PhD in Biological Psychology

Nicotine is well known to suppress appetite, and cigarette smoking is consistently associated with reduced hunger and lower body weight./nHowever, as vaping becomes the dominant form of nicotine use in the UK—particularly among young adults—much less is understood about how e-cigarettes influence appetite and eating behaviour./nThis PhD project will investigate how vaping affects appetite, eating behaviour, and energy balance./nDrawing on nutrition science, biological psychology, and human metabolism, this research will integrate evidence from existing literature, population-level datasets, and controlled laboratory studies to uncover behavioural and physiological mechanisms./nThe central aim is to determine whether vaping reproduces the appetite-suppressing effects of smoking or influences appetite through alternative pathways, potentially due to differences in nicotine delivery, absence of smoke-derived toxins, flavourings, or distinct patterns of use./nThe successful student will receive multidisciplinary training in evidence synthesis, quantitative analysis, and laboratory-based experimental methods./nWorking within a collaborative team at the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (Loughborough University Campus), they will develop the skills needed to translate fundamental research into practical, real-world impact.