We are offering 2 full-time 6-week National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded research internships to 2nd* or 3rd year BSc Nursing students, or MNurs students, from the adult or mental health field, to take place in August and September 2024.
Both interns will have opportunities to contribute to ongoing NIHR-funded research projects. This will include attending and presenting at patient and public involvement panels, attending team meetings, developing analysis and writing skills, and contributing to knowledge translation. The internships will come with a full-time 6-week stipend, at an hourly rate of £12.00 per hour. Candidates will need to be registered as casual workers with the University of York.
Overview of projects
During the internship you will be based in the Mental Health and Addictions Research Group (MHARG), within the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York and will be primarily supervised by either Dr Claire Carswell or Jennifer Brown.
Specifically, both internships will be embedded in research projects focused on the relationship between severe mental illness (SMI; conditions such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder) and long-term physical conditions.
Internship 1: Exploring the relationship between severe mental illness and chronic kidney disease.
This internship will be supervised by Dr Claire Carswell and will be embedded within her NIHR Advanced Fellowship project. This project is focused on exploring the relationship between SMI and chronic kidney disease. The main research activities will be based on a systematic review to determine the prevalence of chronic kidney disease among people with severe mental illness. This could involve screening articles, extracting data, critically appraising articles, or synthesising findings, as well as contributing to the drafting of the publication as a co-author. There will also be opportunities to contribute to the planning of future research.
Internship 2: Evaluation of a type 2 diabetes self-management intervention for people with severe mental illness.
This internship will be supervised by Jennifer Brown and will be embedded within the DIAMONDS programme, an NIHR funded programme evaluating a type 2 diabetes self-management intervention for people with SMI. The main research activities will be based on a mixed methods process evaluation of the DIAMONDS randomised controlled trial, including training on process evaluation methods, shadowing qualitative data collection, contributing to qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and shadowing members of an interdisciplinary team. Other opportunities related to the project may be available and may include work with minoritised ethnic groups and partners in the NHS.
The selection process for these internships will be competitive. To apply please complete the following form by midnight on the 1st July 2024 :
https://forms.gle/Hq5jBgYJr9wVzNoJA
The form will ask you to provide the following:
- A summary CV (2 pages maximum)
- The most recent transcript of your progress on your programme to date
- A 500-word personal statement, clearly outlining your reasons for applying, your expectations for how the opportunity might benefit your future career, and any relevant experience
- Your preferred project
If you have any questions about the internships, please contact Claire Carswell (claire.carswell@york.ac.uk) or Jennifer Brown (jennifer.brown@york.ac.uk)
We hope to inform everyone of the outcome of their application by the 12th of July.
*Students should appreciate that if they need to re-submit any Stage 2 work, they would need to consider taking on this extra work over the summer (i.e. if they found themselves pressured around their re-sub time) as this could not be grounds for mitigation.