15 fully funded PhD positions in Africa and Europe (Fully Funded)

Applications are now open for 15 fully funded PhD positions in the HEALENAE Doctoral Network (Health and Environment in Africa and Europe). This prestigious program, funded by the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Horizon Europe), focuses on anthropological research exploring interconnections between health, environmental challenges, climate change, pollution, migration, diseases, and more across Africa and Europe.

The positions provide full funding for 3 years, starting September 1, 2026. They include a competitive salary, research expenses, travel allowances, fieldwork support, and training. There is no application fee mentioned across the calls. Applications must be submitted directly to the recruiting universities, with deadlines varying slightly between March 11 and March 16, 2026 (some may have extensions, so verify on official links). Candidates can apply to multiple projects. You can check out BS, MS, PhD and postdoc positions here.

Key Recruitment Overview

• Aarhus University (Denmark): Recruiting for Projects 2, 6, 8, and 10. Deadline: March 15, 2026.
• University of Oslo (Norway): Recruiting for Projects 1, 9, and 14. Deadline: March 16, 2026.
• KU Leuven (Belgium): Recruiting for Projects 7 and 13. Deadline: March 11, 2026.
• University of Edinburgh (UK): Recruiting for Projects 5 and 15. Deadline: March 16, 2026.
• University of Nairobi (Kenya): Recruiting for Projects 4 and 12. Deadline: March 15, 2026.
• University of Cape Town (South Africa): Recruiting for Projects 3 and 11. Details for these projects will be released later, with time provided for proposal preparation.

Most positions involve dual enrollment (primary and secondary university), fieldwork (often 1 year in Africa/Europe), a 6-month secondment, training schools, and collaborations with NGOs or stakeholders.

Project 1: Metabolic impact: agricultural intensification and health transformations

University: University of Oslo (with University of Cape Town)
Supervisors: Ruth Jane Prince (Oslo) and Susan Levine (Cape Town)
Key Question: How do recent changes to agricultural practices and economies of land-use and food production affect health and environment?
Aim: Study transformations in relationships between food, bodies, health, and environment due to increased agro-chemical use in East African agriculture.
Objectives:

• Document small-scale farmers’ use of agro-chemicals in food production.
• Situate increased use in relation to changes in labour, land use/access/ownership, climate change, government policies, and the political economy of agro-chemicals.
• Explore how farming communities experience and articulate links between food, bodies, health, agriculture, and agro-chemicals.
• Follow pathways of agro-chemicals from Europe to East Africa, including pesticide exports.
• Engage with local and international science, policy, and activism on agro-chemical harm.

Expected Outcomes: Bridge medical and environmental anthropology with historically-informed, locally-specific knowledge on agro-chemical use, contexts, downstream effects (e.g., metabolic diseases), and collaborative opportunities for protection.
Enrolment: UiO and UCT

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Project 2: Climate change migration and care for the elderly

University: Aarhus University (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Lotte Meinert (AU) & Godfrey Siu (MU)
Aim: Study effects of climate and other crises leading to adult migration in East Africa (leaving elderly with care needs) and/or African care labour migration to Southern Europe (with aging populations). Objectives:

• Describe impacts of climate/environmental changes on livelihoods and migration patterns.
• Explore effects of adult migration on elder care, including family, generational, and gender dynamics.
• Examine global, national, and local dynamics affecting climate, migration, and care work.
• Engage with civil society organisations on climate change, labour migration, remittances, and old age.

Expected Outcomes: Ethnographic insights into health/care effects of climate-related migration, trapped populations, unmet care needs, and comparative perspectives on aging and global interdependence.
Planned Secondment: MU (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO time (e.g., Seniors Without Borders).
Enrolment: AU and MU

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Project 4: Livestock and natural resource management: biodiversity and zoonotic diseases

University: University of Nairobi (with Aarhus University)
Supervisors: Salome Bukachi (UoN) & Ciara Kierans (AU)
Aim: Examine evolution of local practices in livestock husbandry and natural resource management (NRM), and implications for biodiversity conservation and zoonotic diseases in Kenya and Europe. Objectives:

• Explore local knowledge/practice on livestock husbandry/NRM in relation to zoonotic diseases.
• Describe community perceptions of effects on ecosystem services/disservices.
• Explore Anthropocene changes and their relation to zoonotic risks.
• Examine drivers of changes using political economy lens and implications for zoonotic diseases.

Expected Outcomes: Integrate veterinary, medical, and environmental anthropology for in-depth knowledge on husbandry, NRM, biodiversity, and zoonotic risks in the Anthropocene.
Planned Secondment: AU (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO time on NRM/conservation/zoonoses.
Enrolment: UoN and AU

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Project 5: Epidemics, disease and state formation in Africa

University: University of Edinburgh (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Gerhard Anders (UoE) & Herbert Muyinda (MU)
Aim: Examine processes of state formation shaped by epidemics and infectious diseases in Uganda. Objectives:

• Historically review/compare epidemic control efforts shaping state formation in Africa since colonial times.
• Examine anthropological impacts of international/European policies/funding on governing epidemics.
• Develop ethnographic case study of government/international efforts in Anglophone Africa.
• Engage policymakers/practitioners in Africa and Europe (especially EU).

Expected Outcomes: Contribute to anthropology of the state, medical anthropology, and public health by highlighting global discourses and international influences on state formation (e.g., Uganda’s HIV response).
Planned Secondment: MU (one semester post-fieldwork); possible time with Ministry of Health or WHO.
Enrolment: UoE and MU

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Project 6: Climate crisis, youth migration, adaption and associated health outcomes

University: Aarhus University (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Nanna Schneidermann (AU) & Stella Neema (MU)
Aim: Examine health risks, opportunities, protective factors, and adaptation strategies for youth migration in climate change contexts across Africa.
Guiding Questions:

• How do youth perceive environmental degradation intersecting with livelihoods, education, social life, and health?
• How is climate change linked to rural-urban or international migration, and how are decisions/experiences managed?
• How do young migrants perceive/manage health risks related to migration?

Expected Outcomes: Understand youth mobilities, health impacts, perceptions of degradation, and adaptation strategies.
Location/Secondment: Based at AU Anthropology; semester at MU; possible NGO collaboration on health/environment/migration.

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Project 7: Toxicity: urban living in landscapes of extraction

University: KU Leuven (with University of Cape Town)
Supervisors: Filip de Boeck (KUL) & Nikiwe Solomon (UCT)
Aim: Comparative study on toxic fallout of extractive economies and impact on urban life in South Africa and UK.
Objectives:

• Describe/compare historical toxicity from coal mining and impacts on urban living.
• Research recent extractive practices and social/cultural mutations.
• Investigate links between toxic waste and displacement/migration.
• Collaborate with academics, NGOs, and activists on toxic fallout.

Expected Outcomes: Show how extractive toxicity shapes post-colonial urban conditions, health, social issues, and rights to the city.
Planned Secondment: UCT (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO/arts centre time.
Enrolment: KUL and UCT

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Project 8: Gendered cancer epidemics and questions about environments

University: Aarhus University (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Rikke Sand Andersen (AU) & Godfrey Siu (MU)
Aim: Study communicability of gynecological cancers (e.g., cervical/HPV, ovarian) in high-incidence regions of Eastern/Southern Africa.
Objectives:

• Describe contagious potentials through social, environmental, political structures (e.g., healthcare, gender reciprocity, biosocial entanglements like HPV/HIV, poverty, pollution).
• Examine global/national/local dynamics affecting spread.
• Describe resources and improvisations in prevention/detection.
• Engage stakeholders for sustainable measures.

Expected Outcomes: Ethnographic knowledge on discrepancies producing gyn cancer epidemics, bridging medical/public health/anthropological views.
Planned Secondment: MU (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO/ministry time.
Enrolment: AU and MU

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Project 9: Infrastructures of toxic evidence and civic protection

University: University of Oslo (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Wenzel Geissler (UiO) & Stella Neema (MU)
Key Question: How is knowledge about toxic pollution, exposure, and harm made, circulated, and used to protect lives/environments?
Aim: Study/participate in evidence-making on toxic pollutants/exposure in East Africa and multi-level scales.
Objectives:

• Assess governmental research/regulation/monitoring of toxicants.
• Compare evidence forms from state/non-state actors/experts/laypeople.
• Explore interests/processes in documentation/response to pollution.
• Document mitigation/contestation forms.
• Collaborate with scientists/activists.
• Explore citizen science potential.

Expected Outcomes: Ethnographic insights on evidence production/contestation for better control/monitoring/protection practices.
Enrolment: UiO & MU

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Project 10: Biosecurity: food, health risks and animal disease

University: Aarhus University (with University of Nairobi)
Supervisors: Michael Eilenberg (AU) & Salome Bukachi (UoN)
Aim: Study social/economic consequences of animal disease outbreaks on food security/human health in East Africa, and/or transboundary diseases/biosecurity between East Africa and Europe.
Objectives:

• Document history/spread/management of animal diseases/biosecurity.
• Explore interplay between traditional farming, wildlife, and disease management.
• Investigate drivers and interplay with governance.
• Engage networks on husbandry/food security/biosecurity dilemmas.

Expected Outcomes: New knowledge on biosecurity regimes in livestock production, farmer experiences, and risk politics.
Planned Secondment: UoN (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO/FAO time.
Enrolment: AU and UoN

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Project 11: Non-Communicable Diseases, environments and questions of repair

University: University of Cape Town (with University of Oslo)
Supervisors: Fiona Ross and Kharnita Mohamed (UCT) & Ruth Jane Prince (UiO)
Aim: Re-evaluate (non)communicability of NCDs (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stunting) by examining ‘environment’ in aetiology/diagnosis/recovery in South Africa.
Objectives:

• Trace distribution of NCDs.
• Assess medical explanations and structural factors.
• Consider everyday life impacts and historicities.
• Trace ‘recovery’/’repair’ ideas in discourse and lives.

Expected Outcomes: Contribute to anthropology of disability/debility, pressure on ‘lifestyle diseases’ as non-communicable, highlight structural violence.
Planned Secondment: UiO (one semester post-fieldwork); possible health organisation time (e.g., diabetes groups).
Enrolment: UCT and UiO

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Project 12: Urban commons: environments, infrastructures, and health

University: University of Nairobi (with KU Leuven)
Supervisors: Washington Onyango-Ouma (UoN) & Ann Cassiman (KUL)
Aim: Study shared urban spaces/infrastructures shaping health, influenced by European policies/funding/activism in Kenyan settings.
Objectives:

• Investigate political/economic/social/cultural environments impacting urban health.
• Assess shared infrastructures (green space, housing, water/food/air, transport).
• Explore personal health practices and NCD prevalence.
• Document citizen engagement on environmental/health issues (pollution, waste).

Expected Outcomes: Knowledge on urban commons as shared resources, transboundary influences, citizen science potential, and policy needs.
Planned Secondment: KUL (one semester post-fieldwork); possible urban organisation time. Enrolment: UoN and KUL

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Project 13: Youth mental health and gambling epidemics in times of environmental crisis

University: KU Leuven (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Ann Cassiman (KUL) & Stella Neema (MU)
Aim: Study gambling forms (online/offline) among East African youth linked to environmental/social/economic/technological crises.
Objectives:

• Explore/identify gambling forms.
• Study historical situatedness and changes.
• Study relations between insecure environments and gambling as securing futures.
• Study risk/uncertainty handling in post-colonial context.

Expected Outcomes: Map gambling boom’s impact on youth mental health, gendered/local knowledge, and links to environmental crisis/uncertainty.
Planned Secondment: MU (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO time (e.g., Hope for Future Generations).
Enrolment: KUL and MU

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Project 14: Epidemics and natural disasters as ‘business’

University: University of Oslo (with Makerere University)
Supervisors: Wenzel Geissler (UiO) & Herbert Muyinda (MU)
Key Question: How do epidemic/natural emergency measures generate economic opportunities in contexts of institutional breakdown?
Aim: Analyse translation of epidemics/emergencies into economic opportunities amid malfunctioning infrastructures.
Objectives:

• Study interface between economic processes and policy/technical responses over time.
• Explore political/organisational factors affecting opportunities.
• Acknowledge fragility/temporariness of responses and economic losses from shifts/withdrawals.
• Reflect on how economic translations affect intervention reputation/uptake/efficacy.

Focus: Sites with intensive anti-epidemic/emergency interventions (e.g., HIV, Ebola, Covid, drought/flood relief), short/long-term effects, and afterlives of interventions.

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Project 15: The Frontiers of Vector Borne Disease: Expertise and Response in Africa and Europe

University: University of Edinburgh (with University of Nairobi)
Supervisors: Rebecca Marsland (UoE) & Salome Bukachi (UoN)
Aim: Study responses to changing vector-borne disease (VBD) patterns in frontier regions affected by climate/ecological change.
Objectives:

• Review policies on climate-related vector distribution changes.
• Document community observations of ecological/disease changes.
• Examine adaptations by health/veterinary services and communities.
• Analyse historical/political factors in expertise/knowledge flow between regions/Africa-Europe.

Expected Outcomes: Analyse multispecies interconnectedness in changing landscapes and application of African expertise to new areas.
Planned Secondment: UoN (one semester post-fieldwork); possible NGO/government/research group time on VBDs.
Enrolment: UoE and UoN

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