The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium (MDC) is proud to announce its PhD Studentship competition. We are seeking the next generation of researchers to help us tackle persistent inequalities in maternity.
The MDC brings together a UK wide collaboration of universities, NHS trusts, councils, charities, and industry partners. You can find information about our consortium members here. Our goal is to improve outcomes for women and babies before, during, and after pregnancy through inclusive, evidence-based research.
Capacity Development
The MDC capacity development programme aims to build the next generation of maternity disparities research leaders, strengthen the workforce to deliver and sustain impact across the UK and deliver on the government priorities including the Women’s Health Strategy for England and 10 Year Health Plan for England.
The Consortium focuses on growing long-term research capacity and expertise, especially within underrepresented disciplines, professions and underserved communities; inspiring and supporting the next generation of researchers with the right skills mix to work across clinical, practice and research sectors.
The Opportunity
We are offering up to 13 funded PhD studentships across a range of potential projects at universities across our Consortium. We are specifically looking to grow research capacity in methodological areas, including but not limited to, health economics, statistics, trial design, digital research, data science, implementation science and co-production methods where expertise is currently limited.
Start: January 2027
Duration: Up to 3 years (Full-Time)
Funding:
- Full home tuition fees covered (at 2026/27 UK rates).
- Tax-free annual stipend at UKRI rates (£21,805/£23,805 outside London/ inside London from 1st October 2026).
- £5,000 (per award) contribution towards research, travel, training and consumables.
- International students are welcome to apply but must secure alternative funding for the difference between UK and Overseas tuition fees
The Project
Rationale: According to Royal College of Midwives (RCM, 2025) and the Missing Billion Initiative (Kuper & Rodríguez, 2025) disabled women make up 20% of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in the UK, equating to 2.9 million women and they have significantly worse maternity care access, experiences and outcomes. They reported 44% higher odds of stillbirth, neonatal mortality, caesarean birth more likely for disabled women in addition to lower levels of breastfeeding and longer postnatal stays.
Overarching Aim: The primary aim of this research is to develop an evidence-based framework and a supporting AI-powered digital toolkit designed to improve the accessibility and experience of maternity services for women with disabilities and from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes pregnant women with disabilities (e.g., visual impairment, deafness, or neurodivergence), migrant and ethnic minority groups, and those living in socioeconomically deprived areas. The PhD seeks to synthesise lived experience with digital innovation to empower self-care and streamline healthcare navigation.
Research Objectives
- Identify gaps and accessibility barriers: To capture and analyse the specific service gaps and accessibility requirements of mothers and infants with disabilities and from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, focusing on intersectional challenges such as migration status, ethnicity, and socioeconomic deprivation.
- Facilitate co-production and knowledge exchange: To generate and share knowledge through a collaborative co-production model by focusing on the specific needs of neurodivergent mothers and those living with physical or sensory disabilities before adapting the model to address priority areas identified by migrant and ethnic minority communities.
- Develop a digital accessibility and wellbeing toolkit through data analytics: examine the ways in which safe and secure AI-powered technologies can support women with disabilities, minorities and marginalised communities. Consequently, co-design and user-test a culturally sensitive, evidence-based digital toolkit to facilitate digital self-care and provide clear signposting for navigating complex maternity support pathways.
- Evaluate usability and impact: Undertaking accessibility and usability evaluations of the AI-powered digital toolkit from human centred design and technology acceptance theories.
Phased Approach: The research will be executed in two distinct phases:
- Phase I: Focus on the immediate needs and support structures for mothers with disabilities and neurodivergent traits.
- Phase II: Expands the established framework to incorporate specialised accessibility features and support structures for ethnic minority mothers, migrant families, and those from areas of high socioeconomic deprivation.
The PhD will contribute to key disciplines such as accessibility and inclusivity with a potential policy impact centred on AI-powered digital developments.
Supervisor – Professor Huseyin Dogan: hdogan@bournemouth.ac.uk
Who is a MDC PhD studentship for?
We welcome applications from individuals passionate about maternal health equity with particular methodology knowledge and experience. We are committed to building a supportive, inclusive, and caring research community. We particularly encourage applications from:
- People from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds.
- People with disabilities, neurodivergent conditions, and long-term health requirements
- Candidates of all genders, ages, and beliefs.
- We encourage applicants with experience of a wide range of methodologies to apply if they believe they can bring valuable skills to research on maternity inequalities. If it is not immediately obvious, please use your cover letter to explain how your disciplinary background will allow you to carry out your research.
Eligibility Criteria
Essential
- First/Upper Second-Class Honours degree (2:1 or above) in a relevant subject
- A Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field if received a 2:1 undergraduate degree.
- Understanding of and commitment to tackling maternity inequalities.
- Relevant previous research experience – this experience may be relevant to either the research or methodological area.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Highly motivated.
- Able to work both independently and as part of a team.
- Able to plan and manage own work.
- Strong quantitative research skills and experience analysing complex datasets, ideally including routinely collected data.
- International applicants are welcome to apply for studentships, but applicants who are selected for interview must be able to provide proof of funding for international fees and immigration costs prior to their interview.
- English language requirement which can be found on individual university postgraduate admission web pages.
*All students will be expected to be based at their host university and meet the individual university PhD studentship regulations. Please check individual university postgraduate admissions.
Accessibility and Support
We want you to perform at your best. You may contact individual supervisors when asking for more details about the projects and your suitability for the project. General enquiries about the recruitment process and MDC, including if you require any reasonable adjustments for the application process or the interview (such as alternative formats, extra time, or specific technological needs), please contact: nihr.mdc.capacitydevelopment@newcastle.ac.uk.
NIHR and DHSC have a duty as a public body to promote equality of opportunity. We will contact all applicants throughout the application period with an Equality Monitoring Form. Monitoring ensures that all applications to NIHR MDC Programmes are treated equally in terms of gender, ethnicity and/or disability. Information will be anonymised and stored separately from your application, only be used for the purpose of monitoring equal opportunities and be kept securely and in confidence.
