PhD Studentship - Prevention - Improving cancer screening uptake among ethnic minority adults

Title of the award

ARC NENC PhD:
Prevention Across Conditions - improving cancer screening uptake among ethnic minority adults living with Type 2 diabetes

Institution and location

University of Sunderland, Sunderland

Award summary

100% of home tuition fees paid, annual stipend of £21,805 and additional funding given to cover research costs of £15,000. This studentship is only available to those eligible for UK home tuition fees.

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must:

Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or

have settled status, or

have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or

have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student and would not be eligible.

Applicants will need to be in the UK and fully enrolled before stipend payments can commence.

Overview

People living with Type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of multiple long-term conditions, including breast and bowel cancer, making cancer screening particularly important. South Asian, Black African and Black Caribbean communities are also disproportionately affected by Type 2 diabetes and experience inequalities in access to healthcare and preventive services, including lower cancer screening uptake.

This PhD will explore how community-centred and asset-based approaches can improve cancer screening engagement among ethnic minority adults living with Type 2 diabetes. Building on co-designed, peer-led, culturally tailored and faith-based interventions, the project will investigate how these approaches can be adapted within Type 2 diabetes self-management.

The successful candidate will:

• Use qualitative methods to explore barriers and facilitators to cancer screening among ethnic minority adults living with Type 2 diabetes
• Work with community members to adapt the intervention
• Support delivery of the adapted intervention in community settings in North East England
• Explore the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention qualitatively
• Potentially use a pre-post survey to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviours and inform future implementation

This cross-ARC PhD will be supported by researchers from the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations North East and North Cumbria and East of England, alongside voluntary, community and faith-based partners.

Number of awards

One

February 2027

3.5 years, full time

04/11/2026

Sponsors

NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria

Eligibility criteria

To qualify for this studentship, you will need at least an upper second-class honours (2:1) bachelors degree, and a masters degree (in a relevant social or health sciences subject) or equivalent professional experience and an interest in/experience in health and social care research. Qualitative or mixed-methods research experience would be advantageous. Applicants whose first language is not English will normally need an IELTS overall score of 6.5, with at least 6.0 in each component.