Project title: Gaming the morning routine: Assessing the use of gamified digital technology (Jam Up!) for helping Autistic children with their morning routine.

Primary supervisor: Dr Gethin Hughes (University of Essex)

Second supervisor: Dr Anna Gui (University of Essex)

University: University of Essex, Department of Psychology

SENSS Theme: Health, Wellbeing, and Social Care

Collaborative partner: Spectrum Tailored Technology Ltd. (developer of Jam Up!)

Collaborative partner supervisor: Ms. Rachael Malthouse (founder and developer of Jam Up!)

Degree structure: The structure of the studentship offered will depend on your personal training needs. However, the minimum duration of a SENSS-funded studentship will be 3.5 years: this covers a PhD and a mandatory placement of approximately 3 months. The maximum duration of a studentship will be 4.5 years: this covers a Masters degree followed by a PhD, as well as the mandatory 3-month placement.

Project background

Jam Up! is a digital toolbox implemented as a mobile app, designed to empower autistic children to gain autonomy with daily tasks, like getting dressed, using gamification. The underpinning rationale behind Jam Up! is the understanding that breaking down aspects of everyday tasks into their component parts and using audio-visual modelling can support autistic children. Everyday tasks can cause overwhelm and/or hold no meaning for some autistic children. Many children find them pointless and boring. Rewards and praise to provide intrinsic and extrinsic feedback have been incorporated into Jam Up to support behavioural change for both autistic children and their parents / carers. Research within the field of occupational science recognises empowering autistic children to be more independent in everyday tasks and the use of embodied routines increases well-being and can benefit physical health.

Project aims and objectives

This studentship will investigate the effect of using a Jam Up!

  1. To gain input from stakeholders in the development/refinement of additional modules for digital healthcare supporting morning routines for autistic children (Jam Up!)

  2. To assess parents and carers’ experiences of using Jam Up! and how these feed into measures of subjective wellbeing.

  3. To investigate whether consistent use of Jam Up! leads to improvements in validated measures of functioning and mental health.

Training opportunities

A comprehensive package of training will be agreed in consultation with the supervisors. Elements of training will be provided by the supervisors, Dr Gethin Hughes and Dr Anna Gui, and by other providers.

Amongst other things, they will:

  • Receive training in approaches to co-produced research.

  • Have access to Proficio training courses including ‘Managing your Research Project’, ‘Pathways to Impact’ and courses run by the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis

  • Receive all the training they required to conduct the statistical analysis outlined in the project, working together with the supervisory team and attending relevant Proficio courses.

  • Through working with the collaborative partner, the successful candidate will learn project management skills, product development skills, financial forecasting, marketing, grant writing and event showcasing.

The successful candidate, working closely with the supervisors, will lead in the day to day running of the project. Following an initial literature review, they will use a co-production approach by engaging with autistic children and their parents/carers to help finalise the details of the proposed studies. They will then conduct the proposed research, analyse the data, and write up the research for publication. They will also work closely with STT and other partners to inform future developments in the digital healthcare technology.

Essential and/or desirable attributes/skills

The successful candidate will have a degree (2.1 or above) in Psychology, cognitive science, or a closely related discipline. A willingness to learn advanced statistical techniques is essential. Ideally, they will also have some background in statistical programming (e.g. R, Matlab). They will have good interpersonal skills, and will be motivated to work with autistic children and their families, and to work with industry partners in developing digital healthcare tools. Previous experience in working with autistic children and their families would be desirable.

Studentship details

This studentship is offered as between +3.5 and +4.5-year (1+3.5, 2+2.5, +4.5) awards. The standard length of an ESRC-funded studentship is +3.5. This includes the standard +3 PhD, plus an +0.25 term for the integrated placement which the collaborative partner is expected to offer the DR, and a further additional +0.25 to enable the student to undertake training relevant to their research project (including career progression). All studentships are offered on either a full-time or part-time basis. 

The studentship award covers your university fees and provides you with a stipend of £19,237 per year (for 2024-2025 academic year). You will also be able to apply for additional funding via the SENSS Research Training Support Grant to support your training needs.

Residential eligibility

All applicants, whether Home or International, are eligible for a full award, that is, they will receive a stipend (salary) and they will not have to pay any university tuition fees during their studentship award.

How to apply for this studentship

To be considered for this funding, you must first apply to SENSS for this collaborative studentship. Please read the SENSS Collaborative Studentship Application Guidance Notes before completing our online application form. The Guidance Notes are available here.

If your application is accepted by SENSS, you will need to make a separate application for a place to study at the University of Essex as your host University. You will be provided with a link with information on how to make your application to the University of Essex once the SENSS proposal has been accepted. 

Deadline:

The deadline for submitting your application for SENSS funding on HEIApply is 12:00 GMT on Monday 24 February 2025. No extensions to this deadline will be permitted.

For further enquiries:

For enquiries about this research project, please email Dr Gethin Hughes: ghughes@essex.ac.uk.

For enquiries related to your eligibility for this studentship, and/or the application process, please email: Laura Ruddick at laura@essex.ac.uk.

The likely interview date for this studentship will be Monday 10 March 2025 (pm).