A co-designed Strategy Toolkit to support older adults’ cognitive functioning in everyday life

Key facts

• Opens: Wednesday 28 October 2026
• Deadline: Friday 16 October 2026
• Number of places: 1
• Duration: 3 years (36 months), commencing 1 Jan or 1 April 2027
• Funding: Home fee, Stipend

Eligibility

Applicants for this scholarship must have:

• An Honours degree (with 1 st Class or 2:1) in psychology or a closely related discipline (e.g. cognitive science, neuroscience).
• A Master’s degree (with Distinction or Merit) in psychology or a closely related discipline (e.g. cognitive science, neuroscience). Note, predicted grades may be accepted for masters’ degrees where the course has been successfully completed before the commencement of the PhD scholarship.
• Previous experience with experimental and/or mixed-methods research design involving human participants and quantitative data analysis. Previous experience of cognitive testing and/or research with older adult participants would also be an advantage, as would experience with open science practices, administering surveys and focus groups, using relevant software for conducting experiments and analysing data (e.g. PsychoPy, R), and exchanging knowledge with research stakeholders outside of academia.

Project Details

The brain can compensate for declines by deploying resources strategically and using aspects of cognition that remain relatively stable into older age. For example, when learning someone’s name, we could imagine them meeting someone we know with that name, using additional mental capacity beyond the name itself (i.e. visual imagery and existing knowledge) to aid future recall. We can also strategically ‘offload’ certain information to the environment by using everyday tools as external aids.

However, a key challenge is that older adults, a group that stands to benefit the most from cognitive strategies, do not report using them as frequently or flexibly as younger people. Promisingly, older adults’ everyday strategy use and cognitive performance can improve via strategy training. This project therefore aims to leverage everyday cognitive strategies, via a ‘Strategy Toolkit’, to help support older adults’ cognition, health and wellbeing.

Specific objectives are to: explore the everyday cognitive challenges and compensatory strategies currently used by older adults, and their needs and preferences for supportive guidance; co-produce with stakeholders a refined Toolkit for intervention research; evaluate the updated toolkit’s feasibility, acceptability and usability for older adults in everyday life; and establish, via a pilot randomised controlled trial, the preliminary effects of the Toolkit on older adults’ cognition, health and wellbeing.

Further information

You will be based in Professor Nicholls’ vibrant Memory & Ageing Lab, comprising undergraduate, masters, PhD, and postdoctoral researchers, and offering dedicated lab space, resources, and equipment. The lab group meets regularly, offering further opportunity for supervision and peer support. You will also interact with Professor Mario Parra’s Applied Cognition Lab and gain further support via various relevant local and national networks (i.e. the Psychology Ageing Group, the Strathclyde Ageing Network, and the Scottish Cognitive Ageing Network).

Applications will be reviewed by a selection panel after the closing date and incomplete applications will not be considered.

• Applicants shortlisted for interview will be notified week commencing 23 November 2026
• Interviews will be conducted week commencing 30 November 2026
• The successful applicant must be able to commence study on 1 January or 1 April 2027

Funding details

The Dean’s Research Award scholarship covers Home fees and equivalent UKRI stipend for the duration of study, to be completed within 3 years. The stipend rate for 2026/27 £21,805 (tax free) each year (calculated pro-rata on start date) – paid in monthly instalments and likely to increase each academic year.

International applications may be considered, but if successful, they would need to be able to fund the difference between Home & International fees per annum for the duration of study, as no additional funding is available.

While there is no funding in place for opportunities marked "unfunded", there are lots of different options to help you fund postgraduate research. Visit funding your postgraduate research for links to government grants, research councils funding and more, that could be available.

Professor Louise Brown Nicholls

Psychology

Professor Mario Parra Rodriguez

Head Of Department Psychology

• Primary Supervisor: Professor Louise Brown Nicholls, Psychological Sciences & Health
• Additional Supervisor: Professor Mario Parra, Psychological Sciences & Health

Apply

To be considered for this scholarship, eligible applicants must apply formally online via Pegasus for PhD Psychology and must be available to commence study on either 1 January or 1 April 2027.

In the funding section of the application form please state the project title: A co-designed Strategy Toolkit to support older adults’ cognitive functioning in everyday life

Please submit your application with the required documentation uploaded no later than 16 November 2026 at 17:00hrs GMT:

Number of places: 1

To read how we process personal data, applicants can review our 'Privacy Notice for Student Applicants and Potential Applicants' on our Privacy notices' web page .

• Cover letter 800 to 1,000-word outlining why you wish to undertake this project and your suitability for this research study
• CV (up to 3 pages)
• All degree certificates and transcripts, to date
• 2 x Academic Reference Letters regarding the suitability for this research project
• IELTS Academic with a minimum overall band score of 6.5 with no individual test score below 5.5 (taken within the past 2 years prior to commencing study) or equivalent of English language proficiency (if English is not your first language),

Psychology

Programme: Psychology

Psychology

Programme: Psychology

Contact us

• Informal project enquiries may be sent to: Professor Louise Brown Nicholls, l.nicholls@strath.ac.uk
• Application enquiries to: hass-pgr-scholarships@strath.ac.uk

Research areas