CALL FOR APPLICATION FOR PhD FELLOWSHIP

CALL FOR APPLICATION FOR PhD FELLOWSHIP

Nepal Health Economics Association (NHEA) in collaboration with the Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting in Health (BCEPS), Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen (UiB), invites applications from qualified and motivated Nepalese candidates for the following PhD Fellowship under the Institutionalizing Evidence-Informed Priority Setting for Universal Health Coverage (EIPS4UHC) project in Nepal.

Position: PhD Fellow – Implementation Research on Health Systems, Governance and Legal Dimensions of Essential Health Services, for Strengthening BHS and the Progressive Realization of UHC in Nepal.

Number of Positions: 2

Duty Station: NHEA, Kathmandu, Nepal, with required research stay at the University of Bergen, Norway

Duration: 3 years (36 months), full-time

Application Deadline: 11 October 2026

Overview

This PhD fellowship, affiliated to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bergen, will study the implementation and performance of BHS within Nepal’s decentralized health system, across multiple dimensions including health systems performance, governance, and the legal architecture underpinning essential health services in Nepal. The work will draw on an interdisciplinary lens – health systems research, health policy analysis, and/or legal and human-rights scholarship – to examine how BHS entitlements are defined, operationalized, and realized in practice.

The candidate will produce a paper-based thesis comprising three publishable peer-reviewed manuscripts that generate policy-relevant evidence on strengthening essential health services in Nepal (BHS).

Project Focus

The PhD project will investigate the implementation of Nepal’s BHS package within the decentralized health system, examining the health-system, governance, and legal-institutional factors that influence BHS coverage, accessibility, quality, equity, and performance. This includes but is not limited to: health financing and resource allocation; service delivery and workforce capacity; medical products and health information systems; governance and accountability mechanisms; and the legal and human-rights dimensions of BHS – including constitutional and statutory guarantees, entitlements, and their justiciability – that shape how essential health services are defined, operationalized, and enforced.

Key themes may include, but are not limited to, the following interlinked areas:

• BHS implementation and health system performance: Implementation of the revised BHS package, including health-system readiness, service availability, coverage, quality, equity, and implementation barriers and enablers.
• Health financing, priority setting and resource allocation: Local and national health financing, budgeting, and priority-setting processes – including conditional grants and other resources – that shape BHS planning, allocation, and delivery.
• Governance, legal and accountability architecture: Institutional, legal, and regulatory frameworks governing BHS, including constitutional and statutory guarantees of the right to health and their justiciability, administrative and judicial accountability mechanisms, grievance redressal, and regulatory oversight – including how legal design, such as symbolic legislation or discretion in application, shapes the realization of BHS entitlements, with relevance for comparative analysis across LMICs.
• Health system capacity for BHS delivery: Institutional, managerial, technical, and analytical capacity of national and local governments to plan, implement, monitor, and improve BHS.
• Health system capacity and policy translation: Institutional, managerial, technical, and analytical capacity of national and local governments to plan, implement, monitor, and improve BHS, including health policy and health systems research examining how the BHS package is translated from national policy into practice within Nepal's decentralized health system.
• Health economics, efficiency and equity: Application of health economic and systems approaches to assess resource use, efficiency, equity, access, and financial protection in BHS delivery.
• Evidence-informed decision-making and performance improvement: Generation and use of evidence to strengthen BHS implementation, performance monitoring, resource allocation, and priority setting towards UHC.
• How implementation of the BHS package is experienced in everyday practice, focusing on local relationships, organizational cultures, power dynamics, and everyday work.

Training and Degree Requirements

• The candidate will be affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, UiB and must be admitted to an approved UiB PhD programme.
• The PhD is a three-year (36-month) full-time programme. The candidate is expected to complete the PhD within the prescribed period.
• Application for admission to the relevant PhD programme, including a detailed research protocol, must be submitted within three months of commencement, as required by UiB.
• The candidate will need to complete a minimum of 30 ECTS of PhD-level coursework, and research dissemination, in accordance with UiB requirements.
• The thesis will be a paper-based thesis comprising three publishable/peer-reviewed manuscripts, which will form the basis for the PhD defense.
• The candidate will be based at the NHEA office in Kathmandu and will spend time at UiB, Norway as required by the PhD programme and project, in accordance with the University’s requirements.

Qualifications and Personal Qualities

Required

• Master’s degree in health and social sciences (public health, health economics, law, political studies, health policy, anthropology, sociology or a closely related field).
• Substantial professional or research experience in health system strengthening, implementation research, health policy, health governance, health rights and legal aspects of health, resource allocation, or UHC, with a demonstrated track record in the field.
• Formal training and/or professional exposure in areas of health economics for policy and decision making in priority setting.
• Strong analytical, research, and academic writing skills and good English communication skills, including good skills in scientific methodology; qualitative and/or quantitative.

Desirable

• Solid working knowledge of UHC, BHS/BHSP, explicit priority-setting process, health economics frameworks, or implementation research methodologies.
• Direct familiarity with Nepal’s health-care delivery architecture, decentralized governance structures, national health policies, and the legal/regulatory frameworks governing health service delivery.
• Prior research experience, including peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, or other demonstrated research outputs, will be considered a strong advantage.
• Experience with legal, socio-legal, or comparative legal research methods (for candidates with a background in law or a related field).
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional environment (NHEA, UiB/BCEPS, and government partners).

Other Requirement

• The selected candidate must fulfill the full-time fellowship commitments and be based at the NHEA office in Kathmandu for the duration of the study including a required research stay at BCEPS, UiB.

What We Offer

• A fully funded, three-year (36-month) full-time project-based PhD fellowship.
• Official doctoral enrollment and academic affiliation with the Faculty of Medicine, UiB, Norway.
• Immersion in a vibrant research environment bridging health economics, health systems strengthening, implementation science, and evidence-informed priority setting.
• A unique opportunity to contribute directly to the EIPS4UHC project, shaping national health-system priorities and policy discourse in Nepal.
• Financial support for travel and living expenses during required research stays at UiB, in accordance with project and institutional guidelines.
• Funding support for attendance at relevant national and international academic conferences, research dissemination events, and academic networking activities, subject to project provisions.

Application Requirements

Interested candidates must submit the following application documents:

• A statement (maximum 2 pages) detailing your motivation for applying and explaining how your background and research interests align with the scope of this PhD position.
• Concept note on a proposed research outline (maximum 4 pages) addressing one of the identified thematic areas or another relevant topic fitting the PhD project focus.
• An updated CV, including complete contact details for at least two academic or professional referees.
• A comprehensive list of peer-reviewed publications and other relevant scientific or research outputs to be considered during evaluation.
• Applicants whose degrees were obtained outside Norway must provide documentation of recognition and equivalence as required by the University of Bergen (UiB). Details on foreign qualification recognition can be found via the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir). Official admission to the PhD programme remains strictly contingent upon meeting UiB’s institutional standards for academic recognition and enrollment.

Application Submission 

Applications should be submitted electronically to:

Email: nhea.nepal@gmail.com

Please clearly indicate the PhD stream you are applying for in the subject line of your email, using one of the following formats:

• Application for PhD – Implementation Research on Health Systems
• Application for PhD – Governance and Legal Dimensions of Essential Health Services

Applicants should apply to one PhD stream only and clearly state their selected stream in the email subject line.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further selection and screening process.

NHEA reserves the right to assess candidates based on their academic qualifications, research potential, relevance of proposed research, and suitability for the project and PhD programme.