The PhD programme in Health Policy and Health Economics is an integral part of the academic environment at LSE, producing doctoral graduates of the highest quality. The programme draws upon multidisciplinary perspectives, notably from economics, social policy, and public policy.
As a student on this programme you will be equipped with the critical, conceptual, and analytical skills to understand the key theoretical frameworks and analytical methods to undertake high-quality research.
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We are pleased to be able to offer studentships for those looking to join from 2025:
1. Office of Health Economics (OHE) Studentship
The Office of Health Economics (OHE) and the LSE Department for Health Policy is recruiting for a full-time MPhil/Ph.D. studentship, with a start date of September 2025. This full-time studentship is funded by OHE to develop evidence-based research on issues related to any aspect of pharmaceutical economics and policy.
For more information including how to apply, please visit here.
Funding deadline for OHE studentship: 25 April 2025
2. Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC) Studentship
The Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC), affiliated with the Department of Health Policy, is currently recruiting for three full-time MPhil/PhD studentships starting in October 2025:
- The Centre hosts the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Adult Social Care (ASCRU), which is offering a fully funded PhD studentship. Deadline for application: Monday, 31 March 2025. For more information, please visit here.
- CPEC is also part of a new Doctoral Training Centre funded by the Alzheimer's Society, in collaboration with five universities: QMUL, UCL, Plymouth, and Leeds Beckett. One fully funded PhD studentship will be available through this programme. Deadline for application: Wednesday 22 January 2025. For more information about this studentship including how to apply, please visit here.
- Finally, CPEC is offering a PhD studentship from October 2025 funded through the NIHR School for Social Care Research. Deadline for application: Friday, 31 January 2025. For more information about this studentship including how to apply, please visit here.
3. LSE PhD Studentships
For 2024 entry, LSE will be offering studentships to new PhD students. The awards are open to high calibre students of all nationalities studying across all research areas at the School.
For further details, please click here.
4. ESRC Studentships
LSE has an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) and has ESRC studentships available for a number of programmes across 19 departments. Students of all nationalities are eligible for ESRC funding.
For further details, please click here.
When you begin your studies, you will be assigned a Supervisory Team, with a Primary and one or two Secondary Supervisors to consult and discuss your academic performance, research, and paths of progression. It is a requirement that at least one of the Supervisory Team is a member of the Department’s teaching faculty.
Our faculty are engaged in impactful health and social care research, addressing contemporary challenges across diverse areas of the health sector.
Prospective supervisors include:.
Emilie Courtin is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Social Determinants of Health
- Policy Evaluation
- Ageing
Rocco Friebel is willing to supervise students interested in
- Quality of care
- Impact evaluations
- Systems research
Bo Hu is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Long-term Care Financing, Unpaid Care for Old People
- Social Determinants of Health Ageing from a Life Course Perspective
Mylene Lagarde is willing to supervise students interested in:
- The economics of poor quality of care in LMICs (causes and consequences)
- The drivers of under-use and overuse of care in LMICs
- Mental health of healthcare providers
- Patient discrimination and inequalities
Juliette Malley is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Adult social care (long-term care) policy PhDs, within that innovations in the delivery and organisation of adult social care
- Evaluation of complex interventions, including issues relating to the measurement of user experience, quality and outcomes
- The governance, performance and reform of long-term care systems
Alistair McGuire is willing to supervise students interested in:
- International comparisons of health care systems, delivery and expenditure
- Economics of the hospital
- Econometric analysis of interventions
Huseyin Naci is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Pharmaceutical policy and economics, pharmaceutical regulation
Justin Parkhurst is willing to supervise students interested in:
- The use of evidence to inform health policy from a political perspective- considering institutional, political, and/or governance arrangements
- Political and institutional factors shaping health policymaking processes in lower income settings
Andrew Street is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Evaluation of health care policy involving econometric analyses and quasi-experimental designs
- Payment design and performance assessment of health care organisations
- Economic issues associated with aging, multi-morbidity, frailty and integrated care
Ranjeeta Thomas is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Field experiments and applied economics studies in low-and-middle income countries
- Understanding drivers of health and health behaviours
- Demand for preventative health care
Clare Wenham is willing to supervise students interested in:
Olivier Wouters is willing to supervise students interested in:
- Pharmaceutical policy and regulation (especially drug pricing) in middle- and high-income countries
- Lobbying in the drug industry
Joan Costa-Font will be on sabbatical during 2024/25 and will only take new students as a main supervisor from 2025/26.
Admission is conditional upon having appropriate supervisory expertise and support available in the Department.
With a world-class faculty, distinguished visitors, and a diverse postgraduate student body, the Department of Health Policy cultivates a stimulating environment for research and learning. As a PhD student here you will attend informal seminars, guest lectures by leaders of national and foreign health services, alumni roundtables, and overseas institutional visits.
The Department is committed to remain among the highest-ranking social policy units of assessment (2014 Research Excellence Framework) and is rated among the top Departments by our students as well.
The long-established and highly regarded research centres affiliated with the Department are: LSE Health, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at LSE (CPEC, formerly PSSRU), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School of Social Care Research (SSCR), the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and the Global Health Initiative (GHI), with a total of over 70 academic staff based across these centres.