3 full-time PhD Scholarships in the epidemiology of urban green space and health available in the PowerLab at the University of Wollongong (UOW)

Topics: Three PhD projects are available that focus on understanding the potential influences of urban green spaces on (PhD 1) birth outcomes, (PhD 2) health inequities in middle-to-older aged adults, and (PhD 3) health service and prescription use and costs.

Applications open until filled. Studies to commence from February 28th 2017 (or soon after)

Scholarship: AUD$30,000 pa + tuition fees

Opportunity: The Population Wellbeing and Environment Research Lab (PowerLab) welcomes applications from domestic and international candidates with a public health or related background (e.g., geography, sociology, economics, psychology, statistics) who are interested in pursuing doctoral studies into the health benefits of urban green spaces (e.g. parks). The candidates will receive appropriate training in quantitative research and apply their skills to analyse large epidemiological and environmental datasets. Supervision will be provided by A/Prof. Thomas Astell-Burt and Dr. Xiaoqi Feng. The candidates will also have opportunities to interact in collegial research and translational activities with other PhDs, postdoctoral fellows and international collaborators in the PowerLab, as well as with colleagues working in the local health and urban planning sectors.

Setting: The PowerLab is located on the beautiful main campus of the University of Wollongong, which is easily accessible via regular public transport or by car. The city of Wollongong is the 3rd largest in New South Wales and 10th largest in Australia, around 1-hour travel south of Sydney (Australia’s largest city). Wollongong is part of a spectacular coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean. Wollongong has an average annual temperature of around 22 degrees Celsius and approximately 107 clear days a year. An ideal place for three enthusiastic new PhD candidates to study the influences of local environment on health and wellbeing!

Competitive candidates will have:
• A Bachelor’s degree with Honours, or a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (see above).
• Basic experience with statistical analyses in one of SPSS, Stata, MLwIN, R, or SAS.
• International candidates: English proficiency aligned with the UOW English language requirements (https://www.uow.edu.au/future/international/apply/english/index.html).

How to apply: Applicants will need to submit an email to powerlab-enquiries@uow.edu.au with “PHD APPLICATION” as the subject line and include the following attachments:

• A full CV
• Degree transcripts
• Details of two academic referees
• An example of your best academic written work (this can be a piece of coursework, a published journal article, or equivalent)
• Evidence of English language proficiency (international candidates only)
• A cover letter of no more than 1 page of A4 containing the following information:
1. Indicate the PhD topic you are interested in at the top of the letter (see the top of this advertisement – you are free to state more than one topic if relevant);
2. A brief explanation of why you would like to be considered for a PhD Scholarship and why you are interested in the stated PhD topic(s);
3. Describe your experience in conducting statistical analyses and which software you use.

Courses : Faysal Kabir Shuvo