Suicide and Self-harm Research group funded Masters by Research studentship

About the Project

We are pleased to announce a one-off studentship supported by the Suicide and Self-harm Research group (SASH) within the Centre for Academic Mental Health and Population Health Sciences at the University of Bristol.

SASH aims to carry out research that contributes to self-harm and suicide prevention in the UK and globally using robust research evidence. Our programmes of work include a range of methodologies and we work across several disciplines.

The studentship will support a 1-year Masters by Research student. The objective of this studentship is to provide training and development for an early career researcher who has an interest in this subject area. We are specifically advertising a studentship with no defined project in mind, as we are hoping to attract a talented researcher with new ideas and approaches to our group.

We are seeking applicants who have an idea for a project in the area of suicide and self-harm. As this is a 1-year project, proposed projects must be feasible within this time frame. To facilitate this, we suggest that project proposals aim to utilise pre-existing data (i.e. secondary data or published literature). Sources of secondary data include the Office for National Statistics, WHO mortality database, Global Burden of Disease, Catalogue of Mental Health Measures and the UK Data Service. We recommend prospective students align their research with the research interests of at least one of the three SASH leads and identify them as potential supervisors. You are also welcome to have additional supervisors from within the SASH group or the University of Bristol. We strongly advise all applicants to reach out to potential supervisors prior to submitting their applications to talk through the feasibility of their projects.

The candidate will have the opportunity to take part in regular SASH group meetings where new research and ideas are discussed. The candidate will also receive dedicated training support via their supervisors as well as through the world renowned Bristol Medical School short course programme.

We hope that the successful candidate will use this opportunity to launch their research career and we envisage that 1-2 academic publications will result from their masters. If the candidate wishes to carry on their research beyond masters levels, suitable candidates will be supported to apply for PhD studentships.

How to apply

Submit your application via the University of Bristol portal: Start your application | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol. Search for then select ‘Population Health Sciences (MSc by Research)’. Click ‘Apply’ next to the September 2026 start.

Before applying, please review our admissions statement, which includes our entry requirements and list of the documents needed for an application.

We are keen to support applicants from minority and under-represented backgrounds (based on protected characteristics) and those who have experienced other challenges or disadvantages. We encourage you to use your covering letter to ensure we can take these factors into account.

The anticipated start date is October 2026.

Application enquiries

For questions about the project, please contact the Dr Duleeka Knipe (dee.knipe@bristol.ac.uk)

For questions about applying, please contact our admissions team at fohs-pgadmissions@bristol.ac.uk.

Deadline: 20th May 2026

Supervisors: To be identified

Key words: Suicide, self-harm, social determinants, qualitative, quantitative, epidemiology

Funding Notes

This is a 1-year scholarship which includes a stipend at the UKRI rate (£21,805for 2026/27), and home tuition fees. This project is available for both home and international students, but international students will have to cover the shortfall in fee funding through other mechanisms.