The SPHeRE programme is the leading doctoral programme in Ireland for training the next generation of research leaders in Population Health, Policy and Health Services Research (PHPHSR). Since 2007, the programme has provided a comprehensive integrated training model that produces graduates with a common understanding of population health, health policy and health services research. The doctoral graduates leave the programme with transferable skill sets that are comprehensive and strong enough to conduct research outside the confines of their thesis topic. This is exemplified by the fact that many of our alumni have gone on to be leaders in the PHPHSR system in Ireland. In SPHeRE, we have strong connections with a broad range of collaborators in the PHPHSR system across service providers, policy makers, regulatory bodies, funding bodies, advocacy organisations, higher education institutions and professional bodies. We have a range of knowledge translation activities as part of our grant that translates the research findings in SPHeRE to our collaborators and the wider PHPHSR field. However, we have no activities outside of research outputs, such as papers, that disseminate our work on doctoral education and its implications for skill sets that are needed in the field. The knowledge translation activities proposed here aim to (1) facilitate a national discussion on the key features of interdisciplinary doctoral training that is needed by the system in PHPHSR in Ireland, (2) capture the ingredients of our success in interdisciplinary doctoral training in SPHeRE, (3) translate those ingredients in a way that can be used by key stakeholders nationally and internationally. We propose to recruit a knowledge broker to join our team to facilitate knowledge exchange both between SPHeRE and our key stakeholders and within our stakeholder group in an interactive and collective way.
