Nursing Research / Midwifery Research / Health Studies Research MPhil/PhD, option of joint PhD with HKU

Overview

The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care is regarded as a centre of excellence for nursing and midwifery, achieving high scores in research and teaching quality assessments. The first MPhil/PhD students enrolled in the late 1970s and since then the Faculty has expanded steadily its range of high quality graduate education programmes to meet the needs of increasingly well-educated healthcare professionals who wish to continue their education to support and develop their careers. 

The purpose of our research is to improve the quality of services and outcomes for patients through studies concerned with individual clinical needs, service delivery and organisation and the wider social and policy context of care, nationally and internationally.  Our research work is underpinned by cross cutting principles: engagement with patient and user perspectives, commitment to conceptual and methodological innovation, attention to the policy relevance and practical application of our findings through interventions.

PhD Research Projects

PhD projects in the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care become available all year round. Please visit our postgraduate research page, where you can browse through the current opportunities. The Faculty is especially interested in receiving applications from students across the globe, who are planning their doctoral research projects in fields that will contribute to the Facultys research groups, enhance the research culture and align with the Facultys research strategy.

If you are considering making an application to study one of our PhD programmes and are looking for potential supervisors,  please email NMPC PGR enquires@ kcl.ac.uk with a list of names of supervisors you have identified as having expertise in your chosen area, along with CV and a short research proposal.   The Nursing Midwifery and Palliative Care PGR team will contact them on your behalf. Please do not contact potential PhD supervisors directly as they are unable to respond to initial enquiries. 

Support for Postgraduate Research Students within the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care

• A model of three-supervisors has been introduced to improve students support and access to clinical and methodological expertise. Where appropriate and required, MPhil/PhD students within the Faculty will be provided with a team of three supervisors.
• Research methods training modules offered by the Faculty itself include Advanced Quantitative Research Methods; Advanced Qualitative Research Methods; Evidence Based Decision Making in Healthcare; Research Methods and Statistics; and Epidemiology.
• Our own Nightingale-Saunders Clinical Trials & Epidemiology Unit offers an advanced level of expertise on quantitative topics of which students can avail.
• In addition, our MPhil/PhD students have access to a wide range of supplementary courses and activities, including workshops, symposia and funding offered by Centre of Doctoral Studies, the Health Sciences Doctoral Training Centre (HSDTC) and the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP). 
• The Faculty also runs three Journal Clubs (for Nursing & Midwifery, Mental Health and the Cecily Saunders Institute of Palliative Care respectively) and students have an opportunity to participate in fortnightly research seminar programmes delivered by one of the research divisions. Students active involvement in developing the range of activities and their delivery is strongly encouraged.

Meet our students and learn more about the great work they are doing.

Through our educational programmes we equip our students to become experts and apply the latest global evidence and guidance to healthcare.  This is made possible through our education and reaseach programmes and our local, national and global partnerships. Find out more about our international connections.

The Faculty is an integral partner within Kings Health Partners (KHP) and contributes to the interdisciplinary research centres in supporting and delivering high quality research.  In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (2014) assessment, more than 90% of the Facultys research was rated as 4* and 3* (world-class and internationally excellent).  Our research activity is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Research Councils and a range of charities. We host a range of nationally competitive fellowships from PhD studentship to post-doctoral level.

To study at King's, it is essential that you can communicate effectively in English and are able to do so in an academic environment. You are usually required to provide certification of your competence in English before starting your studies.

• register on the King's Apply Portal
• complete our online application form