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PhD opportunities: Child Psychology

Compare 15 doctoral research opportunities connected with Child Psychology, including project summaries, funding and application deadlines.

Child Psychology

FULLY FUNDED PhD - EEG biomarker discovery to guide treatment for developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs)

University of Glasgow

About the Project To apply, please click institution website. Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are a group of severe epilepsies. Dravet syndrome is one such condition and is usually caused by a change in the SCN1A gene. People with Dravet syndrome often experience frequent seizures, learning and developmental difficulties, and have a higher risk of early death.

Location
Glasgow, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
18 October 2026
Funding
Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Child Psychology

GW4 BioMed3 MRC DLP PhD project: Transdiagnostic mental health interventions for adversity affected youth

University of Bath

About the Project This project is one of several in competition for funding from the GW4 BioMed3 MRC Doctoral Landscape Programme (DLP), which is offering up to 17 studentships for entry in September 2026. The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers.

Location
Bath, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
21 October 2026
Funding
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Child Psychology

How can spatial skills improve mathematics learning? (Ref: LN/IC-SF1/2026)

Loughborough University

About the Project Difficulties in learning mathematics emerge early in education and are robust over time. The number of students not reaching basic levels of mathematics achievement remains a major societal challenge, at a time when societies are increasingly demanding mathematics skills due to scientific and industrial progress. So how can research effectively contribute to this? Spatial skills have been identified as a promising contributor to mathematics learning.

Location
Loughborough, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
1 April 2027
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Understanding the relationship between patterning and mathematics (Ref: LN/JE-SF1/2026)

Loughborough University

About the Project Patterning refers to the ability to notice regularities in sequences (e.g. ABABAB, ABAABAAB, where the As and Bs might be colours or shapes. Recently, patterning has attracted substantial interest because performance on patterning tasks show robust, significant correlations with mathematics achievement.

Location
Loughborough, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
1 July 2027
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

A relationship-based approach to nurturing the mental health of young children and their families in the Early Years

University of Worcester

About the Project Over recent years, the decline in children’s mental health has become increasingly obvious and deeply concerning. This reflects a national trend and a mounting anxiety about the wellbeing of those who educate and care for our children. In response, one non-profit organisation has been commissioned by Public Health to deliver an innovative project aimed at supporting the health and wellbeing of our youngest children.

Location
Worcester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Cognitive training in ADHD and autism – from academic attainment to improved mental health

University of Birmingham

About the Project Attention and executive functions are fundamental cognitive functions that enable us to interact effectively with our environment in achieving our behavioural goals. Directing attention away from distracting information, shifting between input sources or inhibiting an inappropriate action are all necessary basic functions called upon in everyday life.

Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Heterogeneity in the development of antisocial behaviour

University of Sheffield

About the Project Antisocial behaviour is a very wide-ranging term including fighting, stealing, and temper tantrums among many other things. It may not make sense to consider these behaviours as a single construct but to identify meaningful subsets that may have different causes, outcomes and respond well to different treatments. Currently popular classification schemes are based on age at onset and the presence of callousness.

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Infant oral health and food choices: supporting parents making right choices

The University of Manchester

About the Project This PhD will investigate how early-life food choices and oral hygiene behaviours shape infant oral health, and design actionable strategies to reduce preventable dental disease in early childhood. Despite advancements in tackling dental disease, pockets of high disease prevalence remain especially in areas of high deprivation and high need. There is substantial variability in child oral health according to where they live.

Location
Manchester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Kinship Care

University of Worcester

About the Project Kinship Care is the term given whereby children who cannot live with their birth parents are looked after by a connected person (relative or family friend). There have always been kinship care arrangements, but these arrangements have often been under resourced and overlooked.

Location
Worcester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Manosphere in Schools: The influence of misogynistic social media content on young people’s development.

University of Leicester

About the Project Project: The recent rapid expansion of social media connection and influence has seen the emergence of so-called ‘manosphere’ content, online spaces which discuss and promote toxic masculinity, misogyny and perceived opposition to feminism, and ‘manfluencers’, celebrity figureheads who use social media to defend and assert unequal gender ideals.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Measuring Everyday Resilience: Tools for Understanding How People Plan for and Navigate Emerging Life Challenges

University of Leicester

About the Project Summary People vary widely in how they handle the everyday challenges of modern life. Some notice early warning signs, prepare for possible difficulties, and draw together support from family, services, peers, and digital systems. Others experience problems accumulating across different areas such as work, health, finances, relationships, or online environments.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

Rapid Naming and Reading: Eye-Tracking Insights into Dyslexia

University of Leicester

About the Project Project: Developmental dyslexia affects 5–17% of school-age children, posing significant challenges for literacy acquisition and educational success. One cognitive skill strongly linked to reading proficiency and difficulties—including dyslexia—is Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), the ability to quickly name familiar stimuli such as letters, numbers, colours, and objects.

Location
Leicester, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

The development of flexible cognition in children and adults

University of Sheffield

About the Project The ability to switch flexibly between different rules is a crucial skill that emerges gradually during the preschool and early school years, and underpins many more complex behaviours. In recent work, we have found that the same processes that lead young children to make errors on flexible switching tasks also cause adults to respond more slowly on comparable tasks, suggesting that the same processes are at work in both preschool children and adults.

Location
Sheffield, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

The role of language use and self-concept in psychosocial interventions for people living with dementia

University of Reading

About the Project Dementia is a global public health priority. People living with dementia often face challenges in daily functioning and diminished quality of life, as the disorder affects many important cognitive functions. To date, no cure has been identified. Certain types of psychosocial interventions (e.g., Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, CST) have proven effective in enhancing both cognition and quality of life.

Location
Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only

Child Psychology

The use of picture books to increase toddlers’ willingness to consume unfamiliar food.

University of Reading

About the Project Evidence demonstrates that repeated exposure is effective in increasing children's liking and consumption of target foods, however parents can find it a challenging strategy to implemement, not least because of the resource it requires. Research has found that using picture books positively influences toddlers willingness to taste unfamiliar foods, but findings are limited to vegetables. Legumes (e.g.

Location
Reading, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
Deadline
Year-round applications
Funding
Self-Funded PhD Students Only