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PhD: iCARE Study

Project summary:

The iCARE Study (International Assessment of COVID-19-related Attitudes, Concerns, Responses and Impacts in Relation to Public Health Policies Study, https://mbmc-cmcm.ca/covid19/) is a multi-wave international study of public awareness, attitudes, concerns and behavioural responses to public health policies implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19, as well as the multidimensional impacts of the pandemic on people around the world. It also links this behavioural survey data with policy, mobility and case data to provide recommendations to governments on how to optimise current policy strategies to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and around the world.

Position summary

The individual who is selected for this position will be expected to help the study PI’s, Drs. Kim Lavoie and Simon Bacon, with the international coordination of the study and to focus on data analysis from the study. They will also have the opportunity to work with the international investigative team, consisting of over 200 collaborators from around 40 countries, on a variety of study-related aspects including:

  • Quantitative methods and analyses
  • Epidemiological analyses
  • Participating in collaborator and stakeholder engagement activities
  • Development and dissemination of policy briefs
  • Knowledge translation and reporting

Required Qualifications

  • A Master’s degree in a related discipline (e.g., Psychology, Physiology, Kinesiology/Exercise Science, Medicine) if applying to Concordia or a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology if applying to UQAM
  • Demonstrated research productivity (peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations)
  • Demonstrated experience conducting research in at least one of the following areas
    • Longitudinal cohort studies
    • Advanced statistical models
    • Population-level behaviour change
    • COVID-19 related research
    • Policy development
  • Demonstrated ability in the following:
    • Oral and written communication skills
    • Interpersonal skills
    • Capacity to work autonomously and collaboratively

Preference will be given to candidates with:

  • Experience with advanced statistical methods and ability to work with a variety of analytic software
  • Experience with student mentoring and supervision
  • Openness to learn new methods and techniques in an applied clinical setting
  • Ability to communicate (orally) in both English and French

Provincial, national and international candidates are encouraged to apply

Start date, Duration, Stipend, and Location

The PhD will start in September 2025 (though there is also the possibility of starting during the summer of 2025); funding has already been received.

The funding package consists of a minimum 4-year stipend (consistent with Fonds de Recherche du Quebec funding levels) plus conference / training funding. For out of province and international candidates there are also tuition waivers potentially available.

The successful candidate will be registered either at Concordia University in the Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Applied Physiology (www.concordia.ca) or at UQAM (www.uqam.ca) in the Department of Psychology; the actual work would be conducted at the CIUSSS-NIM, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montreal (https://rechercheciusssnim.ca/). Please note that the language of instruction at Concordia is English and French at UQAM.

To apply, please forward the following:

  • A complete curriculum vitae, including summary of GPA’s, a full publication list (including hyperlinks where possible) and email contact details for two referees
  • A letter of motivation and statement of research accomplishments and future research goals
  • At least one written example of a research focused output, e.g., research article, honours thesis, class-based research paper.

How to apply:

  • The complete application package must be emailed to: apply@mbmc-cmcm.ca.
  • Please include “PhD iCARE” in the subject line.
  • Queries about the application should be sent to either Dr. Lavoie (lavoie.kim@uqam.ca) or Dr. Bacon (simon.bacon@concordia.ca).
  • The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday January 17, 2025, 5pm ET. Interviews will be conducted in January 2025. The successful candidate will need to apply to the University by the official application deadline.