Postdoc on the topic Analysing the Health Care Systems in the Northern DE-NL

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the approximately 34,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

Faculty of Economics and Business
The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) has an inspiring study and working environment for students and employees. International accreditation enables the Faculty to assess performance against the highest international standards. It also creates an exciting environment of continuous improvement. FEB's programmes, academic staff and research do well on various excellence ranking lists.

The Postdoc researcher will work within the Department of Economics, Econometrics & Finance. The department is an active and international research community, performing to the highest international levels in research and publications.

Project description
Healthcare systems are crucial for the health and well-being of the population. However, they need to be designed in a way such that they can adequately deal with challenges such as population ageing. Moreover, international borders create an additional challenge, because crossing the border for obtaining care is associated with administrative difficulties. The overall objective of this project is to collect quantitative and qualitative evidence on the functioning of the two different health systems in the cross-border region (German and Dutch). This evidence can serve as input to set a joint agenda for policymaking, with the ultimate goal of increasing the seamless cross-border collaboration between both healthcare systems. The expected impact of this project is to have more effective, efficient, accessible, resilient, and sustainable health systems in the Northern-Netherlands/Northwest-German cross-border region.

Building on the Health Systems Performance Assessment Framework of the World Health Organization, the Post-Doc will analyse both health systems' performance, so that we can create a framework to ensure equal access to healthcare in the border region. This will include the collection of quantitative and qualitative data on the performance of both health systems, focusing on governance, resource generation, financing and service delivery. Moreover, quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding population health, access to care, safety of care, user experience, health needs and people-centeredness will be analysed. The final goal will be to determine a shared public health and prevention agenda for both sides of the border and to inform a cross-border action plan.

This project is part of a larger project Health4DE-NL financed by INTERREG. Next to this PostDoc position we plan to hire a PhD-student at the University of Oldenburg and student assistants.

Project team
This is a cross-border project led by the Cross-border Institute of Healthcare Systems and Prevention (www.uol.de/en/cbi). The Post-Doc will work closely together with Associate Professor dr. Stefan Pichler, Prof. dr. Jochen O. Mierau, and dr. Adriana Perez Fortis from the Department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance (Faculty of Economics and Business) and with the PhD student and professors at the University of Oldenburg.

The Postdoc is expected to

- Have a relevant PhD degree in economics or related field, with a focus on health.
- Have strong quantitative research skills, qualitative research skills are an asset as well.
- Be proficient with different data analysis software (Stata, R, Python), or be willing to learn them.
- Be able to show perseverance, flexibility, project management and collaboration skills.
- Be fluent in English (both oral and written) - Dutch and/or German language skills are encouraged.
- Be committed to work on the project over 4 years.
- Enjoy planning and taking initiative.
- Enjoy academic writing and have the desire to publish.
- Be able and willing to work in Groningen, in an international and interdisciplinary environment.

We offer you, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities

- A salary ranging from € 3,378 gross per month, up to a maximum of € 5,331 gross per month (scale 10) based on a full-time contract, dependent on relevant experience and training.
- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% year-end bonus.
- A full-time position (1.0 FTE) for four years.