Project background
This innovative studentship project will explore how particular locations have developed an association with suicide, and how that influences people’s own suicidal thoughts and actions.  A better understanding of these processes will help inform work to change perceptions of locations of concern; a key plank of Government policy to reduce suicides in England.    

The doctoral researcher will run studies designed to understand perceptions of the site held by the general public, people vulnerable to suicidal ideation and people living locally.  The current proposal outlines the main aims of the research programme, with methods for exploring and investigating the research questions. However, the selected doctoral researcher can also bring their own ideas and experience to the work, particularly in the context of the empirical studies. They will be supported to analyse the data using appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods.  The project is a collaboration between Goldsmiths, University of London, with its strong track record of applied research in the fields of health and social care, and the dynamic East Sussex County Council Public Health Team.  The collaboration will offer invaluable insight and access to a wide range of stakeholders, including lived experience campaigners, academics and policy makers.