The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has been awarded funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to host the Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Climate Change and Health Security.
HPRUs are joint research units that facilitate world-class research between UKHSA and leading UK universities in areas of applied health protection research that are directly relevant to the mission of UKHSA. They have a strong emphasis on research training and provide opportunities for students to undertake research degrees on highly topical issues that feed directly into national policy and public health response. Our HPRU also includes University College London (UCL) and the Met Office as partners. More information about our HPRU can be found on our website.
Funding is available for one 3-year full-time PhD studentship to start in September 2026. The award will cover a tax-free stipend of £23,805 per year and tuition fees at home rates. The studentship is not available to candidates who would be liable for overseas fees. Applicants must meet the criteria for Home fee status to be eligible to apply - international students are not eligible. Your fee status is determined in accordance with the Fee Assessment Policy of LSHTM and regulations defined by the UK Government.
The successful candidate will conduct research on a priority topic relevant to climate change and health security in the UK.
The research training environment
Students, academics, and professionals come to LSHTM from all over the world because of its international presence, collaborative ethos, research excellence and prestigious study programmes in public and global health. Find out details of the School’s rankings and awards as well as current research in action.
There are three academic faculties at LSHTM: Public Health & Policy; Epidemiology & Population Health; and Infectious & Tropical Diseases. There are also School Centres, which are cross-institution networks of academics collaborating and innovating to address global health challenges, including the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health.
The studentship will be based in the Faculty of Public Health and Policy and will be mentored by supervisors at LSHTM and UKHSA. They will have the unique opportunity to conduct research in both academic and public health settings and at the Met Office, as well as having access to an extensive training programme offered by NIHR.
HPRU in Climate Change and Health Security
The HPRU in Climate Change and Health Security is offering a PhD studentship as detailed in the Annex. Funding will be available to support one PhD student who will join two other research degree students already funded by the HPRU. Although the student will be registered for their PhD at LSHTM, supervision will be shared with UKHSA. Some work may be carried out at UKHSA premises.
The programme of PhD research for the Climate Change and Health Security HPRU is coordinated by Dr Peninah Murage ([email protected]). General enquires should be directed to her or to the HPRU Director, Professor Shakoor Hajat ([email protected]).
Career development opportunities
Students completing a HPRU PhD will be trained for a career in either academia or public health practice or indeed spanning both. At LSHTM, support for research students’ future career development is covered through the supervision process, through the Transferable Skills Programme (both at LSHTM and the Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network) and the LSHTM’s Careers Service. There will be opportunities to spend time at UKHSA observing and participating in research to address the practical day-to-day delivery of public health services. Short-term placements at the Met Office may also be possible. Students will have a unique opportunity to network and establish professional contacts through formal and informal interactions with members of staff and other students at LSHTM and UKHSA. Activities include an extensive range of seminars and workshops. The PhD studentships also include some funding for national and international conference attendance by students, providing further networking opportunities.
Financial support
The award includes payment of fees and a tax-free stipend of approximately £23,805 for three years. The award is only available to those who are eligible for Home fee status. Further information about fees status assessment can be found on the UKCISA website and on the LSHTM Fee Assessment Policy.
General eligibility criteria
- Relevant undergraduate and masters degrees, both awarded at a high grade. Applicants with a very strong undergraduate degree and relevant work experience may also be considered
- Demonstrable attention to detail
- The ability to work independently, manage own workload and work to deadlines
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- An interest in applied climate change health protection research in the UK
Each research project also has specific eligibility criteria - please see Annex for further details.
How to apply
Please complete a research degree application online using the LSHTM application portal., indicating which topic you are interested in (see ‘Details of the projects and supervisors’ for the more information). Please include the following documents:
- Academic transcripts (official transcripts for all completed study; interim transcripts for any ongoing programmes of study).
- A 2-page curriculum vitae, including details of your academic achievements to date.
- A brief (under 500 words) proposal outlining the PhD project you are applying for and some of your initial research ideas and proposed methodological approaches for this project. Refer to the Annex for the choice of PhD topics.
- The proposal should be appropriately referenced with up to 5 references.
- A brief (under 300 words) personal statement outlining why you are interested in, and suited to, undertake a PhD on this topic.
Candidates are encouraged to contact the lead supervisor of the project they are interested in before applying.
The deadline for completed applications is 23:59 on Monday 11 May 2026. Interviews will be held as soon as possible thereafter. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Annex: Details of the projects and supervisors
- Ambient heat, air pollution and Acute Kidney Injury
Supervisors: Shakoor Hajat, Dorothea Nitsch, Kai Wan
Email: [email protected]
As global temperatures continue to rise, the health risks associated with the renal system are of particular concern. The incidence of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is increasing worldwide. In the UK, it is associated with approximately 100,000 deaths annually, and AKI inpatient costs account for up to 1% of the NHS budget. Since 2015, the NHS has been operating an automated real-time electronic alert system to detect episodes of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) occurring in both hospital and community settings, with the resulting data being sent to the UK Renal Registry (UKRR) for collation.
This PhD proposes linking this unique dataset to high-resolution weather and air pollution data to identify the environmental conditions that may trigger an AKI event. Furthermore, the UKRR dataset can be linked to hospitalisation data to obtain detailed patient information, which can help identify those most at risk of a heat-related AKI event and who require acute dialysis for acute kidney failure.
The work will include a literature review of how heat and air quality may interact to affect the kidneys. Analyses will explore the influence of air pollution and heat on AKI events, complementing previous work that only looked at heat. Outcomes of AKI events include acute dialysis, rehospitalisation, and death, and analyses will explore climate-related complications amongst people with AKI. The economic costs associated with these outcomes will also be estimated. Lastly, more detailed analyses will identify those at highest risk to help UKHSA and local authorities target those who may benefit from health protection measures to address climate and air pollution vulnerability. This will include people who are frail, living in more deprived areas, and with a history of previous AKI or kidney disease.
Specific eligibility criteria (in addition to general eligibility criteria above)
- Master's degree (or equivalent training) in a quantitative subject, preferably epidemiology, public health or medical statistics
- Basic knowledge of health economics
- Strong interest in climate change adaptation
- Familiarity with programming in R software or Stata
- Natural experiment evaluation of weather health alerts in England
Supervisors: Hugh Sharma Waddington, Shakoor Hajat, Ross Thompson
Email: [email protected]
England has a relatively sophisticated early warning system for extreme weather (including heat and cold) events, triggering response actions across health, social care and other community settings, with the goal of protecting health and saving lives. Temperature alerts, including heat and cold, are issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in partnership with the Met Office. Once an alert is issued, the public-health response relies on implementation of actions at the local level. However, there is a high degree of regional variation in what these response plans include. In addition, there are different systems in place across the UK’s four devolved nations. This variation makes the UK’s weather health alerting system an ideal candidate for natural experimental evaluations.
This PhD will advance methods for the evaluation of weather warnings using natural experiments. Working closely with partners at UKHSA and the Met Office, this research will guide policy and inform updatesto the UKHSA’s Adverse Weather and Health Plan, and weather health alerting system, as well as international guidance on methods for evaluation of temperature, weather and health warning systems.
Specific components of the project include:
- Assessment of existing methods for evaluating temperature and other weather-hazard alerting systems.
- Linking quantitative data sets on weather forecasts, temperature exposure and health outcomes
- Development of the theory of change demonstrating how the weather-alert is supposed to impact on outcomes along the causal pathway to health
- Evaluation of the impacts of temperature warnings on health outcomes along the causal pathway
The project will involve interest-holder engagement at national, regional and local levels to guide the research and ensure findings are applicable to practitioners.
Specific eligibility criteria (in addition to general eligibility criteria above)
- Master’s degree (or equivalent training) in a quantitative subject, preferably Epidemiology, Health Economics, Health Data Science, Econometrics, or applied Social Science.
- Strong skills in research design and quantitative impact evaluation methods (natural experiments and quasi-experiments)
- Basic knowledge of health economics
- Strong interest in evaluating real-world interventions
- Familiarity with programming in R software or Stata and GIS software
- Process evaluation of heat interventions in health care settings – mixed methods study
Supervisors: Sari Kovats, Peninah Murage, Sarah Whitmee
Email: [email protected]
Health care settings in the UK are increasingly implementing measures to manage heat risks to protect the health and wellbeing of residents and staff.
Despite emerging evidence of the effectiveness of adaptation actions in generating indoor cooling, there are critical gaps in understanding their acceptability, as well as barriers and opportunities for wider uptake. There are also gaps in contextual understanding of their effectiveness i.e. where do the interventions work and under what circumstances, as well as trade-offs and negative consequences of implementation.
This research will identify the equity implications of interventions in terms of who benefits and who is disadvantaged. The PhD will link to current research projects and project partners in Local Authority, NHS Trusts and DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) to conduct a process evaluation of heat interventions in health care settings.
Specific components of the project include:
- Development of the theory of change
- Co-design of the process evaluation with key decision makers.
- Interviews and qualitative research methods to examine the process of implementation to answer questions such as ‘what works’ and ‘under what context’
- Mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative e.g. using questionnaires) to assess the success (or failure) of the implementation benefits and harms of the interventions
Specific eligibility criteria (in addition to general eligibility criteria above)
- Master’s degree (or equivalent training) in qualitative research methods, preferably Public Health or Social Science.
- Strong skills in research design and qualitative evaluation methods
- Basic knowledge of health or social care systems in the UK
- Strong interest in evaluating complex interventions