Matthew Hobbs

Funded PhD opportunity at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Computational infrastructure for linked data, health and environmental resilience . The project focuses on developing new computational and geospatial approaches for connecting longitudinal health and social data with environmental information across the lifecourse. Research themes include spatial epidemiology , linked data , GIS/geospatial science , public health , environmental health , data science , and policy-relevant health and environmental research. Potential application areas mentioned in the post include drinking water infrastructure, nitrate exposure, community water fluoridation, air pollution, greenspace, deprivation, and access to health services. The project offers opportunities to work with real-world linked population data and contribute to ongoing HRC-funded research. Funding includes NZ$32,650 per year plus PhD tuition fees , with up to NZ$5,000 research expenses . The PhD duration is 3 years . Eligibility highlights: the post says the project would suit a quantitatively strong student with interest in spatial epidemiology, linked data, GIS/geospatial science, public health, environmental health, or data science. Applications close on 27 October 2026 . Interested applicants should review the project details and use the scholarship/application link to apply.

PhD opportunity at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand focused on the human exposome , geospatial epidemiology , lifecourse epidemiology , GIS , and environmental health . The project, supervised/recruited by Dr Matthew Hobbs (Associate Professor, Public Health and Spatial Epidemiology), aims to develop the concept of the geospatial exposome and to build a theoretically grounded and computationally realisable framework for understanding how environmental exposures across homes, schools, workplaces, and wider activity spaces accumulate over time and space to shape health outcomes and inequalities. The project is especially relevant for students interested in spatial epidemiology , health inequalities , quantitative analysis , statistical modelling , and geospatial methods using QGIS , ArcGIS , R , and Python . It emphasizes interdisciplinary research and the integration of socio-economic and environmental datasets such as deprivation indices, census data, and land-use data. Funding is available through the Geospatial Research Institute (GRI) PhD Scholarship 2026 , with total support of NZ$35,650/year for 3 years full-time , including a UC PhD scholarship and GRI top-up, plus possible travel/research expense support. The application deadline is 29 May 2026 at 17:00 NZ Time . To apply, candidates should prepare a cover letter, application form, CV with publications, referee contacts, and a GPA report, then email the completed package to [email protected] . The post also notes that Māori scholars are especially encouraged to apply.