PhD/MPhil Health Economics / Programme details

Year of entry: 2025

Programme description

Our PhD/MPhil Health Economics programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding of Health Economics.

 Our main research themes within health economics apply or develop economic methods to understand

  • incentives and provider performance;
  • equity in healthcare and geographical resource allocation;
  • workforce planning and determinants of labour supply;
  • measurement and valuation of preferences for benefits of healthcare;
  • determinants of variation in healthcare costs and benefits;
  • economic evaluation of complex cross-therapeutic interventions;
  • utilisation of routinely collected data across health and social care to value costs and benefits in economic evaluation;
  • causal analysis of complex interventions, complex needs and less-regulated (mainly diagnostic) services;
  • innovative study design to take account of complexity in intervention design and increase in emphasis on integration of health and social care;

The research covers a number of clinical areas, including for example, ageing, mental health, precision medicine and patient safety.

Special features

Training and development

All of our postgraduate researchers attend the Doctoral Academy Training Programme delivered by the Researcher Development team . The programme provides key transferable skills and equips our postgraduate researchers with the tools to progress beyond their research degree into influential positions within academia, industry and consultancy. The emphasis is on enhancing skills critical to developing early-stage researchers and professionals, whether they relate to effective communication, disseminating research findings and project management skills.

Teaching and learning

PhD/MPhil programmes are based on individual research projects that last three to four years (PhD) or one to two years (MPhil), working with a specific Primary Supervisor and Co-Supervisor(s).

Applicants are specifically matched with a Primary Supervisor and individual project based on their research interests and background.

International applicants interested in this research area can also consider our PhD programme with integrated teaching certificate .

This unique programme will enable you to gain a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning, whilst also carrying out independent research on your chosen project.

Scholarships and bursaries

Funded programmes and projects are promoted throughout the year. Funding is available through UK Research Councils, charities and industry. We also have other internal awards and scholarships for the most outstanding applicants from within the UK and overseas. 

For more information on available the types of funding we have available, please visit the  funded programmes  and  funding opportunities  pages.

What our students say

Find out more about what it's like to undertake a postgraduate research degree at Manchester on the Doctoral Academy Blog and the support available through our Faculty Doctoral Academy.

Facilities

You will have access to a range of  research and learning facilities  across the University and at some of our partner organisations.

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk