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Applications are welcome for four PhD studentships linked with the ESRC Administrative Data Research Centre for England - two posts in London and two posts in Southampton - starting from October 2014. TWO PhD STUDENTSHIPS linked with the new ESRC Administrative Data Research Centre - England (London) Two PhD studentships are available to start in 2014. These are funded by the partner institutes UCL and the Institute of Education as part of their role in the newly established Administrative Data Research Centre-England (ADRCE), which is a joint partnership between the University of Southampton, University College London, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Institute of Education and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Both studentships are full time for 3 years. Studentships pay tuition fees, plus an annual maintenance stipend: currently £15,726 (tax-free). The student will be eligible for an Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) additional stipend of £3,000 per year. Potential students are advised to discuss the project with the appropriate academic supervisor before applying. Students should hold or be completing a master's qualification in an appropriate discipline and have a minimum of a 2:1 in their first degree. Project 1: Educational provision in England and outcomes for children with long-term conditions Understanding how education contributes to health and wellbeing outcomes for children with long-term conditions is important for policy but evidence is lacking on how these children fare with varied approaches to education provision across the country. As the Chief Medical Officer recently reported, "improved education helps health" and "improving health improves educational attainment". The studentship offers an opportunity for a highly motivated individual to become proficient in using large, national, linked datasets from health and education for research to inform policy and practice. The student will analyse healthcare administrative data (hospital episodes statistics linked to the national pupil dataset) focusing on children with long-term conditions. The studentship will be based at the ADRC-England at the UCL-Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research. Supervision will be from UCL and The Institute of Education, both in Bloomsbury London. The student will participate in doctoral training at both institutions. How to apply: Please send your application (consisting of a CV, a statement of research experience and interests, and the contact details of two academic referees) to Prof Ruth Gilbert ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>). At present, due to funding restrictions, we can only accept applications for funded places from UK/Home and EU applicants. Closing date: 15 February 2014. For more information visit http://www.farrinstitute.org/centre/UCLP/53_PhD-Studentships.html. For informal enquiries and further details on this project, contact: Prof Ruth Gilbert ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>). Project 2: Using linked data to determine the impact of health and/or environmental factors on education outcomes The studentship offers an opportunity for a highly motivated individual to become proficient in using large, national, linked datasets for research to inform policy and practice. Use of linked administrative data is a newly developing and expanding field and we are keen for people who have interest in research using linked education and health data in particular, for example the impact of chronic health conditions on education outcomes or the impact of health and/or environmental factors on education outcomes. This would be only available as a +3 studentship. Students need to indicate that they are interested in being considered for this studentship when making their application. The student will be based at the Institute of Education. S/he will have joint supervision from the Institute of Education, and LSHTM or UCL (all in Bloomsbury), depending on the topic chosen. S/he will participate in the PhD training programme for DTC students at all collaborating institutions. How to apply: Please visit www.bloomsburydtc.ac.uk/academic-clusters/quantitative-methods<http://www.bloomsburydtc.ac.uk/academic-clusters/quantitative-methods> for contact details, more information on the application process and closing date for this project. For informal enquiries and further details on this project, contact: Prof Lorraine Dearden ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>). TWO fully funded ESRC PhD STUDENTSHIPS linked with the ESRC Administrative Data Research Centre - England (Southampton) The new Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRC) England at the University of Southampton is pleased to announce TWO 1+3 PhD studentships which will be linked to the Centre and co-funded by the University's ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC). The studentships will provide up to four years' funding (1 year Masters + 3 years PhD) including fees, Standard Maintenance Grant (currently £13,726 pa) and Research Training Support Grant (£750 pa). In addition students are eligible for the advanced quantitative methods supplement (currently £3000 pa and £250 pa respectively). High quality applicants will also be considered who have already obtained an average of 60% or more in an ESRC recognised Masters. Applications are invited in the following topic areas to be supervised by ADRC co-investigators. Two studentships will be awarded based on the excellence of the applicants. Topic A: Establishing patterns of error in household and individual level consumption data This project concerns the relationship between a range of consumption patterns and energy consumption levels. The project will review approaches to the estimation of reported 'consumption error'; combine and/or link consumption and other datasets from various sources to produce a set of experimental linked consumption datasets; develop methods to analyse the characteristics and distribution of error in reported consumption of, for example, water and energy. Topic B: The Residential Mobility of Mental Health Service Users The aim of this research is to enhance understanding of the residential mobility of patients receiving NHS mental health treatment. Tracking geo-referenced patient movements via administrative sources, the project will undertake multilevel longitudinal analysis of individual and area variables to predict the numbers of moves, comparing trajectories of people with mental illness with a comparison sample of others treated for conditions that are also likely to give rise to multiple hospital treatment episodes. Topic C: Multistage cluster sampling using geo-frame In traditional approaches to multistage sampling design, the clusters are fixed in advance. This PhD concerns investigation of multistage cluster sampling methodology in which geo-referenced information is incorporated into the sampling frame. The project will explore the possibility of using administrative data to perform dynamic clustering in order to minimize the intra-cluster correlation subject to the constraints of cost or work load, and thereby achieve to better trade-off between cost and design efficiency. Topic D: Combining survey and administrative data for nonresponse investigation This project aims to combine survey data with administrative data to analyse survey nonresponse behaviour. The project will use multilevel modelling to investigate key determinants of nonresponse and representativity indicators and to develop nonresponse adjustment methods. The project will inform survey practice on how to analyse and adjust for nonresponse using administrative data. The research will improve survey designs including adaptive and responsive survey designs. Details of how to apply are provided on the Southampton ESRC DTC website at http://www.southampton.ac.uk/esrcdtc. Applicants must apply to the University and submit the additional DTC form downloadable from the website. The closing date for applications is Monday 28th February 2014 and interviews will be arranged with the short-listed applicants soon after this closing date. These studentships are for entry in October 2014. For informal enquiries and further detail on any of these topics, contact: Prof Peter W Smith ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Director, ADRC England; or Prof David Martin ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Deputy Director, ADRC England ************************************************** Dr Ivanka Pribramska Centre Manager (interim) Administrative Data Research Centre for England (ADRC-E), Bloomsbury Centre & Administrator/Information Officer UCL Institute of Child Health Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/research-ich/mrc-cech/training/evidence-based-child-health> 30 Guilford Street London WC1N 1EH T: +44 (0)20 7905 2606 F: +44 (0)20 7905 2793 E: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>