Two PhD positions in Health Economics at Tilburg University CentER Graduate School of Economics

We are recruiting two doctoral candidates to address research questions on the effects of recent changes in social and health insurance policies. 

Both positions are part of HEPARD, an EU-funded doctoral network that provides doctoral training in empirical health economics at five leading European Universities in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Romania, and the Netherlands.

Both PhD candidates will employ advanced econometric methods of causal inference and draw on microeconomic theory to guide their analyses of social and health insurance policy and individual behavior. They will benefit from close collaboration with faculty in Tilburg and at partner universities and non-academic partners, providing a unique opportunity to generate insights with direct societal relevance.

Research area 1:  Postpartum Care & Childcare Policies

• The project examines how postpartum care services and subsidized childcare in the Netherlands affect parents' physical and mental health.
• It investigates variations in postpartum care availability and childcare subsidy reforms to understand their implications for parental well-being.
• Using robust analytical methods, the project aims to generate insights into how to optimize these interconnected systems to better support families.
• The results of the project provide insights into how postpartum care and childcare services influence maternal and paternal health, offering evidence for targeted policy improvements.

Research area 2:  Insurance Design and Health Insurance Deductibles

• The project explores how the design of health insurance contracts affects healthcare utilization, healthcare costs, and health outcomes. While deductibles reduce moral hazard and give financial incentives to patients to avoid unnecessary care, they might also cause patients to avoid necessary care, with possible negative consequences on health.
• The research analyses how deductible payment structures affect healthcare access, utilization, and equity across income groups, comparing traditional models with instalment options.
• It provides policy recommendations for insurers and regulators to design deductibles that balance equity in access to care with incentives for efficient care use.

Both positions offer:

• The opportunity to work with rich administrative datasets, including Dutch health insurance and healthcare data.
• A significant methodological component, including methods from the research frontier of causal inference.
• A strong policy orientation, contributing evidence-based recommendations to improve social policy and health insurance designs, and to address socioeconomic inequalities.
• Participation in HEPARD network-wide activities, including training in health economics, microeconometrics, policy engagement, and transferable skills
• Two secondments: one academic, fostering research collaboration and methodological expertise, and one non-academic, providing real-world policy and practice experience.

As a PhD student, you will primarily work on the development, implementation, and publication of research projects in research area 1 or 2. You will be a full-time staff member at the Department of Econometrics and Operations Research at TISEM.  You will benefit from the department's strong research focus and numerous resources (e.g., databases, research seminars, brown bags and reading groups, career planning, skills-enhancement workshops, international conferences, practitioner contacts, etc.). In addition, you will enjoy participating in HEPARD network training and activities, including international and interdisciplinary academic training, workshops, conferences, and soft-skills training, both online and in-person at all HEPARD locations.

A PhD dissertation at CentER requires the design and execution of 3 studies. Research typically involves conceptualizing research questions and ideas, quantitatively analyzing data, and writing and presenting academic papers. The aim is to publish those projects in high-quality academic journals. Upon successful completion of your courses and your research work, as demonstrated by a submitted and approved PhD dissertation and the subsequent defense, you will be awarded a doctoral degree by Tilburg University.

You will be enrolled as a PhD candidate in the world-class PhD program of CentER Graduate School of Economics, where you will receive extensive training in theory and methods by taking PhD-level courses. The course load amounts to 36 ECTS, equivalent to 6 full courses. The course program will consist of HEPARD core and elective courses, and CentER courses, and will be composed in consultation with your supervisor and PhD program coordinator. Part of the training can be adapted to the previous educational achievements of the PhD candidate by mutual agreement with the supervisors.

The PhD position includes a travel budget for attending HEPARD workshops at other network locations, as well as for work visits and academic conferences. 

80% of the position’s time will be dedicated to the completion of your PhD research, and 20% to the acquisition of academic skills through teaching courses and supervising master/bachelor theses within the department.

Your profile 

• An academic Master's or MPhil/Research Master's degree in economics, econometrics, or a closely related field with advanced training in mircoeconometric methods, in particular causal inference.
• Completed the previous degree with an excellent GPA (top 10% of class as a guideline)
• Proficiency in English to be proven by means of an IELTS score of at least 7.0, with no sub scores below 6.5, a TOEFL score of at least 100 (internet-based) or 600 (paper-based), a Cambridge CAE (at least B), or a Cambridge CPE. Exemptions can be provided upon request to native English speakers or to candidates who have obtained their bachelor's and master's degree in English in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, or New Zealand.
• Programming skills in Stata, R or Matlab.
• Intellectual curiosity, analytical rigor, and a keen interest in policy-relevant empirical research.
• Desirable: familiarity with health insurance systems, structural estimation, or administrative data.
• Mobility rule: the candidate must not have resided or carried out a main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to your recruitment.

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment. Our offer includes:

• A position based on 1,0 fte (40 hours per week)
• A salary of €3,059 gross per month in the first year, up to €3,881 gross per month in the fourth year for full-time employment, based on UFO profile Promovendus and salary scale P. 
• This is a vacancy for a temporary position in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 8 under b of the CLA DU. You will initially receive a temporary contract for the duration of 18 months to assess your suitability. The evaluation will take place after about 14 months. If suitable, this contract will be followed by a new fixed-term contract of 30 months. (N.B. program is 4 years, full-time).
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• The opportunity to work partly on campus and partly from home with a home office allowance of €2 per day.
• Reimbursement for sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transportation.
• A monthly internet fee of €25.
• An Options Model in which you exchange benefits for things such as additional leave, more pension, a bicycle, or personal training at our Sports Center.
• A moving allowance (subject to conditions).
• Employees from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for the 30/20/10% tax facility.
• A pension with ABP; the most sustainable Dutch pension fund.
• Training in personal development, career development, leadership, education, and research, or a language course at our Language Center.
• A work culture in which we embrace differences, everyone is welcome, and given equal opportunities.
• A vibrant campus in green surroundings that is easily accessible by public transport.

For more information, see our website and the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities.

Tilburg University is an academic, inclusive, and engaged community. Together with nearly 3,000 employees, we are committed to broad prosperity, sustainability, and inclusion for current and future generations. We develop and share knowledge to meet the needs of people and our society. This is how we contribute to solving complex social issues and help society move forward.

We educate our 19,500 students of 110 nationalities to become responsible leaders with knowledge, skills, and character. With our education and research for broad prosperity, we place particular emphasis on themes such as mental and preventive care, an inclusive labor market, the energy transition, and digitalization.

About TiSEM
Tilburg School of Economics and Management (TiSEM) is one of Europe's leading centers for research in business and economics, with research rankings consistently among Europe's top 10 across various business and economics domains. In addition to the strong research focus and collegial research climate, it offers a wide variety of educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, with about 7,000 students enrolled. The School is well connected to both policymakers and industry in the region and internationally, providing ample opportunities to create impact through research.

About the department
The Department of Econometrics and Operations Research offers an internationally oriented and lively research environment aiming for top quality with approximately 45 staff members and 35 PhD students. Most researchers have a strong quantitative background in mathematics and statistics and have achieved international recognition in key areas of business and economics, such as operations research, quantitative finance, actuarial science, econometrics, mathematical economics, and game theory.