such as the AHRC, ESRC, HEFCW and the European Commission. The Group’s new MA programme in Social Ethics and Public Advocacy constitutes a further step in the direction of effective integration of theory, policy, and practice.

PhD Studentship: Community treatment orders under the Mental Health Act 2007

The School of Law at the University of Nottingham has been awarded an ESRC 1+3 CASE studentship, jointly with the Care Quality Commission, for a study into the use of community treatment orders under the Mental Health Act 2007. The study will involve both qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviewing of professionals and service users. A more detailed summary of the project is attached.

The scholarship will cover four years at the standard ESRC rate (including, for home students, full tuition and a living allowance of approximately £15,000 p.a.). The first year will be spent in the MA programme in Socio-Legal and Criminological Research. Upon successful completion, the student will progress to a doctoral programme supervised by Peter Bartlett (Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Professor of Mental Health Law) and Nell Munro for the School of Law, and Mat Kinton (Senior Policy Analyst, Mental Health) for the Care Quality Commission.

Initial inquiries may be directed as soon as possible to Peter Bartlett (peter.bartlett@nottingham.ac.uk) for academic matters, and Beverley Roberts (Beverley.roberts@nottingham.ac.uk) for administrative and procedural matters relating to applications.

Short-listing will occur on or shortly after 30 May 2010. The studentship will be allocated by the end of June.