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Postgraduate research in Health, Wellbeing and Education

Join the academic community at Staffordshire University and be a part of research that can change lives in the field of Health, Wellbeing and Education. Gain access to our expert facilities and develop your research through practice alongside senior researchers in nursing, midwifery, social work, the allied health professions, education, sport and exercise, biomechanics and biomedical science, and psychology.

Table showing MPhil/PhD subjects in Health, Wellbeing and Education, with locations and modes of study
Subject	Location	Mode of study
Biology	On campus	Full time, part time
Biomechanics	On campus	Full time
Biomechanics	Distance learning	Part time
Biomechanics by Published Work	On campus	Part time
Ecology	On campus	Full time
Education	On campus	Full time, part time
Education	Blended learning	Part time
Health and Welfare Studies	On campus, distance learning	Full time, part time
Health and Welfare Studies by Published Work	Distance learning	Full time
Psychology	On campus	Full time, part time
Sport and Exercise Psychology	On campus, distance learning	Full time, part time
Sports Science	On campus	Full time, part time

Ready-to-go research projects

In addition to offering supervision for a project that you propose, we also have a list of ready to go PhD projects designed by our experts, which means that the research proposal is already written.

View all projects

Professional doctoral courses

You may choose to undertake a professional doctoral course, designed to develop research and professional skills related to professional practice.

Make an enquiry

Speak to the Graduate School about postgraduate research.

Our researchers

World renowned in their fields, our researchers are here to support you through every step of your research career.

Nachiappan CHOCKALINGAM

Professor Of Clinical Biomechanics

As Professor of Clinical Biomechanics, I direct the Movement Analysis Laboratory and lead the biomechanics team and research at Staffordshire University. I am also an Affiliate Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta

Nachiappan's profile

Dr Jim Pugh

Director - Inst. Of Ed. - Assoc Prof.

I am proud to be the Director of the Institute of Education leading an innovative group of professionals, educators, researchers and working with our creative and exciting students, partners and community.

Jim's profile

Robert Needham

Senior Lecturer

Robert's research background is in the areas of sport and clinical biomechanics. The focus of his research is on the application of non-linear data analysis techniques to quantify movement coordination and coordination variability. Robert's rese…

Robert's profile

Professor Gillian Forrester

Professor Of Education Policy

I lead the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD), which is a vibrant research degree programme for professional educators. I supervise doctoral students (PhD and EdD) and I am involved in several externally funded research projects.

Gillian's profile

Dr Naomi Ellis

Associate Professor Of Health Research

I've been involved with a number of research projects relating to physical activity and mental health, green space and health; health in mid-life; sport and mental health in prisons.

Naomi's profile

Fiona Mccormack

Research Fellow

Dr Victoria Riley

Research Fellow

Victoria Riley has a background in Health Psychology and is a research associate within the Centre for Health and Development (CHAD).

Victoria's profile

Konstantinos Spyropoulos

Research Associate

Jon FAIRBURN

Emeritus Professor

Professor Jon Fairburn is active in teaching, research, bid writing and public engagement. He has incorporated credited work experience into geography and tourism degrees as well as the MSc Digital Marketing Management.

Jon's profile

Professor Wilfred Mcsherry

Professor

Wilf is a Professor of Nursing and an active researcher in delivery patient centered care. His main area of interest is how we can prepare nurses, midwives and healthcare professional to be confident and competent in this dimension of care.

Wilfred's profile

Professor Elizabeth Boath

Professor

I am Liz Boath, Professor of Health and Wellbeing. I have three decades experience of Health and Social Care education and research and expertise in perinatal mental health and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).

Elizabeth's profile

Dr Edward Tolhurst

Associate Professor

I am a Senior Lecturer and qualitative researcher in the field of dementia, ageing and care. I am based in the Postgraduate team and course leader for the MSc in Medical Education. I am also a member of the University Research Ethics Committee.

Edward's profile

Dr Adam Boughey

Lecturer

Lecturer in Adult Nursing and Post-Doctoral Researcher BPS Chartered Psychologist and HCPC Registered Health Psychologist.

Adam's profile

Dr Sarahjane Jones

Associate Dean - Research&Innovation

Sarahjane is a safety researcher with a particular interest in the utilisation of big healthcare data for quality and safety improvement. She also works in research capacity building in non-medical professions and healthcare and data ethics.

Sarahjane's profile

Dr Ruth Hudson

P/T Lecturer (Hrly) - Education

Ruth's profile

Matthew Slater

Professor Of Sport & Exercise Psychology

Matt is a Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology and recognised as an internationally leading scholar on the psychology of leadership and group dynamics.

Matthew's profile

Karla Drew

Lecturer

I am a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, and Course leader for the MSc Sport and Exercise Psychology programme. I am also a BPS Chartered, and HCPC Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Karla's profile

Dr Stephanie Romano-Smith

Lecturer

I am the course leader of Distance learning Sport and Exercise Psychology BSc (Hons) degree programme. I also have teaching responsibilities across undergraduate and postgraduate awards in the area of sport and exercise psychology.

Stephanie's profile

Fiona Cust

Associate Professor

Fiona is a Registered General and Children’s Nurse and Health Visitor who has had a varied career in children’s nursing within acute and community settings. Fiona is actively engaged in research and regularly contributes to The Nursing Times Journal.

Fiona's profile

Trust Diya

Lecturer

Trust is a biomedical scientist whose core discipline is histology and cytology. His main area of interest is lipidomics and nutrition with a focus on the effects of flavonoids on adipogenesis.

Dr Ahmad Haidery

Senior Lecturer

Ahmad's profile

Dr Claire Barlow

Course Director

Claire's research is primarily focused on children's drawings with further projects focussing on the development of expressive drawing, and more specifically how this compares to the development of representational drawing skill, longitudinal de…

Claire's profile

Dr Emily Buckley

Senior Lecturer

Emily is the Admissions Tutor for Health Psychology, alongside being a registered Health Psychologist with a background in health promotion.

Emily's profile

Dr Amy Burton

Associate Professor

Dr Amy Burton is a Health Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society.

Amy's profile

Lisa Cowap

Lecturer

My expertise is within Health Psychology and conducting research employing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Lisa's profile

Dr Sarah Dean

Senior Lecturer

Sarah's research has focussed on children and adolescents. Her PhD explored the effects that writing about stressful experiences has for early adolescents and why written emotional disclosure may not be a suitable intervention for them.

Sarah's profile

Dr Justine Drakeford

Senior Lecturer

I joined Staffordshire University as a senior lecturer in January 2012. My research interests are in the areas of cognitive neuropsychiatry and cognitive neuropsychology.

Justine's profile

Dr Daniel Herron

Senior Lecturer

I am an applied psychologist with interests in dementia and the therapeutic role of nature. I am passionate about facilitating the development of students so they can apply psychological knowledge and skills in their everyday lives and future careers

Daniel's profile

Sarah Higgins

Lecturer

Sarah is a Lecturer in Psychology, teaching across a range of psychology modules at all levels. Her research interests include eating behaviours and psychological interventions.

Sarah's profile

Dr Louise Humphreys

Senior Lecturer

I am a Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Psychological Research Methods. I am the course leader for the MSc Psychology (conversion) course.

Louise's profile

Dr Gemma Hurst

Course Director

I am the Course Leader for the MSc Health Psychology. My research focuses on measuring the impact of environment exposures on health and wellbeing and exploring the wider determinants of health in relation to health inequality. I am also experie…

Gemma's profile

Dr Richard Jolley

Associate Professor

My research interests mainly lie in children's use and understanding of representation, particularly in their making and understanding of pictures.

Richard's profile

Dr Erica Lucas

Senior Lecturer

Erica's research interests lie in the area of human reasoning. Her PhD work was on relevance and rationalisation processes on the Wason selection task. She is particularly interested in the use of different methodologies that can be utilised t…

Erica's profile

Dr Yvonne Melia

Interim Course Lead

Yvonne is a Clinical Psychologist and the Academic Director of the Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Her expertise lies in the mental health of looked after and adopted children specifically, which informs her teaching and research.

Yvonne's profile

Dr Alison Owen

Lecturer

Dr Alison Owen is a Lecturer in Health Psychology, with an interest in research related to body image and appearance, and using appearance concern as a tool for health promotion.

Alison's profile

Dr Rachel Povey

Associate Professor

I'm the course leader for the Health Psychology Professional Doctorate. My areas of expertise are healthy eating, dietary change and psychological aspects of diabetes.

Rachel's profile

Dr Sarah Rose

Associate Professor

I love inspiring students at all levels about child development and how we can share our psychological expertise to make a difference to children and their families. My research focuses on education, children’s wellbeing and children’s use of tech.

Sarah's profile

Dr Jennifer Taylor

Senior Lecturer

Jennifer is a senior lecturer in qualitative psychological research methods. Jennifer is a qualitative researcher with research interests in several areas but mainly body image, maternal health, breastfeeding, and mindfulness.

Jennifer's profile

Dr Romina Vivaldi

Senior Lecturer

Romina's research interests are focussed on symbolic development as it relates to pictures and occupational gender stereotypes.

Romina's profile

Facilities

As a postgraduate research student, you'll have access to all of our specialist facilities, and the expertise of our technicians, to help your research succeed.

Biomechanics Facility

Purpose built facility which enables collection of data using specialised equipment to understand and diagnose Musclo-skeletal conditions within individuals or groups.

Psychology Observation Suite

The Psychology Observation Suite is used to observe various forms of human behaviour in psychological research.

Human Physiology Suite

This facility gives us the ability to measure the effects of different procedures on human physiological parameters

Body Composition Lab

The Body Composition Lab enables accurate assessment of body composition analysis in support of the Sport & Exercise awards programme.

Clinical Skills Labs

The Skills Labs enable delivery of all practical-led simulation and clinical skills in support of Nursing (Adult, Child, MH), Paramedic Science, ODP, Midwifery and Allied Health.

Stoke House (House 33)

Enables delivery of Simulation-Based Education and practical Clinical Skills in support of the Nursing, Paramedic and Social Work awards programme.

Analytical Methods Laboratory

Our Analytical Methods Laboratory has a range of instrumentation for chemical analysis including chromatography, electrochemistry and molecular and atomic spectroscopy.

Human Physiology Suite

This facility gives us the ability to measure the effects of different procedures on human physiological parameters

Sequencing Hub and R230

Specialist hub and laboratory for undertaking molecular biology laboratory techniques, projects, and research.

Cell Culture Facility

A specialist environment for the culture and study of both cancerous and non-cancerous human and mammalian cell lines.

Support and funding

Study options

Our postgraduate research students work on their research in a range of different modes to fit around their work and life commitments – you might be on campus as a full-time or part-time researcher, or you may be studying as a Distance Learner. Your preferred option will be discussed as you go through your research proposal with your potential supervisory team.

Browse study options

Fees and funding

Before you start your application, it's important to consider how you will fund your studies and cover living costs. There are lots of options available to postgraduate students to help support your work, which is why we have put together a detailed guide explaining the costs involved in postgraduate study, and the help that's available to pay for it.

Explore the funding options

How you will be supported

The Graduate School works centrally to support you as a postgraduate researcher by listening, providing development opportunities, managing your journey, and acting as a gateway to pastoral support as you require.

Visit the Graduate School

How to apply

Interested in researching in the field of Health, Wellbeing and Education? You will need to go through our application process. This is to ensure we can meet your specific needs and support your research topic.

For a professional doctorate, please apply directly through our professional doctorate course pages.

Make an enquiry

Start your postgraduate career by completing our MPhil/PhD enquiry form. We’ll put you in touch with a member of staff to have an informal conversation about your proposed research and qualifications.