You must be on your period”: using smartphones and wearables to study changes in mental wellbeing throughout the menstrual cycle. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship 2025/26 Entry,

About the GW4 BioMed2 Doctoral Training Partnership

The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff (lead) and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers. Students will have access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of the four research-intensive universities, with opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary and ‘team science’. The DTP already has over 90 studentships over 6 cohorts in its first phase, along with 58 students over 3 cohorts in its second phase.

Project Information

Research Theme:

Population Health Sciences

Summary:

The menstrual cycle can influence mental wellbeing for a variety of biological and psychosocial reasons, but high-quality data are lacking. This is an exciting opportunity to work with people that menstruate to co-produce and trial a cutting-edge smart technology method to collect real-time data on menstrual experiences. You will advance our understanding of the important intersection of the menstrual cycle and mental health and develop skills highly valued in the FemTech industry.

Main Descritption:

The menstrual cycle and menstrual experiences can substantially impact an individual’s mental health and wellbeing. Perhaps the most well known example is premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a set of symptoms that occur in the luteal phase, including anxiety, low mood, and irritability, with a severe form being Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). However, menstruation can influence mental wellbeing in other ways and at different cycle stages, e.g. through physical discomfort, changes to behaviours, and social effects arising from stigma.

There are many unaddressed or unanswered questions about the association between the menstrual cycle and mental health, for example: What biopsychosocial mechanisms increase risk of low mood and mental distress during certain stages of the menstrual cycle? And why do some individuals show large variability in their mental wellbeing within or between cycles?

Please click on the ‘visit institution website’ on the right hand side to apply for this project