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Website University of Liverpool
Closing date: 13th October
NIHR ARC NWC offers a funded PhD at Liverpool to co produce and pilot workforce training on rarer dementia diagnosis and care.
People living with rarer dementia subtypes — including Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s dementia, semantic dementia and frontotemporal dementias — often wait longer for an accurate diagnosis and get less adequate post-diagnostic care. A large part of the problem is that the health and social care workforce has limited knowledge of the symptoms and of how best to support someone with a rarer subtype.
This PhD will map what the workforce does and doesn’t know about rarer dementias across different care settings in the UK, then co-produce and pilot test a training intervention to improve that knowledge, with the aim of improving diagnosis rates and care delivery. The work runs across a systematic review, a mixed-methods study with the health and social care workforce, and co-production and pilot testing of the training. Two public contributors will work with the student across the research and its dissemination.
The student will be based in the Dementia Health and Social Care Inequalities Research Group in the Department of Primary Care and Mental Health at the University of Liverpool, and will sit within the ARC Social Care theme. There will be opportunities throughout to present findings and connect with dementia researchers nationally and internationally.
Supervisory team
- Dr Clarissa Giebel (primary supervisor)
- Dr Eduard Shantsila
Who this suits
Applicants with an interest in dementia, social care, workforce training and co-production, and in mixed-methods research. You’ll need at least a UK Bachelor’s honours degree at 2:1 or equivalent in a relevant discipline, awarded (or formally confirmed) by 1 January 2027, and you must meet the University of Liverpool’s doctoral entry requirements.
How to apply
You must speak to Dr Clarissa Giebel (Clarissa.Giebel@liverpool.ac.uk) before you apply — applications made without prior contact with the supervisory team will not be shortlisted.
Applications are made to ARC NWC first, using their application form, and include applicant details, your chosen project and a research proposal of up to 1,000 words. You’ll also need to consult the FOR Equity Toolkit (https://forequity.uk/) and show how you’ve applied it in your proposal. Send the completed form to ARCNWC@Lancashire.ac.uk by 1.00pm on 13 October 2026. Successful applicants are then referred to the University of Liverpool to complete registration.
Full details and the application form: https://arc-nwc.nihr.ac.uk/opportunities/phd-opportunties/arc-nwc-doctoral-award-round-1-open/
- Institution: University of Liverpool
- Funder: NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast (ARC NWC) — Doctoral Award, Round 1 (Project ref 022)
- Theme: Social Care
- Salary / funding: £21,805 per year tax-free stipend, UK Home tuition fees, £1,000 per year training grant
- Hours: Full-time, 3 years
- Closing date: 1.00pm, 13 October 2026
- Interviews: 23–24 November 2026
- Start date: By 1 February 2027
To apply for this job please visit arc-nwc.nihr.ac.uk.
