Implementation to translate surgical trial evidence into practice

The School of Social Policy and Society is offering funding for doctoral research. The studentship will explore how we can ensure evidence from the National Institute for Health and Care Research funded ROSSINI-Platform trial (NIHR163832) is implemented into surgical practice.

The successful applicant will be supervised by academics from the Centre for Evidence and Implementation Science (CEIS), University of Birmingham (Dr Sarah Damery and Dr Arabella Scantlebury) and the Birmingham Surgical Trials Consortium, Professor Thomas Pinkney.

CEIS is a multi-disciplinary team at the forefront of methodological innovation and policy and practice change. The Centre encompasses two NIHR funded programmes – a Technology Appraisal Review team and an Evidence Synthesis Group, and two further research groups - a policy and methods group and an Evidence Based Surgery (EBS) Unit. The successful applicant will be based within the EBS group and will benefit from opportunities for professional and personal development through established collaborations such as the NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC).
Professor Pinkney is Director of BiSTC, Director of Clinical Research at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Chief Investigator of the NIHR-funded ROSSINI2 and ROSSINI-Platform trials. BiSTC is one of nine Royal College of Surgeons surgical clinical trials units across the UK and aims to improve surgical patient outcomes by delivering major multicentre surgical trials.

The studentship will aim to develop NHS-ready, implementation strategies to underpin the translation of evidence generated from ROSSINI-Platform into surgical practice. To achieve this we anticipate that the successful applicant will adopt a mixed methods approach which may include, but is not limited to:

• Using routinely collected NHS secondary care datasets (e.g. Hospital Episodes Statistics) to evaluate how NIHR ROSSINI-Platform is affecting clinical practice.
• Using patient-level data captured from audits and surveys of clinical activity at hospital sites before, during and after the trial.
• Using qualitative case site methodology to understand the role of evidence in surgical decision making and factors influencing the successful adoption of ROSSINI-Platform data into surgical work.
• Close collaboration with national leaders in surgical research and practice.

The studentship covers:

• Full tuition fees at the Home rate (£5,181 per annum).
• An annual maintenance grant for 3 years of £21,805 per year.

The studentship is open to UK-based applicants only.

Who can apply?

• A first-class or strong upper second-class (2:1) undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. health sciences, social sciences, or related field)
• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject (completed or near completion at the time of application)
• Post-qualification experience, including professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience, will also be taken into account when considering applicants

Desirable Criteria

• Research experience using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods (including evidence synthesis)
• Demonstrated interest in health inequalities, applied health research, and/or health services research
• interest in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) and participatory research approaches

The studentship is open to UK-based applicants only.

How to Apply

Applications must be made through the University of Birmingham Postgraduate Application portal. Your scholarship application will not be considered if you do not apply for admission. To apply for admission click here, selecting PhD in Health Services Management. Once you have applied, please email Dr Sarah Damery (s.l.damery@bham.ac.uk) with your details and application number.

Your application should include:

• A personal statement / cover letter explaining your suitability and what you would bring to the PhD (2 pages maximum)
• A research protocol (2 page maximum) to address the proposed research aim.
• A CV
• Two academic references
• Transcripts (previous qualifications)

Please mention that you are applying for CEIS, Surgical Implementation PhD studentship within your application. Full information about applying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham can be found at Apply for an advertised PhD - University of Birmingham.

The deadline for applications is Thursday July 2 2026. Interviews will be held on Wednesday July 15 2026.