PhD Position: Leadership in Sustainable Healthcare Transitions

Introduction

Are you motivated to help make healthcare more environmentally sustainable? Are you eager to develop strategies for leadership and management to accelerate system-wide transitions toward environmental responsibility in the health sector?

Job description

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to join ESHPM’s Planetary Health research agenda. The healthcare sector faces a pressing global challenge: how to transition to environmentally sustainable practices amid escalating climate crises. Hospitals and care systems are major contributors to environmental degradation through high energy use, material consumption, and complex supply chains.

You investigate how board-level and clinical leaders in healthcare organizations can drive sustainability transitions, and how leadership and decision-making frameworks can support this. Drawing on transition management theory—which emphasizes long-term visioning, multi-level governance, and experimentation—you study how leaders navigate the tension between short-term operational priorities and long-term climate goals.

The research focuses on real-world governance challenges in healthcare organizations and aims to deliver both academic insights and practical tools for sustainable leadership.

The project addresses key questions, such as:

• How do board-level and clinical leaders perceive their roles in sustainability transitions?
• What challenges do they face in aligning organizational priorities with long-term climate goals?
• How can tailored decision frameworks support leaders in overcoming these challenges?

Job requirements

Key Responsibilities

Your key responsibilities relate to

• Conducting qualitative and/or mixed-methods research on leadership and sustainability in healthcare
• Engaging with healthcare professionals and decision-makers
• Contributing to publications and international presentations
• Completing a doctoral dissertation within four years
• Contributing to education in the different programs offered by ESHPM

What We Offer

• A supportive, interdisciplinary team at a leading health policy and management institute
• Access to international networks
• Professional development opportunities and mentoring
• A 4-year fully funded PhD position at Erasmus School of Health Policy & management with a competitive salary;
• Salary from €2,770 to €3,539 gross/month (full-time, scale P, CAO NU)

Candidate Profile

We seek a candidate who:

• Holds (or is near completion of) a master’s degree in management, healthcare management, public administration, social sciences or a related field
• Has interest in sustainability, leadership, and governance in the healthcare sector
• Has basic experience with mixed-methods research, such as quantitative survey research, qualitative interview methods or Q-metholodogy.
• Has affinity with literature in organization science and management
• Works well independently and in teams
• Is fluent in English (Dutch is a plus)

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 01-SEP-2025 and you will be based at Campus Woudestein in Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). This position is for 0.8 fte - 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 2.901 to a maximum of € 3..707 gross per month Scale PhD on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of (contractduur).

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

-        Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!

-        Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.

-        Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.

-        Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.

-        Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).

-        Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM)

ESHPM is leading within the Netherlands with its teaching and research activities, focusing on economics, policy and management topics in healthcare. ESHPM offers a bachelor programme, five master programmes, a transition programme for lateral entrants and postgraduate education.

Since its foundation in 1982, ESHPM has closely linked research and education. Knowledge and experience from various scientific disciplines such as economics, law, socio-medical sciences, organizational studies and public administration are brought together and applied to healthcare. This multidisciplinary approach to education and research is unique.

ESHPM is housed in the Bayle (J) Building on EUR's Woudestein campus in Rotterdam. More than 1500 students study and 160 employees work at ESHPM. Internationalization is highly valued at ESHPM. The number of students, faculty and researchers from abroad has increased significantly over the past years and have enriched our programmes.

Group

About the Department of Socio-Medical Sciences

At a time of climate crisis, global pandemics, rising mental health concerns, and deepening health inequalities, our department is driven by a clear purpose: to help shape healthier, fairer, and more sustainable societies. We bring together the strengths of medical sociology, organisation sciences, health psychology, and public health to tackle these urgent challenges with creativity and scientific rigour.

Our research is grounded in real-world impact. We build strong alliances with academic and societal partners—locally and globally—to co-create knowledge and drive innovation. Whether it's advancing theory, developing cutting-edge measurement tools, or implementing strategies for sustainable health ecosystems, we are committed to work that makes a difference.

Through rigorous research, interdisciplinary teaching, and meaningful collaboration, we aim to catalyse positive change where it’s needed most—improving the well-being of vulnerable communities and transforming the future of healthcare.

Applying

Submit your application by July 20, 2025 , including:

• A motivation letter
• CV
• Contact info for two academic references
• A sample of academic writing in English (e.g. thesis)

Interviews with selected candidates will take place mid August.

For more information, contact Dr. Maike Tietschert (tietschert@eshpm.eur.nl).

We look forward to receiving your application.

Persons of all gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, ages, neurodiversities, functional impairments, citizenships, or any other aspect are welcome to apply and join the EUR community.