PhD candidate for PRESCRIP-TEC, Global Health Unit

Job description

The Department of Health Sciences, Global Health Unit, is looking for a PhD candidate to work on an international research project on the intersection between Public and Reproductive health, called Prevention and Screening Innovation Project Towards Elimination of Cervical cancer (PRESCRIP-TEC). This project has the ambition to contribute to improving worldwide access and uptake of screening programmes for the prevention of cervical cancer. This international collaboration provides a challenging environment for a PhD candidate with international ambitions.

Project background
The PRESCRIP-TEC project is funded from the European H2020 research program, and coordinated by the UMC Groningen. It is a study of innovative approaches to cervical cancer screening based on self-testing for HPV infection and visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid, combined with application of artificial intelligence as decision support system. The fieldwork will be done in India, Bangladesh and Uganda, and HPV testing and Pap-smear examination in Slovakia. The study aims to provide a more effective approach to screening and to provide insight into the costs and benefits of this innovative approach. The UMCG Department of Health Sciences, Global Health Unit, is leading and coordinating a consortium of 15 partners from the Netherlands, the UK, Spain and from Uganda, Bangladesh, India ans Slovakia as mentioned. The research project will start early 2021, and will last three years.

Research activities
The research activities in the PRESCRIP-TEC project will be:
1. Designing a Monitoring & Evaluation framework for the screening operations and a work plan for research activities;
2. Measuring client-related barriers and facilitators for uptake of screening using a mixed methods research approach, using a series of existing survey and interview tools;
3. Measuring implementation fidelity and health systems related determinants of that, using mainly quantitative, WHO Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) tools;
4. Analysing of cost-effectiveness of the screening protocol, comparing with WHO analysis
5. Developing a business plan for implementation of improved screening and secondary prevention in Low and Middle-Income countries;
6. Assessing overall impact and scalability of the PRESCRIP-TEC project and expansion to other regions or countries;
7. Disseminating research outcomes, including writing reports and scientific publications.

Your role
You will be part of the UMCG team of gynaecologists, health scientists, epidemiologists and health economists, who collaborate in the research project. You will be working under direct supervision of a post-doctoral fellow. Your work will be both in guiding quantitative and qualitative data collection (implemented by research assistants in the field) and analysis in all of the above mentioned research areas.

Organisation

The University Medical Center Groningen, located in the center of Groningen, is one of the Netherlands’ eight university medical centers and the largest employer in the Northern Netherlands. It has an ambitious, dynamic, international environment with state-of-the-art facilities. More than 13.000 employees provide patient care, are involved in medical education and perform cutting-edge scientific research, focused on healthy ageing.

Department
The Department of Health Sciences consists of the Community and Occupational Medicine and Health Psychology Sections as well as the unit of Applied Healthcare Research. The department hosts about 130 employees, most of whom work as researchers. The Global Health Unit concentrates its education and research on international health and has around 10 (parttime) staff members.

Your profile

• You have a Master’s degree in Epidemiology, Health Economics, Public Health, Medicine or other health-related sciences.
• You have affinity with Global Health, biomedical research, health economics and/or modelling.
• You have knowledge of epidemiology, quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• You have excellent communication skills in English; knowledge of Dutch is an advantage. You have proven expertise in written English, e.g. a Master thesis or a publication.
• You are flexible and ambitious.
• You are an excellent team player, and are able to work as a full team member and arrange your time efficiently.
• You are available to start the job on short notice (ultimately mid-2021, but preferably earlier).
• You meet with other conditions that UMCG may pose, e.g. Certificate of Good Conduct, and testimonials from previous employers.

What do we offer

We offer a challenging position (0.8 FTE), in principle for 43 months (March 1st 2021 untill September 30Th, 2024), in an inspiring and multidisciplinary and international environment. Extension may be considered if necessary for completing data analysis and thesis. The project will start March, 1st, 2021. The appointment will take place as soon as possible from March 1st on. Your salary will be a minimum of € 2.495,- gross per month in the first year and a maximum of € 3.196,- (scale PhD) in the final (4th) year, based on a full-time appointment. In addition, the UMCG will offer you 8% holiday pay, and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC). English: http://www.nfu.nl/english/about-the-nfu/

For questions about the position

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