Gerontology Research

The Institute of Gerontology at King's College London is one of the leading gerontological research and teaching centres world-wide. Founded in 1986, the Institute is at the vanguard of multi-disciplinary research and teaching, acting as a bridge between the social and clinical sciences. The Institute has many long-standing research and teaching collaborations including the Institute of Psychiatry, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and Midwifery and the School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, as well as close working links with King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners brings together King's College London, a world leading research led university and three successful NHS Foundation Trusts (Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley).

The Institute's inter-disciplinary nature is reflected in its broad research sponsorship base; it has received funding from UK Research Councils (i.e. ESRC, MRC, EPSRC & AHRB), from many of the charities concerned with the welfare of older people and from government (including the Department for Work and Pensions & the Department of Health).

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) Gerontology was submitted at as part of the Health Services Research category ranking fourth out of 24 units of assessment in terms of research power. The RAE results are testimony to the Institute's strengths in ageing policy, families, health and healthcare.

At the Institute, research is central to our work. It helps maintain our position at the forefront of gerontology and at the same time helps to enrich the learning experience of our students. Encouraging the development of doctoral research is a central part of our research activity. Our MPhil/PhD Gerontology programme will enable you to develop an area of research in great depth and help you become a leading expert in your own right.

The Institute has a community of research students with diverse interests in all aspects of ageing. Research students in Gerontology enjoy a friendly and supportive environment within a small, specialist department. King's College London's Graduate School provides an excellent range of training opportunities, and each student has a Personal Development Plan to ensure that individual training needs are met. MPhil/PhD students also have opportunities to lecture and tutor at Masters level.

As well as training in IT skills, the Graduate School runs an excellent structured programme of workshops and training for Postgraduate Research Students.