PhD position in the field of Digital Health and Low-Value Care in Healthcare Ser

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Faculty of Economics and Business
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FEBRI, the graduate school and research institute of the Faculty of Economics and Business has available
One PhD position in the field of Digital Health and Low-Value Care in Healthcare Services

Project description
The use of low-value care (LVC)—care that provides minimal or no benefit to patients—remains a significant challenge in healthcare, contributing to wasted resources and suboptimal patient outcomes. It encompasses a range of practices, including unnecessary prescriptions, diagnostic tests, imaging, screenings, and medical procedures, all of which contribute to resource waste and suboptimal patient outcomes. While traditional LVC has been studied, digital health technologies are recently recognized as a potential source of LVC. Digital health can contribute to ineffective, inefficient, or unwanted care, requiring strategies for de-implementation to ensure these technologies provide high-value care. De-implementation does not necessarily mean the elimination of digital health technologies but can involve reduction, modification, substitution, or discontinuation, depending on the level of intervention. In this interdisciplinary project, researchers will investigate how digital health technologies contribute to LVC and how they can be de-implemented effectively at different levels of the healthcare system.

Organisation
The PhD position is embedded in the research programme Marketing of FEB’s Research Institute. The project will be supervised by dr. Amal Fakha, dr. Jana Holthöwer, and prof. Maarten Gijsenberg.

The ideal candidate is ambitious, highly motivated and wishes to make a career in research. He or she has a thorough training in research skills, speaks and writes English fluently and has obtained excellent results in the master phase.
The PhD candidate should have a background (MSc, research master) in Marketing, Business Administration, Health, Change Management, or Strategic Innovation Management.

Experience with qualitative research methods (i.e., interviews, focus groups, case study), quantitative research (i.e., experiments), participatory action research, and implementation science research are beneficial. Additional skills include: scientific writing, and strong communication skills.

The full-time appointment is temporary for a period of four years, under the condition of a positive assessment at the end of the first year. The gross monthly salary is € 2,901, which increases yearly to a maximum of € 3,707. Based on the gross salary you will receive an additional 8% holiday allowance each year in May, and an additional 8.3 % end of year bonus in December. PhD candidates contribute 20% of their time to teaching in years 2-4.

Starting date: Preferably per September 1, 2025.

An assessment may be part of the procedure, consisting of psychological tests and an interview.

For more general information, please send an email
febphdvacancies@rug.nl

dr. Amal Fakha, for more information on this specific project
a.fakha@rug.nl

dr. Jana Holthöwer
j.holthower@rug.nl

You may apply for this position until 20 March 11:59pm / before 21 March 2025 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website). The application package consists of the following separate documents

1. Your cv.
2. A motivation letter (1A4 max) and a short study proposal for the PhD project (2 A4 max).
3. A scan of your diploma including transcripts.
4. Your Master thesis.
5. Proof of English proficiency.
6. Other relevant documents.

The documents 1-5 are compulsory and please note that incomplete application packages will not be taken into account.

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Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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