Our Doctoral Training Programme in Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTC) for Health Professionals offers a unique collaborative training environment for students to carry out clinical research across the discovery science methods. Our PhD Programme is funded via a Doctoral Training Programme Grant from the Wellcome Trust and is run jointly by the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and St Andrews.
A call for PhD Projects is launched annually by the Coordinating Committee via an email to appropriate academics at all partner universities.
The information below includes the key processes and responsibilities relevant to project supervisors.
Programme Background
We are seeking interdisciplinary projects that address three research themes:
- Fundamentals of MLTC - elucidating molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning disease interactions between to generate foundational biological insights.
- Combined Mental and Physical MLTC - explores the development, trajectories, inequalities, and lived contexts of combined mental and physical long-term conditions.
- Prevention and Management of MLTC - focuses on preventing progression and improving the management of MLTC by addressing their clinical, social, cultural, political, and economic drivers.
Health Inequalities is a critical cross-cutting theme and projects that take account of inequalities will be viewed favourably.
The programme is intended to offer students training across a range of methods: and integrated cohort-based development across discovery biology, clinical science, epidemiology and social science; and aims to bring together interdisciplinary teams of supervisors with diverse skills. We will fund human studies – including those that utilise tissue or blood samples but will not consider projects involving animals. We will consider projects which study MLTCs in a global health context and we have funds to support a number of students to carry out research overseas in Low- or Middle-Income Countries. Projects requiring additional funds for experimental medicine and human imaging methods are also possible.
The programme allows students to undertake a 3-year PhD as part of an employed research fellowship, and with research costs, training, and conference travel funding. We additionally aim to negotiate protected time for students before and after the three-year PhD. We have commitment from Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland) and from many Scottish health boards to work with us to support this additional protected time, but it is not always possible depending on individual circumstances. The aim is for students to have pre-doctoral time that is tailored to the needs of individuals: one day per week protected time during a 6-month preparatory period OR where part-time options are not possible, particularly for NMAHPs, a short funded full-time preparatory period tailored to individual needs.
To maximise continued academic success, we plan to have a post-doctoral bridging support fund to allow funded academic time to support post-doctoral activities; this is in addition to continued collaboration with PSD Scotland and employers to support fellows still in medical training to have SCREDS protected time after completion.
Structured and tailored training provision is delivered within the training programme alongside mandatory taught elements within each institution. Mandatory elements will include, Fundamentals of MLTC research, Knowledge Exchange, Patient and Public Involvement, and Research Governance & Ethics.
All project proposals will be reviewed by the Coordinating Committee (whose members span the four institutions), our Fundamentals of MLTCs theme Champion as well as representatives from NES and the public.
We are encouraging variation in supervisory teams and interdisciplinary research, for example, involving basic scientists, engineers or sociologists and health researchers. Researchers are expected to be a primary supervisor of a student at most every other year and we prefer not to see exactly the same supervisory team with multiple students (i.e., simply rotating primary supervision in the same team every year).
Project Proposal Submission
All projects should have at least two supervisors, up to a maximum of four. The percentage allocation of supervision should reflect the responsibilities and input of the supervisor team. Primary supervisors may be senior or mid-career, but must have supervised PhDs to completion, and every supervisory team must include an established researcher with substantial grant funding, good publication history, and PhD supervision experience.
The lead supervisor must have a tenured post or guaranteed employment for the duration of the Fellowship, and this may apply to second supervisors, dependent on host institution requirements. Two supervisors must hold a higher degree or evidence of extensive PhD supervision. Two supervisors must be from the host institution – additional supervisors can be located at external locations and we encourage involvement of academics who are earlier in their career.
Global health projects should include a member of staff in the supervisory team who is based at the overseas institution, either a staff member employed by an institution at that location or employed by a UK institution but based at the overseas location. This will ensure the fellow is provided with sufficient support during the overseas stay. A Project Proposal Form will be circulated for supervisors to complete and submit to be reviewed by the Coordinating Committee.
The form includes:
- Project Title
- Supervisors Information
- Project Description: Background, Aims, Proposed Methods, Public and Patient Involvement and Training Outcomes
- Project Summary
- Project Alignment with MLTC Themes
- Project cross-institutional collaborative, overseas or Global Health components
- Project expected costs
An evaluation of the project will be made by the Coordinating Committee and all selected projects will be advertised on the programme website.
Research Fellow Application Process
Applicants must contact and discuss their first-preference project with the supervisory team before submitting an application. They must indicate their preferred two project choices in order of preference when applying.
Recruitment of Research Fellows will be merit based, and we will advertise more projects than there are places to attract the strongest possible field. Therefore, advertisement of a project does not guarantee that a candidate will be recruited for this.
Supervisors with projects with no recruited candidates will be welcome to resubmit a project proposal for the next recruitment intake.
Supervisor Responsibilities
All supervisors are required to refresh supervisory training every five years. Mid and early-career colleagues are always paired with more experienced supervisors for ‘on-the-job’ mentoring.
During the application process supervisors should make themselves available to discuss the project with interested candidates and to help with interview preparation.
During the preparatory period prior to Research Fellows formally starting their PhD, supervisors must meet with Fellows regularly, working with the fellow to define a Research Project Plan and Training Needs Analysis which should be submitted one month before the start of the programme.
During the 3-year PhD study period, supervisors are responsible for formal monitoring of achievement of progress milestones, attainment of academic competencies and project objectives and ensuring that the Fellow adheres to the formal progression process at their University. Within the first two months of the PhD there is a requirement to complete a draft Wellcome project proposal form and to receive feedback from the Coordinating Committee (CC). This should then be reworked and finalised for a January submission to Wellcome. Full details of this are shared with the Fellow.
Post-PhD, Fellows should continue to meet monthly with their supervisors to finalise outputs and receive support to apply for independent funding. Fellows should also explore opportunities for post-doctoral bridging support from the programme.
Supervisor Testimonial Dr Sarah Mills (University of St Andrews) -
I’m an Academic GP at the University of St Andrews, with a research focus on unscheduled care and care in the last year of life.
My current projects are mixed-methods studies involving health data science, artificial intelligence/clinical risk prediction tools, qualitative work and co-design and implementation work to try to improve how unscheduled care is delivered and what patient outcomes from unscheduled care are, with a particular focus on people towards the end of life.
I am a current Wellcome Doctoral Training Programme supervisor and am supervising projects on MLTC and use of unscheduled care in the last year of life, and on the impact of MLTC on patients with TB. The projects are interesting, forward-thinking, and patient-centred and our candidates are bright, enthusiastic clinicians and academics who are a delight to work with.
The Wellcome Doctoral Training Programme programme is a fantastic initiative and I have thoroughly enjoyed supervising our PhD candidates, as well as contributing to the teaching involved in the programme.