The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is pleased to invite applications as part of the NIHR funded Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU). The studentships will start in September 2025 and come with 3 years of funding.
The awards will cover a tax-free stipend of £22,780 per year, tuition fees at home rates and research and travel expenses.
Only those applicants who meet all the eligibility criteria outlined below can be considered for the studentships.
The NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Vaccines and Immunisation is a partnership between the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and UCL. The unit at LSHTM is one of 14 Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) across England, part of an investment by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to protect the health of the nation. The HPRUs fund high quality research that enhances the ability of UKHSA to use innovative techniques to protect the public’s health and minimise the health impact of emergencies, such as COVID-19.
Each NIHR HPRU undertakes high quality research that is used by UKHSA to keep the public safe from current and emerging public health threats.
The HPRU aims to:
- reverse the decline in immunisation coverage in children
- increase vaccine uptake in adults, and
- reduce inequalities in the vaccine service.
The research training environment
Students, academics, and professionals come to LSHTM from all over the world because of its international presence, collaborative ethos, research excellence and prestigious study programmes in public and global health. Find out details of the School’s rankings and awards as well as current research in action.
General information about the MPhil/PhD programme structure at LSHTM can be found on the Research Degrees and Doctoral College pages. Students will be mentored by a supervisory team composed of two-three members. Students are expected to take part in the academic life of their department and can also be members of Academic Centres. All research seminars and journal clubs are open to PhD students from across LSHTM. Students are able to take up to four master’s level study modules per academic year, subject to approval from their supervisor. The PhD programme also facilitates national and international conference attendance by students.
Support for research students’ future career development is covered through the supervision process, through the Transferable Skills Programme (in the School and the Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network) and the LSHTM’s Careers Service.
The successful applicant will have unprecedented opportunities to network and establish professional contacts through formal and informal interactions with members of staff at LSHTM and other students.
Doctoral research project
The exact focus of each PhD will be developed with the successful candidate and will depend on their interests and prior expertise. Applicants are asked to contact the project supervisors for an informal discussion prior to applying.
- Investigating optimal vaccine communication channels for adolescents and parents in the digital age
- Investigating men’s involvement in children’s vaccination journeys
Faculty: Public Health and Policy
- Supervisor: Dr Tracey Chantler, LSHTM (tracey.chantler@lshtm.ac.uk)
- Co-supervisor: Prof Helen Bedford, LSHTM (helen.bedford@lshtm.ac.uk)
- Co-supervisor: Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, LSHTM (ben.kasstan-dabush@lshtm.ac.uk)
Background
The results of recent UKHSA attitudinal surveys have shown that men living in England are more likely than women to be undecided about vaccinating their children. This PhD will examine men’s role in vaccine decision-making for their children, their understanding of vaccination and experience and involvement in children’s vaccination journeys with the aim of improving engagement with men. We are interested in gaining insights from a diverse sample of men with responsibility for children to capture variation by age, ethnicity, education and socio-economic background.
Project objectives
- Determine men with responsibility for children’s understanding of childhood vaccination, their information needs and preferences for accessing information.
- Examine men with responsibility for children’s role in childhood vaccination decision-making.
- Determine men with responsibility for children’s involvement and experience of children’s vaccination journeys.
- Co-design potential communication and engagement interventions with men.
Skills/methods
- Review of existing evidence
- Embedding questions in UKHSA attitudinal tracker surveys
- Qualitative interviews and focus groups
- Collaboration with existing forums groups involving fathers of young children
Support structure
- Supervisory team meets every ~3 weeks
- Advisory panel meets every 2 months, including UKHSA members
- Machine learning approaches for risk prediction in vaccine research using routinely collected electronic health data
Faculty: Epidemiology and Population Health
- Supervisor: Dr Edward Parker, LSHTM (edward.parker@lshtm.ac.uk)
- Co-supervisor: Dr John Tazare, LSHTM (john.tazare1@lshtm.ac.uk)
- Co-Supervisor: Dr Elizabeth Wlliamson, LSHTM (elizabeth.williamson@lshtm.ac.uk)
Background
Accurate identification of individuals at highest risk of disease is key to determining population groups who should be prioritised for vaccination. Routinely collected electronic health record (EHR) data are a critical resource for identifying population groups at high risk of disease, as exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Current studies tend to use curated ‘codelists’ to define population subgroups with clinical conditions. While this approach facilitates statistical analysis and clinical interpretation, it suffers from key drawbacks including: (i) the grouping of conditions that may vary by quality or severity; and (ii) the potential omission of informative diagnostic codes that are absent from curated codelists. A data-driven machine learning approach that treats each diagnostic or medication code as an individual piece of information may offer a powerful complement to existing methods.
Project objectives
- Compare risk prediction based on high-dimensional machine learning versus regression-based approaches in a case study
- Evaluation the performance of machine learning for risk prediction across different diseases and population subgroups
Skills/methods
- Machine learning using routine electronic health record data
- Regression-based risk prediction based on clinical codelists
Support structure
- Supervisory team meetings every ~2 weeks
- Advisory panel meetings every 2 months, including 1–2 UKHSA members
Financial support
The studentship award covers:
- tuition fees (at the LSHTM Home fee rate);
- a tax-free stipend at the UKRI studentship rate
Eligibility criteria
Applicants must hold, or expect to obtain before the start of the PhD, a relevant Master’s Degree awarded with good grades, or have a combination of relevant qualifications and experience which demonstrates equivalent ability and attainment. Please have a look at the project description to check if there are additional criteria for your project.
Applicants must meet the criteria for home fees to be eligible to apply. The studentship is not available to candidates who would be liable for overseas fees. Your fee status is determined in accordance with the Fee Assessment Policy of LSHTM and regulations defined by the UK Government.
Please note that due to the high volume of enquiries we receive, we will not be able to respond to emails from applicants who do not meet these eligibility criteria.
How to apply
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their proposed primary supervisor for an informal discussion before applying. Applicants must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria before contacting their proposed primary supervisor. When contacting their proposed supervisor, applicants are encouraged to write a short paragraph about their experience and research interests, including ideas for the PhD and explaining how these match the proposed supervisor’s expertise, and to provide a short CV.
To apply, submit a completed research degree application online using the LSHTM application portal by the scholarship deadline of 23:59 (BST) on 1st May.
Applicants must ensure all information and standard required documents outlined on the LSHTM ‘before you apply’ page is included/uploaded with the application, including:
- academic transcripts (official transcripts for all completed study; interim transcripts for any ongoing programmes of study);
- a two-page Curriculum Vitae;
- a research proposal (the research proposal should identify a specific research question or
- hypothesis, expanding on one of the topics listed on the website, summarise the relevant background information (with no more than five key references) and should outline an appropriate research methodology by which the question can be addressed); and
- References.
In addition, applicants for this scholarship must upload the following documents:
- A personal statement outlining why you are interested in, and suited to, undertaking a PhD in this area at LSHTM; and
Applicants must indicate that they wish to apply for this funding by writing 'HPRU Vaccines & Immunisation Studentship' in the funding section of the application form.
Incomplete applications will not be considered for this studentship. This includes any applications missing supporting/supplementary documents (e.g. transcripts or references) at the deadline. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete and therefore applications should be submitted as early as possible to give referees time to submit their references prior to the deadline.
By submitting an application for this funding applicants agree to its Terms & Conditions.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview.