As CCREATE-AGE is a research centre, we are focused on building a community that explores topics related to ageing at different academic levels that can ideally have practical applications in older people’s everyday lives. So, PhDs are an excellent opportunity to contribute to this research community, the broader society, and the individual students themselves, helping them further their careers.
Here are a few reasons why having PhD students at the centre is so valuable and why considering applying to a PhD scholarship yourself can be a great opportunity:
- This will allow you, as a PhD student, to have funding to focus on and develop your own topic of interest that relates to ageing and include older people from the public as active collaborators to make a real impact on their lives and society.
- A PhD contributes to creating new knowledge that can improve how ageing is understood and how theories, products, services, policies, spaces, and general culture can better support older people’s and families’ needs.
- You will join a well-connected research community at the academic, industry, government and public levels. This provides a platform for networking and finding ways to collaborate around common areas of interest.
- PhD candidates will share spaces of mutual learning with academics in more senior roles, including Early Career Researchers, Senior Lecturers, Associate Professors and Professors, who are all well-known in research areas related to critical ageing themes. This fosters a community where research mentorship between all members allows the centre to practice its co-creating ethos, which extends to the public, who, as co-creators, can be invited to join these spaces for future research development.
The current round of applications closes on the 1st of June for PhD candidates awarded the scholarship to be able to start their studies on the 1st of September 2024.
Introducing Melanie Stowell
Key aspects to consider when applying for a PhD scholarship at CCREATE-AGE include:
- Co-created research: actively involving older people.
- Transdisciplinary research: spanning more than one discipline and aligned to one or more of research themes.
- Research that embeds equity, diversity, or inclusion.
There are guaranteed scholarships for:
- Māori applicants with a New Zealand university qualifying programme GPA of 7.0 or above who are offered a place in a doctoral programme.
- Pacific applicants with a New Zealand university qualifying programme GPA of 7.0 or above who are offered a place in a doctoral programme.
Melanie Stowell is the first recipient of a CCREATE-AGE PhD scholarship.
Learn more about Melanie’s current research questions and topics of interest in her own words:
“My research question
The aim of this PhD is to co-create a digital intervention to support older adults’ mental wellbeing and healthy coping behaviours in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research will seek to address the following questions:
- What do older adults feel they need the most support with to promote mental wellbeing and healthy ways of coping?
- What are the enabling factors and barriers to older adults’ engagement with digital health tools?
- What are the key components of a person-centred and culturally appropriate digital intervention to support older adults with their mental wellbeing?
Why I applied
I’ve been working in health services research for nearly 8 years in the US, UK, and, more recently, New Zealand. For much of that time, my colleagues and mentors have encouraged me to look into pursuing a PhD. It had been on my mind for several years, but I was struggling to find the right opportunity and topic. I’ve always had a strong interest in mental health and ageing research, so I feel very fortunate to have met the CCREATE-AGE team at a time when I was preparing to apply to the University of Auckland. The stars aligned and I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity.
What I’m appreciating now
I’ve just returned from a trip to visit my family in Colorado, and while saying goodbye was bittersweet, it’s so comforting to return to Auckland with the sense that I’m coming home. I’m excited to continue learning about and exploring New Zealand over the next few years, assuming there’s time for small breaks away from my studies!”
We welcome Melanie and new applicants to join the growing cohort of CCREATE-AGE PhD candidates, who will lead groundbreaking research to advance the future of ageing wellbeing.
Click here for more information. And please get in touch with us if you have any questions:
Email: ccreateage@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext. 88680