The International Global Public Health Doctoral Programme is offered by a consortium of four Portuguese public health institutions: the NOVA National School of Public Health, the NOVA Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and NOVA Medical School, and the University of Porto (Institute of Public Health/Faculty of Medicine).

It is designed to meet the needs of students that are aiming to enhance their research skills in public health, develop their understanding of policy and practice and wish make an original contribution to knowledge development.

There is a growing commitment of Portuguese universities to the field of global public health. This is in recognition of its important role both nationally and internationally. Diseases, risks, technologies and career opportunities demand new competences and investments in training. The health care system and society in general require a larger number of public health professionals, with stronger scientific training and sense of evidence.

The Global Public Health is a doctoral programme that started in October 2014. It aims to provide students with competencies that enable them to become qualified researchers in public health, able to conduct independent research, and work as science driven field professionals.

Students that undertake the Programme will be able to link their research with the practice of public health. The Programme will provide opportunities for students to develop their PhD research in close collaboration with organizations and networks with links to public health practice, at the regional, national and international levels.

The Global Public Health Doctoral Programme is based on the teaching and research experience of four Portuguese Schools. It builds on the Schools’ longstanding experience of training public health professionals, in Portugal and abroad, and provides all the structural conditions needed for such training.

In conjunction with the Research Units – to which most of the professors and researchers are now associated – there will be an opportunity for students to come into contact with modern scientific public health research. Here, traditional disciplines, strongly present in their methodological and substantive contributions, meet less commonly shared fundamental knowledge ranging from molecular biology to economics, providing a most needed emphasis on public health ethics, and training in transferable skills that consider project management, communication skills strengthening “employability” and the ability to make successful transition from PhD study to a future career. The student will also be trained in organization, planning, leadership, team working, and a sound domain of the theory in which to ground research and hypothesis testing.

The first year of the Doctoral Program consists of a number of mandatory and optional courses taught in English. For those who have a good command of Portuguese, an additional number of courses and seminars will be available.

Our aim is to build an internationally competitive program, a clear first choice for the best students and a guarantee of success for the scientific community and future employers.

Phd in Global Public Health regulation [PDF 268KB]