Four PhDs on offer on the commercial and economic determinants of health

This scholarship is available over three years and offers:

• a stipend of $37,450 per annum tax exempt (2026 rate)
  
• a top-up of $10,000 per annum tax exempt
• a relocation allowance of $500–1,500 (for single to family) for students moving from interstate

Applications are now open for four PhD scholarships related to the Commercial and Economic Determinants of Health (CEDoH). The scholarships will be embedded within The Evidence Exchange, a newly established research translation centre on the CEDoH, funded by Deakin University and VicHealth.

The successful applicants will undertake original research and build the evidence-base to:

• Explore how economic, commercial and political systems can be designed and governed to rebalance power
• Understand the systems, practices and pathways through which commercial actors cause harm
• Highlight business practices and models that promote health and equity

We welcome submissions that align with the following topics:

• Economic determinants of health and impacts of economic policy on health and equity. Areas of interest include corporate governance reform, competition policy change, and novel investments in prevention.
• Investing for health, including mechanisms to implement the Wellbeing Economy, community wealth building, school food programs, and understanding the impacts of financialization and impact investing.
• Policy and regulatory action, such as understanding the impact of public inquiries; Corporate Social Responsibility and Policy influence; and gambling reform.
• Research translation methods on CEDoH, including innovative and transdisciplinary approaches to knowledge exchange for generating action and impact on policy and practice; strategic framing and communication around CEDoH; meaningful community engagement and co-production practices in this field.

Depending on the topic of interest, we will connect you with relevant experts from our transdisciplinary research team to discussion potential supervision opportunities.

Research translation on the commercial and economic determinants of health

• Methodological innovation such as research translation methods, transdisciplinary approaches, strategic communications and framing, related to the commercial and economic determinants of health

For more information please contact, Prof Gary Sacks (Faculty of Health)

Policy and regulatory action

• Understanding the Impact of Public Inquiries: A project examining the real-world impact of public inquiries (e.g. parliamentary inquiries, Royal Commissions) and why their recommendations are often only partially implemented or stalled.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Policy Influence: Examining how CSR strategies are used by commercial actors to shape public narratives and policy agendas, with a focus on identifying risks of co-option and developing guidance for policymakers and civil society on responding to CSR as a form of influence.
• Gambling Reform: Track the translation of recommendations into policy, identify where reforms have stalled or been diluted, and develop practical tools (e.g. implementation trackers, policy briefs) to support ongoing advocacy and reform efforts.

• Transformational Policy Approaches to Address CDoH: A project focused on identifying and analysing “transformational” policy interventions that move beyond incremental change to reshape systems (e.g. comprehensive advertising bans, structural regulation, independent regulators). This would include comparative case studies, identification of enabling conditions, and development of guidance on how to design, advocate for, and implement large-scale policy change

For more information please contact, Prof Samantha Thomas (Faculty of Health)  and/or Assoc Prof Neera Bhatia (Faculty of Business and Law)

Investing for Health

• Investing for health, including mechanisms to implement the Wellbeing Economy, community wealth building, school food programs, and understanding the impacts of financialization and impact investing.
• Economic determinants of health and impacts of economic policy on health and equity. Areas of interest include corporate governance reform, competition policy change, and novel investments in prevention.

For more information please contact, Dr Bejamin Wood (Faculty of Health) and/or Dr Kate Lycett (Faculty of Health)

Interested in a topic related to CEDoH that isn’t listed above?

Please get in touch with the Director of The Evidence Exchange, Prof Gary Sacks, to discuss further.

To be eligible you must:

• meet Deakin's PhD entry requirements
• enrol full time
• hold an honours degree (first class) or an equivalent standard masters degree with a substantial research component
• be a domestic student candidate (domestic includes candidates with Australian Citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency, or New Zealand Citizenship)

Please refer to the research degree entry pathways page for further information.