This PhD scholarship at Monash University’s Centre for Health Economics offers a unique opportunity to investigate the impacts of firm closures and layoffs on workers and their families. The project sits at the intersection of labour economics, health economics, industrial organisation, and public policy, aiming to generate comprehensive, population-level evidence on how firms manage economic crises and how these decisions affect health, employment, and wellbeing outcomes for individuals and families.

As a successful candidate, you will join a highly collaborative research team employing linked employer–employee administrative data, including healthcare use data, and advanced econometric methods to produce causal evidence. Your research will directly inform labour-market policy, family services, and social protection systems, providing insights relevant to national policy debates and advancing academic knowledge in applied microeconomics and related fields.

Supervision will be provided by Associate Professor Sonja de New and Professor Dennis Petrie, with opportunities to collaborate with leading academics from the University of Melbourne, University of Michigan, and Free University of Amsterdam. The Centre for Health Economics is renowned for its concentration of health economists and its impactful international research across themes such as disadvantage and health, global and environmental health economics, economic behaviour in health, and modelling of health policies and technologies.

The scholarship covers full tuition fees and provides a tax-free stipend of $39,000 AUD per annum, with up to $49,000 AUD per annum available for outstanding students. Additional financial support is offered through research and teaching assistance work. The program is a 4.5-year Integrated PhD, beginning with one year of advanced coursework and research training (including a minor thesis as part of a Master of Commerce), followed by the PhD research component. Candidates will benefit from rigorous training in health economics, econometrics, and related studies, as well as opportunities for domestic and international research visits and conference travel.

Applicants should have completed an Honours degree, a four-year Bachelor’s degree, or a Master’s degree with excellent results and a research component in economics, econometrics, or a related quantitative discipline. Strong empirical and quantitative skills are essential, and a background or interest in applied economics, microeconometrics, labour economics, industrial organisation, health economics, or public policy is highly valued. Candidates from other quantitative disciplines such as data science, mathematical statistics, actuarial science, public health, or psychology with strong quantitative skills and an interest in causal inference are also encouraged to apply. English language requirements apply as per Monash Business School guidelines.

Graduates from the Centre for Health Economics have a strong track record of employment in leading universities, consulting firms, and international organisations, including the London School of Economics, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Illinois, University of York, University of Melbourne, Australian National University, Ernst & Young, the World Bank, and government health departments.

The application round is currently open for commencement in July/August 2026, with applications closing on Sunday, 1 February 2026, 11:55 pm AEDT. For application details, select 'Health Economics' as your area of specialisation and follow the Integrated PhD Program application process via the provided link. For project-related enquiries, contact Associate Professor Sonja de New at [email protected].