Recently I realised that some individuals interested in health security and pandemic prevention space were unaware of certain non-EA research opportunities that could potentially be high impact and helpful for upskilling. The purpose of this link post is to raise awareness and flag an interdisciplinary PhD in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. 

Conflict of interest: The University of Warwick is my alma mater.

About IGPP:

Born out of the COVID-19 response crisis, the University of Warwick, launched the Institute for Global Pandemic Planning (IGPP) in 2020 to create an interdisciplinary team of experts who could develop solutions and help inform global leaders on better response strategies towards the social, economic, psychological and health crisis caused from pandemics. The institute brought together experts that specialised in the following:

1. Mathematical Epidemiology
2. Public Health
3. Behavioural Science

(N.B. The focus areas and potential PhD projects on offer have since expanded to cover a more wider range of life sciences and technological interventions as well).

The second objective for IGPP is to train and build a pipeline of doctoral students that can help expand the global leadership on how to manage pandemics. Hence, they are currently recruiting for their second cohort of PhD students. The deadline for applications is 6th Feb 2023. 

Note to consider: By reviewing the list of example projects on the website and after personally speaking to few individuals from the current doctoral cohort, my impression is that the institute currently has a bigger focus on naturally occurring pandemics (I may be wrong). However, there is room to propose and design your own project with your supervisor and it might even be impactful to help introduce project areas that address largest GCBRs into IGPP's focus. The appetite for this change and a supervisor's interest to expand beyond their current core focus areas is unknown. It may be helpful to directly be in touch with a potential supervisor to discuss these possibilities beforehand.

How I can be helpful:

I spent 4 years completing my undergraduate and master's degree in Biochemistry at the University of Warwick, especially at the department of Life Sciences and the Medical School (where majority of the PhD projects will be hosted).  A lot of the IGPP institutional leads and academics offering PhD positions are also my former tutors or professors. In case it is helpful, I would be happy to:

1. Share about my learning experience at the university, the campus life, exposure to career opportunities, teaching quality at the relevant departments etc.  
2. Make introductions to some of the academics listed here, if you are interested to learn more about a research area before applying for the PhD, or if a collaboration could be helpful to an ongoing project that you are working on.

You can reach me via email.