PhD in Social Science and Health

University of Glasgow

Our aim is to better understand and improve human health and wellbeing via the study of social, behavioural, economic, cultural and environmental influences on health and the application of social science theories and methodologies. The overarching aim of this Unit is to improve human health and wellbeing via the study of social, behavioural, economic, cultural and environmental influences on health. It comprises a large group of social science-led researchers, focusing on social determinants of health, health inequalities and health improvement. More specific objectives include: studying the multiple interacting processes through which biological, social, behavioural, economic, cultural and environmental factors influence physical and mental health and health behaviours over the lifecourse discovering mechanisms which can modify these processes and have the potential to improve public health in a complex and changing world developing and evaluating interventions which harness these mechanisms to improve public health and reduce social inequalities in health influencing policy and practice by communicating the results and implications of research to a range of audiences.They are recognised and treated as full members of the Unit/Group, expected to attend seminars, team meetings, etc., and required to contribute to unit/group-wide activities in the same way as all staff. There are also opportunities for secondment to policy and practice organisations. Our postgraduate students are thus able to learn about a wide range of disciplines and topics beyond those specific to their PhD. The Social & Public Health Sciences Unit also provides unique opportunities to gain experience of different aspects of social and public health science beyond that offered in typical university environments. These include working with the unit’s in-house population health research facility, gaining first-hand experience in large-scale field work and the necessary regulatory, ethics and data compliance processes of study data collection.In the Social Science in Health Group there are opportunities to work as graduate teaching assistants or on occasional additional research for other teams. These give wide-ranging opportunities for transferable skill development. After completing their studies, many students find employment as university researchers, others in NGOs, independent research organisations or local or national government organisations.