PhD student in system-oriented prevention at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen

Would you like to participate in developing and testing new approaches to increase health and well-being in populations and in this way contribute to preventing type 2 diabetes? Then you may be our new PhD student.

As a PhD student, you will be enrolled at the University of Southern Denmark and employed at Steno, where you will have a unique opportunity to contribute to creating new knowledge about sustainable and system-changing interventions and collaborate closely with practice. The position is to be filled in the research group System-oriented Prevention with reference to the research leader and senior researcher Charlotte Demant Klinker.

About Steno and the Department of Prevention, Health Promotion and Society

Steno Diabetes Center is a leading international diabetes hospital, part of the Capital Region of Denmark, later Region Zealand. The center specializes in diabetes treatment, clinical research, education, as well as health promotion and prevention. The Department of Prevention, Health Promotion and Society consists of five research groups and an overarching unit.

The department focuses on interdisciplinary research within a broad theoretical framework as well as development and implementation of tools, interventions and methods that can prevent diabetes and make life easier for people with diabetes and their relatives.

The task

You will be tasked with supporting the department's ongoing work within system-oriented and applied health promotion with a particular focus on developing and evaluating practice-oriented interventions that address complex public health challenges. Specifically, as a PhD student you will be linked to the project with Sport and Movement in a School Context with the following project portfolio:

The PhD project is anchored in The Partnership for Sport and Movement , where a flexible whole-school approach to physical activity is implemented across about 55 schools. The PhD project will examine how the approach is implemented. The project is conducted as a primarily qualitative, longitudinal, multiple-case study of eight schools.

The aim is to create new and practice-relevant knowledge about how whole-school approaches to physical activity can be adapted, integrated and sustained across different school contexts. The PhD student is expected to publish the results in international scientific journals and contribute to broad scientific and practice-oriented dissemination.

As a PhD student you will participate in interdisciplinary collaborations, including conducting data collection and analyzing data. In addition, it is expected that you have an interest in and competencies to contribute to the development of new projects, support (operation) the group and the department, and contribute with guidance and sparring at different levels depending on your competencies. Applicants for the position are expected to have themselves applied for or contributed to applying for funding for the position.

Your qualifications

We emphasize that

• You have a master's degree in a relevant field – e.g. public health, health promotion, sociology, anthropology or sports science.
• You have documented experience with interdisciplinary intervention research, preferably with a focus on groups at risk, participatory methods and system-/whole-person oriented approaches, in addition you have experience with system evaluations.
• You are analytically strong with main competence in qualitative analyses and methods, such as realist evaluation and process evaluations, but you are not afraid to also work with quantitative analyses and methods.
• You are professionally and personally mature and can work both independently and in close collaboration with colleagues, practice and external partners.
• You are ambitious and quality-conscious and thrive in an environment with many balls in the air and, at times, high work pressure
• You have a positive attitude to learning and development and see the PhD program as a springboard to a research career
• You have experience with different forms of dissemination and can adapt and communicate academic material to different target groups.
• You are engaged with a strong personal drive but also a team player.
• You master Danish and English fully in speaking and writing.

We can offer

• A workplace with high ceilings, an informal tone, and where creativity and new thinking are welcomed.
• High professional quality
• A close link between practice and research within health promotion, prevention and treatment
• Extensive contact with municipal, regional, civil society actors and national partners
• Significant influence on your own tasks and on the development of your future research area within Steno’s aim to contribute to real practice change
• Engaged colleagues who value showing trust, support, complementarity and respect for each other’s professionalism.

Salary and terms of employment

It is a 3-year fixed-term position at 37 hours per week. Employment as a PhD student requires an approved PhD protocol. Salary and terms of employment in accordance with the applicable agreement for academics in the regions. The position will involve fieldwork, data collection and meeting attendance in other parts of the country.

Application and additional information

The position is expected to be filled on January 1, 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. Your application must include: Your motivated application, draft PhD protocol, CV, publication list, documentation of qualifications and education and a relevant scientific article to which you have contributed.

Application deadline November 15, 2026. Interviews will take place in week 47. You should submit the application via the link below.

If you have questions, you are welcome to contact the Research Leader Charlotte Demant Klinker at [email protected] .