PhD Fellowship Opportunity

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Deadline: December 15, 2024

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a premier research-to-policy institution generating evidence, strengthening research and related capacity in the African research and development ecosystem, and engaging policy to inform action on health and development. APHRC seeks to drive change by developing strong African research leadership and promoting evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) across sub-Saharan Africa.

APHRC, in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Edinburgh, has received funding from the UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Programme for a project titled Addressing Commercial Determinants of Health in sub-Saharan Africa (ACORDS). The project aims to explore how three unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs)—alcohol, ultra-processed food, and fossil fuels—influence population health in SSA, and to inform the development of coherent policies to promote health and sustainable development.

This is a full-time position based in Nairobi, Kenya with regular travels to the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where the candidate will be enrolled. The fellowship will run for 36 months, starting in January 2025.

Duties/Responsibilities

Work with a multidisciplinary team at APHRC to support desk reviews, qualitative and quantitative field data collection and analyses.
Collaborate with the project team to identify and establish stakeholder engagement.
Support project dissemination activities, including manuscript and report writing.
Identify and propose appropriate venues for in-country stakeholder engagement forums.
Document in-country processes and sessions with stakeholders.
Attend project-related meetings as required.

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

Minimum Requirements

A master’s degree in public health, economics, medical, social, or biological sciences, or related fields.
Experience in qualitative research, including proficiency with software such as Atlas ti, NVivo, or Opencode.
Practical skills in statistics and knowledge of software including R, STATA, and Excel.
Demonstrable ability to organize and prioritize work while delivering results efficiently.
Ability to draft manuscripts for publication and present results at conferences.
Applicant must be a full-time staff who has spent at least three years working at the Center.

Desirable Competencies

Knowledge of commercial determinants of health.
Experience in conducting desk reviews and evaluations.
Prior publication experience.
Desire to continue working in sub-Saharan Africa after project completion.
Fluent in English with excellent communication and teamwork skills.
Applicant should be a citizen of an African country.

Skills the Fellow Will Be Expected to Acquire

Multidisciplinary/multicultural collaboration.
Motivation to learn new skills.
Health systems and policy analysis.
Communicating evidence to policymakers.
Commercial/social marketing skills.
Nutrition and food science.
Policy analysis.
Health economics.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit their application in English via email to jobs@aphrc.org by December 15, 2024, with the subject line "Fellowship Opportunity."

Applications should include:

A cover letter.
CV with contact details of three referees.
A PhD concept (max 3 pages, including bibliography, font size 12pt, margin 1-inch, single line spacing). The concept should align with research on commercial determinants of health and include:
- Background
- Possible research questions/hypotheses
- Objectives
- Proposed technical approach

For more details, visit the official opportunity page: PhD Fellowship Opportunity.

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The African Population and Health Research Centre

APHRC Campus, Kitisuru,Nairobi, Kenya

The African Population and Health Research Centre is the continent’s premier research institution and think tank, generating evidence to drive policy action to improve the health and wellbeing of African people.

As a progressive African-led global research center invested in creating legacy impact, our work is centered in three integrated programmatic divisions:

Research: Our teams orient their research agendas to global and continental development priorities bringing independent evidence to the forefront of decisions supporting improved growth and development in the region. The center’s research priorities fall within six thematic units: Aging and Development; Education and Youth Empowerment; Health and Systems for Health; Maternal and Child Wellbeing; Population Dynamics and Sexual Reproductive Health and; Urbanization and Wellbeing in Africa. Anchoring the six is our Data, Measurement and Evaluation Unit providing internal support for robust data systems and outward looking technical assistance in program evaluation and data use.

Research capacity strengthening: Through strategic partnerships, the Center strives to nurture African research leadership by building a critical mass of researchers to meaningfully engage with policy actors in developing, reviewing and implementing policies and programs relevant to the continent’s development.

Policy engagement and communications: The Center builds relationships with key decision-making bodies at the national, regional and global levels to encompass engagements with government and non-government entities, as well as academic, advocacy and research institutions: all in service to our agenda of ensuring contextual, relevant and localized knowledge as a driver of change. Our goal is to become a continental model for robust, policy-oriented, rigorous research that emphasizes synergy and collaboration.