Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS) (ESRC DTP)

The Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences at Swansea University is offering a fully funded Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS) (ESRC DTP) studentship in the Health and Well-being and Data Science pathway, commencing October 2026. This PhD project is embedded within statutory partnerships and aims to strengthen population-level evidence for Population Needs Assessments (PNAs) in West Glamorgan, Wales. PNAs are a statutory requirement under the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and provide the primary evidence base for regional planning, service transformation, and commissioning across health, social care, and wider wellbeing systems.

The project builds on a decade of interdisciplinary research led by Professor Andrew Hadon Kemp and Dr Zoe Fisher, conceptualizing wellbeing through connections to self, others, and nature. It aligns with the preventative, place-based, and long-term principles of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. The research will leverage the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank to securely link anonymised population data across health, education, social care, and administrative systems, enabling life-course, family-level, and spatial analyses that incorporate wider determinants of wellbeing, including local environments and access to nature.

The PhD aims to develop and apply a theoretically informed, life-course framework for understanding population wellbeing and its determinants using linked administrative and survey data. It will generate evidence to inform service transformation and commissioning within the West Glamorgan PNA, with particular attention to inequalities across communities and comparisons with regional, national, or international data where comparable indicators exist. Research questions include: how theory can inform interpretation of wellbeing, mental health, and need across the life course using linked population data; what inequalities in wellbeing, mental health, and service use exist across West Glamorgan and how these vary by place, deprivation, and access to local environments; how adult wellbeing and service use intersect with physical health, socioeconomic disadvantage, and family context; what intergenerational relationships can be observed between parental mental health and children’s wellbeing; and how evidence on place-based determinants, including access to nature, can support statutory boards in meeting duties for prevention and long-term wellbeing.

Methods will include descriptive mapping, regression and multilevel modelling, family-level and spatial analyses, and exploratory data-driven approaches, guided by explicit theoretical frameworks. Analyses will combine longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches as appropriate. Findings will inform the West Glamorgan PNA and enable comparisons with regional, national, or international wellbeing indicators.

Eligibility: Applicants must have qualifications or experience equivalent to a UK honours degree at a first or upper second-class level, or a master's degree. Students with non-traditional academic backgrounds are welcome. International and European applicants should check their qualifications against published entry requirements. Both full-time and part-time applications are accepted. The studentship funded by the ESRC covers tuition fees, an annual tax-free living stipend (£20,780 for 2025-26 full-time), and access to a Research Training Support Grant. Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) may be available.

Application deadline is May 8, 2026. For questions regarding eligibility, contact [email protected]. Apply online via the provided FindAPhD link.