One fully funded PhD Studentship at the University of Liverpool: Modelling the Impacts of Changing the Food Environment

We have an exciting PhD opportunity at the University of Liverpool in the Department of Public Health, Policy & Systems.

This fully funded PhD position will examine the impacts of public health policy interventions targeting the food environment in addressing obesity and diet-related illnesses. The PhD will contribute to two main activities. First, the successful applicant will contribute to a local food intake survey to examine daily nutrient intake and understand the contributions of the out-of-home (OOH) and non-OOH sectors, as well as exposures to the obesogenic food environment. Second, the PhD students will use simulation models to quantify the impacts of policy interventions aimed at improving the food environment. The PhD also offers substantial flexibility in choosing public health policy options (e.g., fiscal policy, food labelling, reformulation, policies affecting food availability and affordability) to be modelled. We encourage applicants to suggest policy interventions they are particularly interested in exploring during this PhD, as well as to check our previous studies to understand the type of policies that can be modelled.

The successful candidate will join the internationally recognised NCD Prevention and Food Policy Modelling Group and Theme with an excellent record of supervising PhD students and publishing in high-impact journals. Building on established IMPACT modelling approaches, the student will also analyse linked longitudinal data, nutritional survey data, risk factor trends, and disease trajectories to simulate the impacts of policy interventions on reducing disease burden. These models have previously informed WHO global sodium benchmarks, the redesign of the NHS Health Check, CMO reports, OECD analyses, and major national policy decisions. The PhD student will also be offered the opportunity to use other modelling approaches from our own group and collaborating institutes.

This fully funded studentship is supported by a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) programme which aims to understand how we can change the food environment to prevent diet-related disease and obesity. The studentship will be primarily based at the host institute (University of Liverpool). Students will be actively encouraged to engage with and learn from the collaborating institutes in the programme. Each studentship has a dedicated budget for personalised training, study visits and external placements, which we anticipate students will use during the studentship.  Students will also become members of the NIHR academy (www.nihr.ac.uk/career-development/nihr-academy): a dedicated network to support their training and development as a researcher. 

This funded PhD studentship is open to applicants with a strong quantitative background in a range of disciplines, including, but not limited to, public health, epidemiology, health psychology, data science, and demography. Candidates should have a 1st class honours degree (undergraduate) and/or a Distinction at Master's level. Relevant research experience and experience working with R software are desirable. Ideal candidates will also have a strong commitment to policy-relevant research and enthusiasm for tackling health inequalities through rigorous analytical and simulation modelling.

For submission, please email your CV (including overall degree classifications to date and any relevant research experience), university transcripts (including grades), a research proposal, and a detailed cover letter outlining why you are applying and why you are well qualified for the position by 01/03/26 (latest) to Prof Martin O’Flaherty: moflaher@liverpool.ac.uk. If you wish to make an informal inquiry before submission, please contact both Prof Martin O’Flaherty and Dr Edi Putra (ediputra@liverpool.ac.uk) in the same email.

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