PhD Studentship: Intersections of housing and older adult social care

University of Bristol

The project:

We invite applications for a PhD studentship exploring the intersections of housing and older adult social care. We are open to proposals on any topic within this broad area of enquiry, but of particular interest are questions of types of specialist housing with care provision and their affordability; the governance and financing of specialist housing; later life decision-making and choices about housing and care provision (downsizing, rightsizing, moving to specialist housing, home adaptations etc); the creation of intergenerational and mixed age communities within specialist housing and mainstream housing and their role in the social care system. We are open to a range of methodological approaches provided that the proposed methods are appropriate to the topic. The project will be funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research.

The expected start date of this studentship is: Monday 14th September 2026

The closing date for applications is: Friday 17th April 2026

For informal enquiries please contact:

Professor Karen West, karen.west@bristol.ac.uk

How to apply:

Please consult our research proposal guidance then submit an online application for this project at www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply. Please select either PhD Social Work or PhD Social Policy on the programme choice page. Please enter the advertised studentship project title and the named supervisor in the Research Details section of the application form. You should ensure that you upload all required supporting documentation as attachments to your application. The required supporting documents are listed on the Admissions Statement linked under the Entry Requirements on the relevant prospectus page. If you are currently undertaking a Master’s degree, please also attach an official interim transcript issued by your University. For application submission queries, please contact: sps-pgadmissions@bristol.ac.uk

Candidate requirements: Applicants should hold a first class/good upper second-class BSc/BA and hold (or expect to hold) MSc/MA with distinction/merit (or equivalent qualifications) in the social sciences. Current PhD students are not eligible to apply.

Funding: Tax-free annual stipend at the current UKRI rate, which is £21,805 for the 2026/27 academic year and paid in monthly instalments; full-time Home tuition fees for 3 years. An additional £8000 is available specifically to cover research costs over the duration of the award.

Contacts:

• Professor Karen West, karen.west@bristol.ac.uk
• sps-pgadmissions@bristol.ac.uk