Dr Finbarr Leacy
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
SUMMARY:
This project will investigate state-of-the-art causal inference methods for health policy evaluation in the Irish healthcare setting. The successful candidate will apply existing propensity score and instrumental variable approaches to nationally representative databases, cohort studies and disease registries; developing extensions of these approaches where necessary.
The Irish state operates a medical card scheme which enables qualifying individuals to access a range of health services free of charge. Entry to the medical card scheme is means tested with different eligibility thresholds applying according to an individual’s age and household size. While there is substantial interest in quantifying the impact of receiving a medical card on health outcomes and service utilisation, addressing this question in a statistically rigorous manner is challenging.
This PhD studentship will offer excellent training opportunities in biostatistics and health services research. The successful candidate will be supported in participating in national and international conferences and developing collaborative skills in a multidisciplinary environment. The project will be co-supervised by Professor Kathleen Bennett, Associate Professor in Pharmacoepidemiology at RCSI.
PERSON SPECIFICATION:
The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate the following:
Essential
- An Honours Bachelor degree (grade 2.1 or above, obtained or expected prior to 31st December 2018) in statistics; mathematics; applied mathematics; actuarial science or related subject with substantial quantitative component
- Strong computer skills including experience of using statistical software packages, e.g. R, STATA or SAS
- Strong interest in applying statistical thinking to problems in health-related fields
- Interest in developing and evaluating new statistical methods
- Academic writing skills and experience
- Good communication skills
- Strong organisational and administrative skills
- Ability to work on one’s own initiative as well as in a multidisciplinary, team environment
- Willingness to undertake training and career development
- English language requirements for candidates who do not speak English as their first language: an IELTS score of 6.5 or above
- Availability to attend RCSI Dublin campus on a full-time basis throughout the 4-year studentship term
Desirable
- MSc in biostatistics, medical statistics, applied statistics, epidemiology, health economics or related subject OR equivalent research experience in academia or industry.
- Experience of statistical programming in at least one of R, STATA or SAS
APPLICATION PROCESS:
Please apply by email to [Email Address Removed] with:
- an up-to-date CV
- a 500-word cover letter outlining your interest in and suitability for the position
- scanned transcripts (preferred), or detailed degree grade breakdown
- contact details of two referees
Start date: April 2018 (preferred) or October 2018
Funding Notes
Tax-free stipend of of €18,000/year (plus EU fees) up to a maximum of 4 years (April 2018 start) or 3.5 years (October 2018 start).
Please note that non-EU fees are not covered in full (www.rcsi.ie/pgpostgraduatefees).
This project is supported by funding from the RCSI StAR programme (www.rcsi.ie/star).