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Fully Funded PhD studentship (Economics) at UCL (£21k per annum): DEADLINE IS TODAY, APPLY NOW!

Apply for Fully Funded PhD studentship (Economics) at UCL (£21k per annum)

AdminMarch 11, 2023

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Fully Funded PhD studentship (Economics) at UCL (£21k per annum)

Location

Target Audience

International

Application Deadline: 31 March 2023

About University College London (UCL)

University College London (UCL) is London’s leading multidisciplinary university, with approximately 11,000 staff and 38,000 students from 150 countries. The university operates in a global context and is committed to excellence, innovation and the promotion of global understanding in all activities: research, teaching, learning, enterprise and community engagement. UCL is one of the top ten universities in the world according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings and is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the UK for research strength.

Based within the Faculty of Population Health Sciences, Institute for Global Health (IGH) is the thriving research and teaching community at the heart of UCL’s Grand Challenge of Global Health. Drawing on the expertise our staff, we take a unique cross-disciplinary approach to global health in both our research and teaching, responding to the fact that health problems – and their solutions – are influenced by the social environment as well as medical innovation.

IGH offers a range of high quality teaching programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Experienced staff have created cutting edge programmes in global health and international child health, uniting traditional public health concerns with economics, law, philosophy, geography, anthropology and other disciplines. The Centre for Global Health Economics aims to provide world-leading expertise in Health, Behavioural, Public and Development Economics.

The Centre’s research expertise spans three main areas: (a) Economic evaluations within trials
of interventions to improve public health, (b) Modelling to identify scalable and sustainable health service delivery mechanisms and efficient health spending, and (c) Experimental and behavioural studies to understand the barriers and leveregs to positive behaviour change. The Centre also offers training and capacity building in global health economics.

Job Description
PhD studentship (Economics)
PhD studentship in Economics, at University College
London
Department: Institute for Global Health
Location: Centre for Global Health Economics, UCL Institute for Global Health, physically located at the
Guilford Street site (30 Guilford St, London, WC1N1EH)
Fees and stipend: Student fees will be paid at Home or International rate, with a stipend at £21k per annum
Full time : 36.5 hours per week
Duration: The post is available from 1 September 2023 through to 31 August 2027.
Supervised by: Professor Jolene Skordis, Dr Neha Batura

Main purpose of the PhD studentship (Economics)
 This four-year PhD studentship (Economics) offers candidates a unique opportunity to build both the research and teaching experience required for a future academic career, in a supportive environment. The awardee may pursue their own PhD question or a question developed in partnership with the supervisory team at UCL’s Centre for Global Health Economics, the Department of Economics and the Department of Statistical Science.

The awardee will have their UCL student fees paid at the Home or International rate and will receive a stipend of £21,000 per annum.
 The UCL Centre for Global Health Economics is a multi-faculty academic Centre. Based within the IGH, the Centre’s Fellows contribute world leading expertise in Behavioural and Development Economics, Decision Science, Statistics and Mathematical and Epidemiological Modelling. Examples of current research span the economic evaluation of complex trials to improve maternal and child health, exploratory work to identify scalable and sustainable service delivery mechanisms for early child development, and macroeconomic modelling of efficient spending on HIV and tuberculosis.

The Centre hosts UCL’s MSc in Health Economics and Decision Science, where students develop specialised skills in Health Economics or Decision Science. The Centre also provides teaching resources for the MSc in Global Health and Development, and supports a number of doctoral students and post-doctoral research fellows. The Centre also runs a summer internship programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in the Economics of Global Health and Development.
 The awardee will spend 180 hours per year on teaching activities and the rest of their working time on research studies. The teaching responsibility is recognized in the longer than average funding period. Within their teaching role, the awardee will provide teaching assistance on three modules within the MSc in Health Economics and Decision Science, personal tutoring to approximately 5-10 students per academic year and supervision to 5-10 masters projects.
 The academic year has 20 teaching weeks and the awardee is expected to work an average of 9 hours per teaching week. The number of hours per week varies according to the demands imposed by individual modules and by the structure of the course.
 This PhD studentship (Economics) is offered for four years. The successful applicant would receive supervision and mentoring from a supervisory team within IGH, supplemented by support from UCL’s strong doctoral training programme which offers a comprehensive range of academic and other skills training.
 The awardee’s PhD research will be supervised by Professor Jolene Skordis and Dr Neha Batura, and
applications for this studentship should include a project proposal in an area aligned with their research
interests. Applicants are advised to read the guidance on developing a project proposal on our webpages
(https://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/study/researchdegrees), to read about the research of Professor Skordis (https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=JSKOR31) and Dr Batura (https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=NBATU68), and to contact them in advance to discuss potential
research ideas before developing their proposal and submitting their application.

Duties and responsibilities:
The awardee will report to their PhD supervisors regarding progress on their doctoral research. For teaching activities, the awardee will report to the Module Leads and the Course Director, who has overall responsibility for managing the MSc in Health Economics and Decision Science. The awardee will be expected to act on their own initiative and use their judgement in prioritising tasks whilst referring complex problems or issues of policy where appropriate.
The awardee will have two main duties:
(1) The successful completion of a PhD; and
(2) 180 hours per annum of teaching responsibilities over the course of the studentship. The precise distribution of hours across these tasks will be by agreement with the PhD supervisory team and the Course Director.

Specifically, these duties are expected to entail:
 The conduct of all research activities associated with a period of doctoral research study at a world leading university;
 Presenting research in progress at conferences and seminars;

 Publishing research outputs as appropriate;
 Class teaching;
 Marking coursework submitted for tutorial classes using solutions provided by course lecturer;
 Maintaining records to monitor student progress, achievement and attendance;
 A weekly office hour for student enquiries during term time;
 Examination/assessment marking duties;
 Attendance in lectures for taught courses in order to familiarise yourself with content and student competencies;
 Holding individual meetings with personal tutees to provide pastoral support;
 Holding individual meeting with project tutees to provide academic support;
 Holding office hours when they are available for students. They are expected to be able to deal with students’ questions about specific modules and problems related to research methods and the writing of a research report.
 Reading project drafts (for nominated tutees) to provide academic guidance;
 Regular meetings with the course lecturer to discuss arising issues and problems;
 Involvement in ad-hoc meetings organized by Lecturers or students;
 Keeping class registers where needed;
 Liaising with the Course Directors and Module Leads about students who have prolonged absences or do not submit coursework;
 Liaising with the Course Directors and Module Leads about mark spreadsheets and student feedback;
 To actively follow and promote UCL policies, including Equal Opportunities; and
 To uphold confidentiality in regards to students records and marks.

Person specification
Criteria Essential or Desirable?

Qualifications, experience and knowledge
Highly motivated to pursue doctoral studies in Economics at a world leading institution Essential Educated to postgraduate (Masters) degree level in Economics Essential

Skills and abilities
High level of literacy and numeracy Essential
Excellent working knowledge of MS Office software and Stata Essential
Ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing, with students, academic and support staff at all levels Essential
Excellent organizational and time management skills Essential
Ability to be flexible and to respond to changing priorities in a busy environment Essential
Ability to work independently for short periods and as part of a team, recognising when advice / input needs to be sought Essential
Excellent people skills and the ability to build good relationships with colleagues and external partners Essential
A high level of accuracy and a keen attention to detail Essential

Desirable Criteria
 Published research output
 Experience working with complex datasets
 Experience working within research groups or in field sites
 Experience working with quantitative data from low and middle income country settings
 Previous experience of teaching or other forms of public presentation
 Knowledge of specialized Economics fields
 Experience in providing pastoral care and support to students
 Knowledge and experience of Moodle (virtual learning environment)
 Knowledge of R or Matlab

Desirable Terms and conditions
The awardee works 180 hours per year on teaching. In return, their student fees will be paid at Home or
International rate and they will receive a stipend at £21k per annum. The duration of the PhD studentship (Economics) is four years.

How to Apply for PhD studentship (Economics)

Enquiries / Visits
Informal enquiries should be made to Dr Neha Batura (n.batura@ucl.ac.uk).
How to apply:
Applicants should send the following to Dr Neha Batura (n.batura@ucl.ac.uk).
 CV
 Covering letter indicating why you believe you are suitable for the studentship
 Research proposal of 3-4 pages following guidance available at:
 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-health/sites/global-health/file /guidance_for_writing_a_project_proposal_2020.pdf
 Names and contact details (address, email) of two academic referees

The deadline for applications is: 31 March 2023, 09:00am (UK time)
Interview date: 25 April 2023.
The selected candidate will be made a provisional fellowship offer, subject to a successful application to UCL