Join our dynamic research community to work with world-leading academics at the forefront of international nursing, midwifery and palliative care research. Our research students are thoroughly supported by three supervisors and participate in regular journal clubs, research seminars and workshops.
Applying for a PhD
If you are considering applying for one of our PhD programmes and are looking for potential supervisors, please complete this Microsoft Form.
Our Postgraduate Research (PGR) Team will contact potential supervisors on your behalf and will update you once they have received a response.
The form will ask you to provide:
- Details of your funding plans
- The names of supervisors you have identified as having expertise in your chosen research area
- Your CV
- A short PhD research proposal
You can find a list of supervisors within the Faculty on this webpage.If you have any queries while completing the form, please contact the Postgraduate Research Team at nmpc_pgr_enquiries@kcl.ac.uk.
Please note: Do not send PhD enquiries directly to this email address. All enquiries must be submitted via the Microsoft Form.
Research proposal
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Abstract: a short description or abstract of your proposed research (maximum 4,000 characters)
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Aim and objectives (up to 150 words): state a clear research question in non-technical language. Include primary hypotheses where appropriate.
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Esential background information (up to 150 words): briefly summarise existing research relevant to your topic. Clearly explain how your research question addresses a gap in current knowledge or evidence.
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Proposed plan of work (up to 1,000 words): outline the key aspects of your study design (e.g. ethnography, participatory action research, mixed-methods research, development of a survey instrument). Where relevant, describe the statistical methods you plan to use. Explain clearly how your proposed design and methods address the aims of the study. Including a timeline or Gantt chart is strongly encouraged.
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References.
Our Postgraduate Research team and potential supervisors will consider the following criteria when reviewing your PhD research proposal:
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Fit with the Faculty: alignment with the Faculty's research themes and divisions.
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Availability of appropriate supervision: named supervisors whose expertise aligns with the proposed research topic.
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Quality of the proposed research, including: originality and clarity of the research question, aims and objectives; relevance to improving wellbeing or healthcare; strength of the research rationale; appropriateness of the scope for PhD-level study; suitability of the proposed design and methods; a realitic timeline or Gantt chart.
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Additional considerations, including: a good standard of written English; evidence of reflective capacity; critical thinking skills; existing knowledge and expertise relevant to the research topic.
Once you have received the support of a supervisor in our faculty you will be asked to apply formally on the King’s apply portal. For more information on how to apply, fees and the entry requirements please visit our Prospectus:
How to find a supervisor
To find supervisors in your chosen area of interest you can:
On- and off-campus studying
We understand the diverse needs and backgrounds of our doctoral candidates and some projects offer flexibility for our students to be located both on- or off-campus during their PhD studies (for example, when field work abroad is required). Our approach is designed to support both academic excellence and personal circumstances:
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If the project permits off-campus study, then PhD students are only required to be physically present in London/ the UK for a total of six months over the course of their PhD programme.
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These six months do not need to be consecutive, but the scheduling of off campus periods should be agreed upon with the supervisory team and approved by the Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies
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Off-campus supervisory meetings and some teaching can take place online on university digital platforms, such as Teams
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For students sponsored under the Student visa route, the expectation remains that the majority of the programme is undertaken in the UK, with any time spent overseas limited to temporary, programme-related activity such as fieldwork.
Current opportunities
Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care Studentship
Applications for our Faculty-funded studentship are now open!
This fully funded PhD opportunity provides three years of support, including tuition fees and a stipend (at the UKRI rate plus London weighting). The successful applicant can choose to focus their research in one of the following areas: Nursing Research, Midwifery Research, Health Studies or Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Research.
Deadline: 31 March 2026. Apply here.
Nursing and Midwifery education, simulation and virtual learning
We welcome PhD applications from UK and international students relating to all aspects of nursing and midwifery education, including simulation and virtual learning approaches such as the use of interactive scenarios and virtual patient interactions in a digital environment.
Research projects
Research projects and Funded Studentship Schemes become available throughout the year. We currently have research projects available in the following areas:
» Digital Health & Applied Technology Assessment
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative analysis
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Crina Grosan and colleagues from the Division of Digital Health & Applied Technology Assessment
Contact supervisor: Dr Crina Grosan
Contact details for Dr Crina Grosan
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative analysis
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Crina Grosan and colleagues from the Division of Digital Health & Applied Technology Assessment
Contact supervisor: Dr Crina Grosan
Contact details for Dr Crina Grosan
Methodology: Co-design, development and production, quantitative and qualitative data and analysis
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Sonesson and colleagues from the Division of Digital Health & Applied Technology Assessment
Contact supervisor: Dr Linda Sonesson, linda.sonesson@kcl.ac.uk
Methodology: Mixed methods, quantitative, qualitative
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Sonesson and Professor Martin Bricknell
Contact supervisor: Dr Linda Sonesson, linda.sonesson@kcl.ac.uk
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative analysis
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Crina Grosan and colleagues from the Division of Digital Health & Applied Technology Assessment
Contact supervisor: Dr Crina Grosan
Dr Crina Grosan
Methodologies: Quantitative mainly
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Kimberley Whitehead and colleagues from King's College London (e.g. this project could potentially complement perinatal research being led within the Faculty by Dr Rebecca Whybrow)
Contact supervisor: Dr Kimberley Whitehead
Contact details for Dr Kimberley Whitehead
» Care in long term conditions
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Kirsty Winkley and Professor Khalida Ismail
Contact details for Dr Kirsty Winkley
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Kirsty Winkley and Professor Angus Forbes
Contact details for Dr Kirsty Winkley
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Kirsty Winkley and Professor Angus Forbes
Contact details for Dr Kirsty Winkley
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Maria Duaso
Dr Maria Duaso
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Sue Woodward
Dr Sue Woodward
Methodology: It is envisaged that this mixed methods study will involve systematic review of existing outcomes, Delphi methods to develop the COS and PROM development
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Sue Woodward
Dr Sue Woodward
Methodologies: Quantitative (e.g. analysis of electronic health records) and qualitative (e.g. interviews with patients and their families)
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Kimberley Whitehead, Dr Tom Jewell, and colleagues from King's College London
Contact supervisor: Dr Kimberley Whitehead (in the first instance)
Contact details for Dr Kimberley Whitehead
Gastrointestinal
Methodology: It is envisaged that this mixed methods study will involve systematic review and mixed methods evaluation of the effectiveness of crafting activities to support resilience in IBD
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Sue Woodward
Contact details for Dr Sue Woodward
Full project title: Understanding the experience of providing bowel care for people following spinal cord injury - the patient and staff perspective - and developing interventions to improve care
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Sue Woodward and Dr Mark Baker
Contact details for Dr Sue Woodward
Mental health
Methodology: Mixed methods/qualitative
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Andreas Xyrichis and Dr Jennifer Oates
Methodology: Evidence-based co-design (ECBD) to develop e-mental health resources with peer support workers, clinicians and research team. Qualitative interviews and observations to evaluate use of EBCD e-mental health resources with service users.
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Mary Leamy
Contact details for Dr Mary Leamy
Older people care
Objective: Examine how care delivery in nursing homes is led and by whom, to design an education intervention to support leadership development.
Methodology: It is envisaged that this mixed method study will involve semi-structured qualitative interviews of nursing home managers and NH staff, residents and their family and visiting professional staff; non-participant observation of key interactions where leadership of care occurs e.g. work planning and organisation, care management meetings, team meetings, observation of care delivery; and a series of stakeholder workshops to design an intervention e.g. toolkit, guidelines, seminars or action learning set to develop and support leadership of person-centred care.
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Ruth Harris
Contact details for Professor Ruth Harris
Methodology: It is envisaged that this study will involve a critical, systematic examination of how the concept of PCC is communicated in health and social care policy documents in the UK using critical discourse analysis; and semi-structured interviews with policy makers in national organisations responsible for the development and delivery of health and social care.
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Ruth Harris and Dr Joanne Fitzpatrick
Contact details for Professor Ruth Harris
Objective: Facilitate a healthy transition for older people relocating to a nursing home as a permanent arrangement, by developing and testing an intervention with residents, families and staff.
Methodology: This study will use the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions to address the research objective. The intervention will be developed using an adaptation of Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD). EBCD is a Participatory Action Research approach that draws upon design tools and ways of thinking to bring staff and service users together to co-design services, care pathways or interventions.
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Joanne Fitzpatrick
Contact details for Dr Joanne Fitzpatrick
» Methodologies
Methodology: Qualitative: realist methodology
Funding provided: Yes (PhD fees and UKRI stipend)
Start date: October 2024
Supervisory team: Dr Tomasina Stacey, Dr Maria Duaso, Dr Nigel Simpson (University of Leeds), in association with Tommy’s Preterm Birth Centre.
Contact Dr Tomasina Stacey with expressions of interest by 31 May 2024.
Contact details for Dr Tomasina Stacey.
Methodology: Co-design/feasibility
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Tomasina Stacey
Contact details for Dr Tomasina Stacey
Methodology: Population based/case control
Funding provided: Yes/No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Tomasina Stacey
Contact details for Dr Tomasina Stacey
Methodology: Using methodologies such as photovoice, forum theatre and storytelling approaches
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Deborah Chinn
Dr Deborah Chinn
Maternal and newborn perinatal health
Methodology: Mixed methods
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate is found:
Supervisory team: Dr Yan-Shing Chang and Professor Debra Bick
Contact details for Dr Yan-Shing Chang
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Funding provided: No
Start date: Open until a suitable candidate has been found
Supervisory team: Dr Rebecca Wybrow
Dr Rebecca Wybrow
» Palliative care
Methodology: Mixed methods, including primary and secondary data analysis
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Irene Higginson and Dr Anna Bone
Contact details for Professor Irene Higginson
Full project title: Evaluation of the measurement properties of self- and proxy-reported versions of a comprehensive assessment measure, the Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale for Dementia (IPOS-Dem) in non-cognitively impaired frail older adults with multi-morbidities
Methodology: Evaluation of measurement properties
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Clare Ellis-Smith, Professor Irene Higginson, Dr Catherine Evans
Full project title: Evaluation of the measurement properties of self- and proxy-reported versions of a comprehensive assessment measure, the Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale for Dementia (IPOS-Dem) in non-cognitively impaired frail older adults with multi-morbidities
Methodology: Evaluation of measurement properties
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Clare Ellis-Smith, Professor Irene Higginson, Dr Catherine Evans
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative research methods
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Irene Higginson and Dr Mevhibe B Hocaoglu
Contact details for Professor Irene Higginson
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative methods
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Irene Higginson and Dr Adejoke Oluyase
Contact details for Professor Irene Higginson
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative research methods
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Irene Higginson and Dr Mevhibe B Hocaoglu
Contact details for Professor Irene Higginson
Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative research methods
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Irene Higginson and Dr Mevhibe B Hocaoglu
Contact details for Professor Irene Higginson
Methodology: Research around rehabilitation approaches for the management of symptoms and disability towards the end of life. This could involve (i) characterising the people most likely to benefit with cohort studies, and (ii) modelling and testing rehabilitation treatments and approaches using mixed-methods and clinical trials. Applications from Allied Health Professions and therapists are particularly encouraged.
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Dr Matthew Maddocks
Contact details for Professor Matthew Maddocks
Methodology: This could involve (i) use of 'big data' to investigate patterns of care for people near the end of life, including linkage of electronic health record data with other sources of routine data; (ii) investigating the links between research and policy, and in particular how big data analyses can inform policy; (iii) investigating novel data collection mechanisms for palliative care-specific data, such as electronic collection of outcomes data.
Funding provided: No
Start dates: Open until a suitable candidate is found
Supervisory team: Professor Wei Gao, Dr Katherine Sleeman
Contact details for Dr Katherine Sleeman
Hear from our students
Dr Natalie Sanford
'I absolutely loved my doctoral research experience at King’s. Both inside of and outside of my direct team, everyone in the Faculty was so lovely. I really felt that they were invested in my success and keen to help me when I needed anything, to promote my work, and to support me as an individual. If you are motivated, engaged, and enthusiastic, the community at King’s will welcome you with open arms.' Read more about Natalie's experience.
Prapan Phetlerthirunkul
'As my project is predominantly related to nursing and palliative care, King's College London is the best place for both fields. Nursing at King’s is ranked second in the world, and palliative care is among the most highly regarded globally. I chose to study my PhD in Nursing at King’s College London from its reputation. With sufficient resources and its quality, I feel I have a very high confidence in learning and conducting research.' Read more about Prapan's experience.