MRFF Funded PhD Scholarship Opportunity: Mental health care for older Australians: patterns, impacts, and barriers

We are seeking an outstanding candidate for a fully-funded PhD Scholarship working jointly at Flinders University and the South Australian Research Institute. Joining projects funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and working with data from the ground breaking Registry of Senior Australians, the candidate will use big data analytic methods to better understand the impact of mental health problems among older people and the use of mental health services by this population.

This project will provide the candidate with skills in epidemiology, big data analytics, health service research methods, and knowledge translation. It will provide skill development in conducting research to influence policy change within a multidisciplinary team. Candidates with a background in psychology, public health, epidemiology, health services research, biostatistics, and/or data analytics are encouraged to apply. Previous experience working with big data in R, SAS or STATA are preferred but professional development can be provided where necessary.

The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr Monica Cations (https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/monica.cations) at Flinders University and Professor Maria Inacio (https://research.sahmri.org.au/en/persons/maria-inacio) at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.  The successful candidate must be able to work independently as well as a member of a team. The successful candidate must demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills as well as interpersonal skills towards staff, students, and collaborators

The scholarship includes:

• a stipend valued at $30,000 per annum tax free (indexed annually), with possibility to increase with external funding
• The scholarship will be awarded for 3 years, possibility of a 6 month extension
• A Research Training Program Fee Offset Scholarship to cover tuition fees for Australian Citizens, NZ Citizens and Permanent Residents.

To be eligible for the award of this scholarship a student must:

• Be an Australian citizen; or New Zealand citizen; or have been granted permanent resident status;  and
• meet PhD admission requirements including: have an Australian Honours degree Class 1 or 2A or equivalent qualification (at least AQF Level 8), including a research component of at least 6 months’ full-time study achieving Distinction (75%) OR including evidence of equivalent research experience, such as a substantial first-author refereed publication or track record as an investigator on a competitive grant; and
• be available to commence as a full-time PhD student at Flinders University in Semester 1, 2023 at the latest