Department of Social Science, Health and Medicine

INTRODUCTION

The Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine was established in 2011 to confirm King's as a world leader in social scientific approaches to health and medicine. All teaching and research in the Department is research led, interdisciplinary, and undertaken in a global context. We have a particular interests in:

Ageing & Society
Biomedicine, Ethics & Social Justice
Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals & Public Policy
Culture, Medicine & Power

The Department works closely with many departments and research groups at King's in areas relating to social science of health and medicine. These include King's Health Partners, a global collaboration which provides access to patient populations underpinning high quality social science-led research; research groups working on aging, and on social aspects of aging and on long-term health and social care; health related research in geography, environment and cities; health technology and innovation; research on the novel design, use and integration of complex health and social care databases; the analysis of risk; military health; and the public understanding and ethics of healthcare.

We have strong connections with the Brazil, China, and India Institutes, and with world-leading research in social psychiatry, mental health services, and neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry. We have links with the professions via Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and the Institute of Psychiatry; engagement with senior policy makers in national and international agencies; and strong links with related areas of the humanities, notably medical law and ethics.

INDUCTION & TRAINING

All postgraduate students in the Department receive specialist training in social science research methods. Students following our taught postgraduate programmes receive training in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and specialist training in research design and analysis through work for the dissertation. PhD students receive research training in a number of ways: the doctoral training centre (the ‘KISS-DTC’) runs basic and advanced courses on research design and methods, including seminars and workshops with leading national and international scholars; the research students and researchers within the department hold regular reading groups and discussion groups on key issues in social science research on medicine and health; students without appropriate background in social research attend the relevant parts of the Department’s master’s programmes; regular meetings with supervisors provide detailed and specific guidance on research methods and study design, tailored to the specific research topic. In addition, the Department has a lively programme of seminars, workshops and conferences with internationally renowned researchers presenting and discussing their current work.

FACILITIES

Teaching is based on the Strand Campus, on the banks of the River Thames, offering extensive student facilities and with the cultural attractions of the South Bank and Covent Garden on its doorstep. The library and computing facilities are readily accessible, and students also have the opportunity to use the University of London library at Senate House. Research students are co-located with research fellows, visiting researchers and visiting professors in a dedicated research room with excellent facilities, and become part of a lively and supportive research community, with excellent international links in many different regions, providing exciting opportunities for comparative research, research visits, and transnational collaboration.

FUNDING

Funding for students from the UK and EU is available from a wide variety of sources, and the Department and College are able to assist such students in identifying potential sources of funding from research councils and other bodies. Some ESRC studentships are available from the King’s Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Centre for UK and EU students who meet residency requirements set out by the ESRC. These are highly competitive. Please consult the KISS-DTC website for further details and the ESRC website for full details on residential eligibility requirements. Most students from outside the UK and EU will need to find sources of funding from their country of origin or other specialist funding sources. Please check the Department website for specific bursaries or studentships which may be available.

KEY FACTS