Projects
Please note that applications for the 2025 cohort will open in late August 2024
You can either apply to undertake one of the projects listed here or propose your own research project. Students who devise their own doctoral projects are strongly advised to discuss their proposed studies with their proposed supervisors and must have agreement from their proposed primary supervisor upon submission of the application. Projects should be Primary Care focused, relevant to UK populations and/or the NHS and must be conducted in the UK.
There are various PhD projects available across consortium members. If you are interesting in undertaking one of the proposed projects, you will need to reach out to the lead supervisor and work with them on your application. We advise you do this a minimum of 8 weeks before the deadline. Students who apply for one of the projects listed below must write the application in their own words.
As part of your application, you will be asked to confirm that you have discussed your proposal with your supervisory team.
Projects available at University of Bristol.
| Project title | Lead supervisor |
| The management of young people's mental health in primary care |
Dr Charlotte Archer (charlotte.archer@bristol.ac.uk) |
| Optimising a model for community pharmacy based Hepatitis C Virus testing |
Dr Jenny Scott (jennifer.scott@bristol.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at University of Cambridge
| Project title | Lead supervisor |
| Why do some people develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) within 15 years of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes but others do not? Is it possible to predict which patients will develop CVD in order to better target scarce resources? What characteristics should patients and doctors focus on in order to reduce CVD risk most effectively? | Prof Simon Griffin (ProfGP@medschl.cam.ac.uk) |
| Acceptance and rejection of primary care referrals for young people to mental health services: a mixed methods study | Prof Robbie Duschinsky (rd522@medschl.cam.ac.uk) |
| Understanding the determinants of the initiation and maintenance of behaviour change | Prof Simon Griffin (ProfGP@medschl.cam.ac.uk) |
| Screening for Atrial Fibrillation | Prof Jonathan Mant (jm677@medschl.cam.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at University of Exeter:
| Project Title | Lead Supervisor |
| Adaptation and evaluation of the FaME programme in older people in assisted living facilities | Prof Vicki Goodwin (V.Goodwin@exeter.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at Keele University:
| Project title | Lead supervisor | ||
| The impact of primary care clinical risk prediction tools on management to prevent new morbidity | Not confirmed for 2025 entry - contact supervisor for more information | Prof Kelvin Jordan (kp.jordan@keele.ac.uk) | |
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Prof Carolyn Chew-Graham (c.a.chew-graham@keele.ac.uk) |
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| Dementia prognosis: exploring health, care, and lived experience perspectives |
Dr Rosie Harrison (r.harrison1@keele.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at University of Manchester:
| Project title | Lead supervisor |
| Optimising the equitable application of oncogenomics for early cancer detection in primary care |
Dr Sam Merriel (samuel.merriel@manchester.ac.uk) |
| A human-centred design approach to medication safety in primary care | Dr Denham Phipps (denham.phipps@manchester.ac.uk) |
| Artificial Intelligence triage in online consultations | Dr Ben Brown (benjamin.brown@manchester.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at University of Nottingham:
| Project title | Lead supervisor |
| Exploring the treatment pathway for severe acne from patient and professional perspectives | Dr Paul Leighton (paul.leighton@nottingham.ac.uk) |
| Developing a reasonable adjustment tool for people with long-term health conditions | Professor Kathryn Radford (kate.radford@nottingham.ac.uk) |
| Supporting the treatment of skin disease in skin of colour – issues and solutions for primary care | Dr Paul Leighton (paul.leighton@nottingham.ac.uk) |
| Refining and feasibility testing a digital return-to-work toolkit for stroke survivors and employers | Dr Jade Kettlewell (Jade.Kettlewell@nottingham.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at University of Oxford:
| Project Title | Lead Supervisor |
| Lets’ talk about weight: pregnancy | Dr Charlotte Albury (charlotte.albury@phc.ox.ac.uk) |
| The management of patient risk in disease outbreaks: A retrospective study of the primary care response to the rise in invasive group A streptococcal infections in England and Wales 2022/23 | Dr Rebecca Barnes (rebecca.barnes@phc.ox.ac.uk) |
| Improved management of recurrent UTI using insights from routinely and prospectively collected data | Dr Gail Hayward (gail.hayward@phc.ox.ac.uk) |
| Building the evidence base for an expanded and sustainable Primary Care workforce through research, learning and knowledge exchange | Professors Sophie Park and Kamal Mahtani (sophie.park@phc.ox.ac.uk) |
| Understanding adverse drug events in ageing populations | Dr James Sheppard (james.sheppard@phc.ox.ac.uk) |
| Consideration of using non-concurrent controls and time trends in adaptive platform trials: The what, the why and the how | Professor Ly-Mee Yu (ly-mee.yu@phc.ox.ac.uk) |
Proposed projects available at Queen Mary University of London:
Proposed projects available at University of Southampton:
Proposed projects available at University College London: