NUAcT PhD Studentship: Economics of Well-being, Arts Engagement, and Health Inequalities

Award Summary

Full PhD tuition fees at the UK home student rate (UK students and EU students with settled or pre-settled status).  

An annual stipend equivalent to the UKRI doctoral stipend (estimated at £20,780 for 2025/26). 

Home and international applicants are welcome to apply. Successful international candidates are required to fund the difference between home fees and international tuition fees. 

Overview

Newcastle University Business School invites applications for a three-year PhD studentship for full-time students undertaking a PhD in Economics, starting their studies in January 2026. We welcome applications in economics using applied econometric methods, with an interest in the health and well-being benefits of arts engagement.    

Arts engagement can be broadly defined to include various forms of arts, culture and heritage (ACH). Applicants may wish to focus on the consumption of one or various forms of engagement to address health inequalities.  

Possible additional broad strands to integrate with cultural economics may include:  

• Institutional economics, social capital and social cohesion  
• Creative health and mental health outcomes  
• Socio-economic and gender inequalities, and social policy issues  
• Subjective well-being and other life-satisfaction measures  
• Sports  
• Environmental economics and sustainability issues  

Supervised by Dr Sarah Najm and Professor John Wildman, the successful candidate is expected to develop their own research project within this broad theme. We encourage projects that combine rigorous economic analysis with innovative approaches to measuring cultural participation and health/well-being outcomes.  

This area of research addresses topical policy concerns about cost-effective approaches to reduce health inequalities while increasing engagement in ACH for all.  

Informal enquiries can be sent to Dr Sarah Najm (sarah.najm@newcastle.ac.uk). 

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

January 2026.  

Award Duration

3 years full-time. Part-time working patterns are available.  

Application Closing Date

14/11/2025 

Sponsor

Newcastle University (NUAcT fellowship) 

Supervisors

Dr Sarah Najm  

Professor John Wildman 

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants should have a good Honours degree (first-class or upper-second-class Honours) in a relevant subject area, like Economics, Statistics, Maths, or other quantitative social sciences. Additionally, they must possess, or expect to receive a Master’s-level qualification, or equivalent, with merit or above in a relevant subject area.  

If your first language is not English you need an overall IELTS of 7.0 (with a minimum of 6.5 in writing, and 6.0 in all other sub-skills).

The successful candidate will be expected to actively participate in the intellectual life of the Economics Subject Group and the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC). This includes participating in internal and external research seminars provided by the group and engaging with training opportunities offered by the Economics Subject Group, the Business School, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Northern Advanced Research Training Initiative network. 

How To Apply

Please see https://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/fees-funding/search-funding/?code=nubs012 for application instructions.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an online interview at Newcastle University. 

Contact Details

Expressions of interest and informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Sarah Najm (sarah.najm@newcastle.ac.uk) 

nubsphdadmin@newcastle.ac.uk (for administrative queries). You can read more about the PhD in Economics here.  

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