Innovation in Health and Social Care: Fully Funded Welsh Government PhD in Business Management: Innovation Intensive Learning Academy (ILA) Commonwealth Fellow Project Scholarship (RS870)

Method B rules apply as the students will be professional learners employed, doing the PhD fulltime in their place of work 

Funder: Welsh Government through the Innovation Intensive Learning Academy 

Subject Area: Health and Social Care Innovation  

Project start date: October 2025 ** (Please see the note below regarding potential later start dates)

Supervisor: Dr Daniel Rees

Aligned Programmes of Study: PhD Business Management 

Mode of Study: Full Time, Method B 

Place of Study: Workplace and School of Management 

Project description:  

This unique, fully funded PhD scholarship offers an outstanding opportunity for a candidate to explore and identify the most effective innovation strategies and frameworks for transforming health and care systems across the Commonwealth. 

Hosted by the All-Wales Intensive Learning Academy for Innovation in Health and Social Care, and in partnership with the newly established Commonwealth Leaders Institute (Health) and the Commonwealth Young Health Leaders Fellowship, the project will engage with a global network of impactful and future-focused health leaders. 

The successful PhD candidate will: 

• Investigate and evaluate innovation capacities, models, and frameworks used in diverse Commonwealth countries to improve health and care outcomes. 

• Collaborate with leading health innovation scholars and practitioners across Wales and the Commonwealth. 

• Contribute to the development of scalable, evidence-based strategies for fostering innovation in health and social care systems worldwide. 

In June 2024, we successfully launched both the Commonwealth Leaders Institute (Health) and the Commonwealth Young Health Leaders Fellowship at Windsor, UK — two major initiatives designed to empower health leaders and amplify their global impact. This PhD will actively contribute to and benefit from these platforms. 

Additional Benefits: 

• Access to leadership training and international collaboration opportunities. 

• A travel and training budget to support fieldwork and engagement with global partners where appropriate. 

• Active participation in a vibrant interdisciplinary research environment committed to health innovation and social impact. 

We are seeking a motivated candidate who is passionate about health systems transformation, global collaboration, and innovation leadership. This PhD project represents a significant opportunity to shape future health innovation policy and practice across the Commonwealth. 

 Applications will be selected on the basis of this contribution, and against the eligibility criteria listed below. 

UK FEES ONLY: As part of this programme, we are able to offer several full-fee scholarships to professional learners from across the UK. 

PhD: Applicants for PhD must hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level and a master’s degree with a minimum overall grade at ‘Merit’. Alternatively, applicants with a UK first class honours degree (or non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University), or significant relevant experience, not holding a master’s degree, will be considered on an individual basis. Note for international and European applicants: details of how your qualification compares to the published academic entry requirements can be found on our Country Specific Entry Requirements page. 

English Language 

IELTS 6.5 Overall (with no individual component below 6.5) or Swansea University recognised equivalent Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here. 

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees. 

Additional expenses will also be available, where appropriate, to conduct field work and travel to training and engagement events in line with the project. 

Method B rules apply as the students will be professional learners employed, doing the PhD full-time in their place of work 

To apply, please complete the entire application form, following this link: Complete your application here in Learner Gateway

In order to be considered for this scholarship award the following steps are also required. 

1) In section ‘Programme Related Information’ please input the relevant RS Code for the scholarship award i.e. RS870 

2) In section ‘Research’ you will see ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’* (Mandatory) 

• In ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’ please input both:  
  • the RS Code RS870, and 
  • the scholarship title.   
• Please leave Proposed Supervisor field blank 
• Please leave Research Project (if applicable) blank 
• In ‘Do you have a proposal to upload?*’(Mandatory) Please select Yes 
• Then upload copy of advert (you can save the advert by clicking print, and then print to pdf) 

3) In section ‘Funding information’ please choose the option ‘Scholarship Funding’ only. Please ensure no other options are selected.  

*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the scholarship award. 

One application is required per individual Swansea University led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University led research scholarship awards. 

NOTE: Applicants for PhD/EngD/ProfD/EdD - to support our commitment to providing an environment free of discrimination and celebrating diversity at Swansea University you are required to complete an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form in addition to your programme application form.    

Please note that completion of the EDI Monitoring Form is mandatory; your application may not progress if this information is not submitted. 

As part of your online application, you MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email): 

• CV 

• Method B Form  

• Degree certificates and transcripts (if you are currently studying for a degree, screenshots of your grades to date are sufficient) 

• A cover letter including a ‘Supplementary Personal Statement’ to explain why the position particularly matches your skills and experience and how you choose to develop the project. 

• One reference (academic or previous employer) on headed paper or using the Swansea University reference form. Please note that we are not able to accept references received citing private email accounts, e.g. Hotmail. Referees should cite their employment email address for verification of reference. 

• Evidence of meeting English Language requirement (if applicable). 

• Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable) 

• Confirmation of EDI form submission 

Informal enquiries are welcome; please contact Dr Dan Rees, d.j.rees@swansea.ac.uk 

*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the scholarship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co- funding of a scholarship project is applicable. 

** In exceptional circumstances, and subject to the discretion of the University and/or the relevant funding body, a deferral of offer may be granted to the next available enrolment period. Such deferral will typically not exceed a duration of three calendar months from the originally stipulated commencement date. Please note that only one deferral may be considered, and any such deferral is not guaranteed.