Norovirus is the leading cause of gastrointestinal illness in the UK, yet the economic and behavioural drivers of its spread in early years childcare settings remain poorly understood. This fully funded PhD studentship offers an exceptional opportunity to work at the interface of health economics, behavioural science, and biological modelling to generate evidence that directly informs UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) policy and practice.

The successful candidate will join the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Gastrointestinal Infections, working primarily under the supervision of Mr. David Turner (Primary Supervisor) and Professor Paul Hunter at the University of East Anglia (UEA), alongside close collaboration with Professor Wendy Hardeman (behavioural science, UEA) as well as colleagues at Newcastle University and the UKHSA. The project sits within the Evidence Theme of the HPRU and will complement ongoing research on infection transmission in childcare environments, including a parallel Newcastle-based PhD.

This PhD project investigates the economic, behavioural, and organizational factors associated with the transmission of Norovirus in early years childcare settings (e.g., nurseries, preschools), with particular emphasis on the cost-effectiveness of potential strategies to restrict infections. Key areas of investigation include:

• Identifying key economic drivers of relevant behaviors for parents, guardians, and families (e.g., sending a symptomatic child to nursery or preschool).

• Identifying and quantifying relevant economic drivers for staff working in early years settings, including working while unwell due to staffing pressures, and adherence to public health interventions designed to limit infections.

• Utilizing appropriate economic tools and available data to analyze the cost-effectiveness of available interventions to reduce infections from a societal perspective.

The student will have the flexibility to shape the methodological direction of the project based on their personal skills and research interests in discussion with supervisors. Potential research methodologies include:

• Qualitative research to identify economic and behavioural drivers and barriers among parents and staff.

• Stated preference or discrete choice experiments.

• Economic evaluation of potential interventions.

• Integration of economic and behavioural data into biological models (e.g., Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment microsimulation approaches).

• Secondary analysis of existing datasets, including INTEGRATE study data on cost-of-illness.

Training and Environment Details:

• The student will be embedded within the NIHR HPRU and the NIHR Academy, gaining access to specialist training, scientific seminars, and networking opportunities.

• Opportunity to undertake a secondment within the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

• Reference: TURNERD_U26NIHRMED

• Hours: Full Time

• Mode of Study: Full Time

• Start Date: 1 November 2026

• Funding eligibility: UK Students.

• A minimum 2:1 Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Public Health, Medicine, Biology, Food Sciences, Statistics, or Mathematics.

• Background in economics, public health, behavioural science, epidemiology, data science, psychology, sociology, or related fields.

• Strong curiosity, initiative, and willingness to work effectively across scientific disciplines.

• Ability or interest in working with qualitative research, stated preference/discrete choice experiments, economic evaluation tools, secondary data analysis, or biological/microsimulation modeling.

• Strong communication and collaborative skills to work alongside multi-institutional academic and UKHSA partners.

Fully funded studentship (Funding amount: Not Specified)

3rd September 2026

Application Link