Fully funded PhD opportunities

Research Project: Delineating the transmission of vector- and air-borne diseases over large spatial scales to inform public health interventions

In the past decade, infectious diseases constitute more than 20% of global disease burden with pandemics caused by pathogens such as H5N1, SARS-CoV-1/2 and Zika resulting in disruptions to global economies. Furthermore, climate change, pollution, increasing urban populations and population density contribute to sharp increases in the burden of endemic infectious diseases such as dengue and influenza. In the absence of therapeutics, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as reducing population mobility, lockdowns and vector/environment-based control are the primary means to mitigate infectious disease transmission. To guide policy on disease mitigation, the successful PhD candidates will be tasked with: (1) developing models to understand the epidemic potential and instantaneous transmissibility of infectious diseases (2) developing models to understand the medium to long-term burden of infectious diseases across large spatial scales

This project, led by the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMed), Nanyang Technological University, will be conducted in collaboration with the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH), National University of Singapore, the Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore and the Ministry of Health, Singapore will offer a multidisciplinary and unique collaborative environment with diverse learning opportunities.

Program and Place of Work: This project will support 1-2 graduate students (PhD level) in the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at the Nanyang Technological University graduate program. The graduate students will be based at Clinical Sciences Building, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, with possibility of temporary placement with the various project partners. The successful applicant(s) will work as part of a growing and energetic team investigating health at the interface of environment, climate change and infectious diseases in local and international contexts.

Qualifications: Candidates should have a MSc degree in a quantitative field, such as data science, computational biology, mathematics, computer science, statistics, or related field. Candidate with bachelor’s degree in the above disciplines with strong record of research will be considered. The candidate should have strong quantitative skills, or at least demonstrate interest in developing skills in statistics and infectious disease modelling. The successful candidate will have a strong aptitude for communication and teamwork and have demonstrated good academic performance in their past programs.

Support: 2 positions fully funded for 4 years, with monthly stipend, tuition fees and conference funding, For outstanding students, internal top-up award opportunities are available on a competitive basis.

Start Date: The positions will start in June 2023 at the earliest or January 2024 at the latest. Application deadline for LKCMed PhD program and admission requirements can be found here: https://www.ntu.edu.sg/education/graduate-programme/lkcmedicine-phd-by-research-programme.

Application: Interested candidates should send by email a current curriculum vitae, a scanned copy of transcript. Application reviews are on-going, so apply as soon as you can.

For further information about the above research opportunities, please jointly contact Dr. Lim Jue Tao (LKCMed) juetao.lim [at] ntu.edu.sg and Dr. Borame Dickens (SSHSPH) ephdbsl [at] nus.edu.sg