We are looking for a candidate for the PhD project titled “Socioeconomic inequalities in the individual response to the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in Guinea: Insights from mobile phone data (SES-EBOLA)” at the PhD School Pierre Louis of public health, Epidemiology and Biomedical Information Sciences (Ecole doctorale Pierre Louis de santé publique, ED 393 Epidémiologie et Sciences de l'Information Biomédicale) of Sorbonne Université, in Paris, France.

The PhD student will be supervised by Dr. Vittoria Colizza, Head of Research in the Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health at INSERM and Sorbonne Université, Equipe 1 Surveillance and modeling of communicable diseases, leading the EPIcx lab. The project will be done in collaboration with Dr. Stefania Rubrichi from the SENSE (Sociology and Economics of Networks and Services) lab at Orange and Prof. Abdoulaye Touré, Director General of the National Institute of Public Health in Guinea, and Director of the Centre de Recherche et Formation en Infectiologie of the country.

About the PhD project: Understanding how socio-economic status (SES) shapes behavioral responses to epidemics is crucial for designing equitable and effective public health interventions. While recent studies have uncovered SES-driven disparities during COVID-19, little is known about how such inequalities affected individual behaviors during previous outbreaks like Ebola. This PhD project will leverage anonymized mobile phone data from Orange during the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in Guinea to: i) characterize SES-stratified patterns in mobility and communication behaviors and their responsiveness to public health interventions; ii) analyze how the epidemic reshaped social and spatial networks along SES lines, identifying whether interventions reinforced or mitigated segregation. The project builds on recent network-based approaches developed for COVID-19 and will provide key insights for future data-informed and equity-focused epidemic responses.

About EPIcx lab: vibrant, hard-working, enthusiastic. We were at the forefront of COVID-19 pandemic response informing public health agencies and authorities, and we keep working in outbreak response and applied public health. Our research interests and scientific production can be found in our research page and publications page.

About the PhD candidate: You have a Master degree in applied mathematics, statistics, data science, physics, or related fields. You have experience with statistical modeling, data analysis, network science, and programming. You are fluent in English written and oral communication. You are committed and work well in team.

About the PhD funding options:
• The PhD proposal “Socioeconomic inequalities in the individual response to the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in Guinea: Insights from mobile phone data (SES-EBOLA)” has been selected by the SOUND funding program of Sorbonne Université “SOCIETES EN MUTATION - Axe 1 – Inégalités”.
• The candidate will apply to the SOUND program to be selected for PhD funding for 3 years associated to this project. A doctoral contract currently corresponds to a gross salary of €2077.41/month.

To apply:
• Send a CV, a letter of motivation, and a reference letter to epicx.lab@gmail.com specifying in the email subject the title of this call.
• Deadline to apply: April 21, 2025. We review applications on a rolling basis.
• After the candidate is selected, the dossier of candidature to apply for funding will be prepared in collaboration with the PhD supervisor for the SOUND program deadline of May 5.