New PhD Programme Global Health in Berlin
Global Health is a dynamic and interdisciplinary field. As a national public health institute, the Robert Koch Institute is an international network hub for health protection, with its own international department – the Centre for International Health Protection.
The RKI is a cooperation partner of the new interdisciplinary PhD programme Global Health in Berlin, which starts in October 2024. Applications are possible from 20 June to 20 August 2024. The structured, English-language PhD programme is aimed at candidates from all disciplines relevant to global health, and 15 people are accepted each year.
The aims of the programme are to provide excellent scientific training, a cross-border view of health in the Global South and North, reflected intercultural competence, the development of an interdisciplinary perspective and networking in Berlin's global health community. In addition to a doctorate in Berlin, students from low- and middle-income countries can also conduct research in their home country in the so-called sandwich model under the joint supervision of researchers from the cooperation partners, e.g. at the Robert Koch Institute, and their home institution.
The PhD programme is a cooperation of seven scientific institutions in Berlin and Potsdam that conduct research on global health. In addition to the RKI, these are the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Freie Universität Berlin, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Technische Universität Berlin, the University of Potsdam and the Social Science Research Centre Berlin.
RKI staff are involved in various international research projects and programmes. They help, amongst other things, with the surveillance of pathogens, to fight disease outbreaks and provide diagnostics capacities in partner countries. Thus, the RKI helps to tackle urgent public health problems and improve people’s health worldwide. RKI also plays a central role in the implementation of the Global Health Protection Programme (GHPP). Since 2017, RKI's central role in international health protection has also been fixed by law ("Gesetz zur Modernisierung der epidemiologischen Überwachung übertragbarer Krankheiten"). Since 2019, RKI has its own international department – the Centre for International Health Protection (ZIG).