NHMRC Investigator Grant - New health economic tools for improving the health and wellbeing of older Australians

We are seeking two outstanding candidates with relevant background/experience/post-graduate qualification (e.g. Masters degree) in health economics or health service research for PhD scholarships for an NHMRC Investigator Research Program: New health economic tools for improving the health and wellbeing of older Australians. This exciting project is a partnership between Flinders University, The South Australian and Victorian Health Systems and older Australians. 

The project has two funded PhD scholarships. Both will be based at Flinders University (Principal supervisor Prof. Julie Ratcliffe). Associate supervision will be provided by other members of the research team located at Flinders University (Assoc Prof Khadka, Assoc Prof Milte, Dr Cleland). The first PhD scholarship will focus on further extension of the newly developed Quality Of Life-Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC) and Quality of Care Experience- Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC) instruments into end of life care for older Australians in health system settings. The second PhD scholarship will focus on the application of innovative eye tracking technology to provide further insights into the relationship between cognitive impairment and dementia and older people’s understanding of the existing QOL-ACC and QCE-ACC instruments and new communication accessible versions of these instruments across health and aged care systems.

The scholarship includes:

• a stipend valued at $40,000 per annum (2025 rate) tax free
• The scholarship will be awarded for 3.5 years
• a Research Training Program Fee Offset Scholarship to cover tuition fees for Australian Citizens, NZ Citizens and Permanent Residents
• an international tuition fee waiver for international students for the duration of the scholarship

To be eligible for the award of this scholarship a student must:

• be an Australian citizen; or New Zealand citizen; or have been granted permanent resident status; international students will be considered
• meet PhD admission requirements including: have an Australian Honours degree Class 1 or 2A or equivalent qualification (at least AQF Level 8), including a research component of at least 6 months’ full-time study achieving Distinction (75%) OR including evidence of equivalent research experience, such as a substantial first-author refereed publication or track record as an investigator on a competitive grant; and
• be available to commence as a full-time PhD student at Flinders University in semester 1, 2025