PhD Position (100 %)

School: School of Health Professions
Starting date: The study will start in April 2025 and will last four years. Earliest start of the PhD 01. May and latest 01. July 2025.

Your role

As PhD candidate, your responsibilities include supporting the project management, conducting literature research, planning and implementing qualitative data collection and analysis, writing and contributing to scientific publications, pursuing your doctoral degree as part of a doctoral program. You will also have the opportunity to perform quantitative data analyses and participate in teaching activities, if interested.

Your profile

The Gender concepts and Nutrition In childhood (GeNI) study is part of the National Research Program 83 “Gender medicine and health". Nutrition is a highly relevant health determinant associated with healthy development and non-communicable diseases throughout the course of life. Little is known on when and how gender dimensions play a role in the development of dietary practices among children and adolescents. GeNI takes a sex- and gender and intersectionality approach to dietary behavior and nutritional intake of 6-17-year-olds. In a convergent mixed methods study design, we will 1) re-use the menuCH-Kids data, a first national nutrition data set available in Spring 2025, and 2) run focus group discussions in German, French and Italian Swiss language regions on gender concepts of dietary behavior and nutrition with children, adolescents, and parents. All results will be brought together and recommendations for gender-sensitive practice and policies will be developed and disseminated. The study will advance the understanding of sex and gender dimensions of nutrition and thus contribute to reducing gender health inequalities. 

Applicants should have the following profile: 

• Completed Master's degree (MSc/MA) in medicine, public health, psychology, health professions, social sciences or other related disciplines 
• Motivation for independent scientific work and strong interest in the topic of the study 
• Strong team player, reliability, good communication and self-organization skills 
• Very good oral and written language skills in German and English 
• Experience in qualitative data collection and analysis and the use of software (eg. MaxQDa) 
• Additional interest and experience in quantitative data analysis and use of software (R, Stata) is an advantage 
• Good knowledge of French or Italian is an advantage 

Enrollment at a Swiss university is mandatory, the choice of University and PhD program will be decided based on the PhDs educational/academic background. Remuneration is based on the regulation of SNSF. The PhD will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Julia Dratva. 
Please submit a recent publication (e.g. recent course assignment, MSc. Thesis) together with your application documents.

This is what we stand for

Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW is one of Switzerland's largest multidisciplinary universities of applied sciences, with over 14'000 students and 3'400 faculty and staff.

The “Public Health Research" division at the Institute of Public Health is a multidisciplinary unit pursuing applied public health research from a life course and health equality perspective. We have a strong focus on child and youth public health, with numerous studies addressing health determinants and interventions in this age group, apart from other research fields. The Department of Health Sciences currently employs 16 PhD students, of which 3 are working in the division “Public Health Research". We expect 4 additional PhDs to join our research division in 2025. PhDs at our department organize themselves in a PhD-peer group offering peer support and exchange.

ZHAW is committed to gender-mixed and diverse teams in order to promote equality, diversity and innovation. We are also committed to a barrier-free university. We therefore motivate people with disabilities to apply.

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