Hours
35 hours
Contract Basis
Open Ended
Location
Musselburgh
Subject/Centre Specific Information
The Institute for Global Health and Development is a multi-disciplinary centre for postgraduate education and research addressing contemporary health and development challenges in low and middle income countries and their connection to global systems and trends. Our approach in marked by a commitment to critical thinking, practice engagement, and social justice.
Building on one of the first Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Health Care programmes in the UK targeting participants from the global south, our work in the field of global health has a history of more than twenty-five years. We were established as the Centre for International Health Studies in 1993, became the first institute of the university - the Institute for International Health and Development - in 2005, and have recently rebranded as the Institute for Global Health and Development to reflect our understanding of the impact of globalization on health and the partnership between global north and south to address it. Since our establishment, we have equipped over five hundred Masters and doctoral alumni from sub-Saharan Africa, South and East Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and the Americas for work in the health, development and humanitarian sectors.
In teaching, we seek to further consolidate our reputation for a high-quality programme, which draws together participants from diverse cultural, professional and academic backgrounds to share a student-centred experience emphasizing mutual learning and support. We now increasingly integrate e-learning into our programme in a manner which enables both wider access to our teaching and closer engagement with field engagement.
With respect to research, the Institute is one of six focal areas of research focus for the University. We develop focused research initiatives in areas where the Institute can genuinely claim global leadership. These are related to health systems, particularly in fragile and low-income settings, and studies on psychosocial well-being, protection and integration.
In health systems research, our team is conducting research in Sierra Leone, Lebanon and El Salvador into how NCDs and Mental Health provision is provided in an NIHR funded project. We are part of the UK Department for International Development-funded ReBUILD Consortium where our current work is focusing on health financing and how impacts of conflict, like missing generations, gender and disability are affecting people's access to health care. In another strand of research, we have various projects studying different aspects of tuberculosis care: Results-Based Financing in Georgia, infection prevention and control in South Africa and reducing barriers to treatment adherence in the UK. Doctoral students contribute to the work of the Institute significantly in this thematic area, with recent and ongoing research in Ghana, India, China, Nigeria and Kenya.
Work on the theme of psychosocial well-being, protection and integration involves studies across diverse settings, with a consistent focus on refugee or other vulnerable or marginalized communities. Research in this area is studying the role of faith leaders in child protection issues across Senegal, Uganda and Guatemala, the rollout of Psychosocial First Aid (PFA) in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and refugee integration and resettlement in Scotland. Our work in this area is not only supported by research funders, but also by inter-governmental, governmental and non-governmental partners (such as UNICEF and World Vision). Again, the work of doctoral students is increasingly focused on contributing to a coherent, impactful research agenda in this area.
Role Purpose
We welcome applications from individuals with doctoral qualification in the area of global health to contribute to, and further shape, the Institutes teaching agenda. We will particularly welcome those who have expertise in relation to sexual and reproductive health, and quantitative and qualitative research methods.
You will be teaching classes to students from diverse disciplinary and cultural backgrounds as a privilege and opportunity. You will be open to exploring the use of e-learning in your teaching.
You will be passionate about your research agenda, which should be complementary to the existing foci of the Institute as outlined above. You will welcome supervision of doctoral students wishing to work on issues related to your interests, and serve as mentor to them in developing their research careers and contribution.
We welcome your strong capability for publication and for the securing of research funding. You will be eager to disseminate your research and, more broadly, work to see it have influence on policy and practice. You will be open to collaboration with partners in the global north and global south.
Key Objectives
- Develop and lead modules contributing to the global health and development Masters programme of the Institute. This implies engaging in both face-to-face and e-learning forms of delivery, and support colleagues in the delivery of other modules with specialist inputs as required
- Provide academic tutorial support to a number of students through the course of their studies with IGHD
- Secure funding for, conduct, and disseminate research within a focused area of relevance to one or more of the IGHD research clusters
- Serve on the supervisory panels of doctoral students working within one or more of the research clusters of the Institute
Person Specification - Essential
A doctoral degree in the social and/or health sciences
Experience of teaching in Higher Education, especially of interactive and student-led approaches
Evidence of research publication in peer-reviewed journals
Work or study experience in resource poor settings
Fluency in English at academic writing level
Drive, motivation and enthusiasm for international development and commitment to the goal of social justice
Excellent organisational skills and record of accomplishment of delivery to deadlines
Excellent communication skills
Ability to work in a team
Willingness to travel overseas for meetings and research
Person Specification - Desirable
Experience of teaching or tutoring at post-graduate level
Health and development related work experience
Evidence of capacity for securing funding in research
Evidence of engagement in knowledge exchange and influence (through engagement in networks, production of policy briefs etc.)
Experience of teaching quantitative and/or qualitative research methods
A substantive knowledge of key global health issues (we particularly welcome expertise in relation to sexual and reproductive health, and quantitative and qualitative research methods)
Knowledge of additional major language(s)
Active engagement with international development agendas