PhD Scholarship: Improving health communication for the prevention of E-cigarette use in young people

We are seeking an outstanding candidate for a PhD scholarship for a Medical Research Future Fund funded Project entitled: Improving health communication for prevention of e-cigarette use in young people.

This exciting project is a partnership between Flinders University, Lives Lived Well, Lung Foundation Australia, Cancer Council South Australia and Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia. The team includes researchers from The George Institute, The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, The University of Otago, The University of New South Wales, and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.

This PhD scholarship is based at Flinders University NT, under the supervision of Professor James Smith, Professor Billie Bonevski, and other Flinders University academics. The student will work closely with the wider research team and project manager.

Flinders Rural and Remote Health is a hub for innovative health research, education, and workforce development in the Northern Territory. It has served the NT community in this way for the past 25 years, with campuses in Nhulunbuy, Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs. All activities are driven by our values which focus on long-term and short-term needs of the NT community. Our research in the NT sits at the nexus of rural and remote health, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, with a rapidly growing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research workforce. This includes NT-based scholars with expertise in alcohol and other drugs, mental health, health promotion, and social and emotional wellbeing research and evaluation.

The aim of this work is to prevent vaping amongst adolescents and young adults at high risk of vaping-related harm, though improved communication principles across media platforms. The research will use a co-design approach, with partner organisations and consumers to best support knowledge translation and uptake of messages.

The project will involve interviewing adolescents and young adults to provide unique world-first insights into alternative nicotine product use prevention strategies for youth in rural and remote regions including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This research will contribute to developing health messages and resources to prevent the uptake of vaping amongst young adults and adolescents, reducing the risk of harm these emerging products present.

The scholarship includes:

• a stipend valued at $33,000 per annum, tax free
• Scholar support of $5,000 per annum tax free
• The scholarship will be awarded for 3 years
• 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 having 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 2023.