LSHTM Research Fellow and Fully Funded PhD Studentship Opportunities 2026–2027: Data Science, Statistics, Epidemiology and Maternity Inequalities

Overview

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the NIHR Maternity Disparities Consortium (MDC) are offering two related opportunities in data science, statistics, epidemiology and maternity inequalities. One is for two Research Fellows at LSHTM, and the other is a funded PhD studentship under the NIHR Inequalities Challenge: Maternity Disparities Consortium. The Consortium is a UK-wide collaboration of universities, NHS trusts, local councils, charities, industry partners and communities that aims to improve outcomes for women and babies before, during and after pregnancy.

What you get

The two Research Fellow posts sit in the Department of Health Services Research & Policy in London, within the DELTA core function of the Consortium. They are fixed-term until 31 May 2028 and can be full-time or part-time, between 17.5 and 35 hours per week, or 0.5 to 1.0 FTE. One post is available immediately and the other from 1 September 2026. Salary is on the LSHTM Grade 6 scale, from 45,728 to 51,872 pounds per year pro rata, including London Weighting. Benefits include 30 working days of annual leave pro rata, discretionary Wellbeing Days and access to the pension scheme.

Fellows will analyse routinely collected linked national datasets on mothers and babies in England.

The Consortium is also offering up to 13 funded PhD studentships across projects hosted by its member universities. They aim to build research capacity in areas such as health economics, trial design, digital research, implementation science, co-production methods and health inequalities research.

Who can apply

Fellow applicants should have strong expertise in data science, statistics or epidemiology and a postgraduate qualification, with a doctorate ideally preferred. Experience analysing large observational healthcare datasets is especially relevant, though experience with clinical trial data may also be considered. Previous work does not need to focus on maternity care, but applicants should show strong quantitative and analytical skills and an interest in healthcare outcomes and inequalities. The studentships welcome applicants with methodological expertise who can apply it to maternity inequalities.