PhD student position in Epidemiology / Digital & Mobile Health

Implementation Science in Health Care

60% (full-time doctorate)

The Digital & Mobile Health Group is an interdisciplinary research team at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care (www. ifis.uzh.ch), with close ties to the Digital Society Initiative of the University of Zurich. We are developing methods for next-generation research studies by collecting and analyzing multimodal sensor-, smartphone-, and patient-reported health data for chronic disease research (e.g. Multiple Sclerosis) and public health. We work closely with our stakeholders (e.g. citizens, persons with chronic diseases, and healthcare professionals) to create meaningful evidence for healthcare and prevention. Our group utilizes a broad mix of analysis methods including statistical modeling, machine learning, and natural language processing.

You will analyze fitness tracker and patient-reported data from ongoing studies in collaboration with our project partners, including the University Hospital Zurich, the Rehabilitation Clinic Valens, and the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Registry. In collaboration with team members and staff from the Rehabilitation Clinic Valens you will also design and conduct your own study to evaluate an existing intervention for physical activity improvement in persons with chronic illnesses. You will further contribute to the development and maintenance of our own mobile health data collection platform, which is programmed in Python.

For this project we search a highly motivated person with a Master's Degree (e.g. in Epidemiology, Statistics, Biology, Biomedicine, Medicine, Psychology), with good knowledge of Python and at least basic knowledge of statistical programming and data wrangling in R, a good command of English, (German is an asset), good communication skills, and the willingness to actively interact with our stakeholders, including healthcare providers and healthcare professionals.

You will become part of an innovative study group at the intersection of Digital Health and Citizen Science. As a member of our highly interdisciplinary team you will receive the opportunity to pursue your research independently, but with support of specialists in IT, Biostatistics, Public Health, or Psychology. Our offices are located in the proximity to the UZH Main Campus / University Hospital.

Universitätstrasse 84, Zürich, Switzerland

The employment will start in September 2023 or by agreement. Please submit your application by 01.07.2023 via the link to the online application tool only. Make sure to select the PhD Program in Epidemiology & Biostatistics as primary program interest.