PhD project between the Region of Southern Denmark and SCC

As the PhD position is placed within the framework of SCC, there must be an applicant team of at least two supervisors from separate faculties behind each application. Furthermore, it is a prerequisite that the applicant team consists of both a principal supervisor and a co-supervisor for the future PhD student.  Application deadline is 1 November 2022. 

Download application template here

The applications for this post will be evaluated by SCC’s internal and cross-faculty funds panel together with a representative from the Region of Southern Denmark. The application team, to which the PhD instruments are allocated, is expected to advertise the PhD position immediately after the allocation and in connection with the faculty where the principal supervisor is employed.  

About the PhD position

One of the purposes in the Region of Southern Denmark’s climate strategy is to ensure a green and sustainable transition of the healthcare system including contributing to a reduction of the climate impact from the region’s operation of hospitals.  

In 2021, the WHO declared that climate change is the largest isolated health threat facing mankind, and in a future even warmer climate the threat will not diminish. At the same time, estimates indicate that the Danish health sector is responsible for approx. 6 percent of Denmark’s greenhouse gas emissions, which states the region’s important role to play in relation to reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the Danish healthcare system uses many resources that contribute to both the resource crisis and the climate crisis and result in large amounts of waste every day that is not recycled.  

Through research the interdisciplinary PhD project must map possible reduction paths, identify options and barriers and make recommendations for a better climate behaviour at the hospitals, so that the hospitals in this and other regions are capable of reducing both their resource consumption and the climate and environmental impact effectively.  

Expected elements 

Some of the following elements are expected to form part of the PhD project – the angling and the project description depend on the professional standards and research areas of the applicant team. 

• Map best practice in relation to reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions from the hospitals through literary studies and fieldwork. 
• Identify potential reduction paths, inclusive of possible solutions, financial consequences and potential barriers, for Danish hospital towards 2030, 2040 and 2050 in context of the Danish 70% goal (1990-2030) and the regional 35% goal (2020-2030 for the entire emission i.e. scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3).  
• Identify and analyse the existing and not yet available technological solutions and how these can be implemented, scaled and potentially developed at hospital, regional and national levels.  
• Uncover and analyse legal and institutional barriers etc. in Denmark. 
• Identify and analyse behavioural, cultural and managerial barriers, also compared to other hospitals in Denmark or Scandinavia, where the climate change also has a high priority. 

These initiatives must result in recommendations for possible actions at a short and long term but also for the hospitals and their employees to participate in/influence on the operation of the hospitals.