PhD Scholarship in Physician Leadership and Health Care Reform

University of Southern Denmark - Political Science and Public Management

The Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Odense, invites applications for a three-year full-time PhD scholarship focusing on physician leadership in a healthcare system undergoing major healthcare reforms. The project is funded by Danish Regions and Danish Association of Medical Specialists. The successful candidate is expected to start the PhD on 1 September 2026, or as agreed. The place of employment will be Odense.

Project background and overall aim

The Danish healthcare system is currently being reorganized and transformed by large-scale reforms and accompanying agreements that introduce new governance arrangements and stronger expectations of cross-sectoral coordination and collaboration. A key implication is that hospitals are expected to orient more strongly towards hospital-at-home and strengthened collaboration with primary care and municipal services to support more integrated and coherent patient pathways. These developments challenge leadership roles in hospitals and across the wider healthcare sector and for physician leadership.

The aim of this PhD project is to generate new knowledge about physician leadership - including how chief physicians, leading senior consultants, and other physicians with leadership roles understand, enact, and develop leadership – in the context of health care reform and its implementation across organisational boundaries.

Applications are invited from candidates with a master's degree. For a detailed description of the entry criteria and a job description for a PhD fellowship, as well as a descriptions of the assessment and hiring processes at the Department of Political Science and Public Management, please consult the department’s Scholarly Qualification Matrix – REEAD.

For more information, please click on the 'Apply' button above.

Application deadline: 26 April 2026 at 11.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST).