HDR Scholarship - Healthy Food, Healthy Planet, Healthy People

The food system is a key determinant of human health as well as a key driver of global environmental impact. A major transition in the food supply has resulted in widescale distribution and consumption of meat-based and increasingly highly processed food and beverage products that are contributing to poor health outcomes and have high environmental footprints. In Australia, extensive transformation of the food system is needed to reduce the large and increasing prevalence of diet-related diseases and to enable the transition towards net zero emissions and staying within planetary boundaries.

While emerging work has focused on the impacts of broad agricultural commodities (notably animal source foods such as meat and dairy), existing footprint databases are not fully representative of the many packaged products most of us consume on a regular basis. Consumers are increasingly concerned about environmental issues, yet they are currently unable to access the right information about the sustainability of food and beverage products. Similarly, the food industry is in desperate need for sustainability data on the types of food and beverage products that are likely to have lower environmental impact and are unlikely to attract regulatory and fiscal disincentives in the longer term. Governments also require reliable information to inform policies designed to support a more sustainable food production and consumption environment. A rigorous and comprehensive analytical framework capable of providing reliable estimates of the environmental impacts associated with the entire food supply chain (from farm to fork) of food and beverage products is needed to provide information for all market actors.

The Postdoctoral Fellow and the PhD candidate will be principally supervised by Dr Michalis Hadjikakou and will work within Deakin University’s Planet-A lab, led by Alfred Deakin Professor Brett Bryan, the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Centre for Integrative Ecology. Planet-A offers a unique research environment with a strong focus on sustainability assessment of the land use and food system, notably through its involvements in the Land Use Futures project. The position is based at the Melbourne/Burwood Campus. Co-supervision and mentoring opportunities will be available through the “Healthy Food, Healthy Planet, Healthy People” NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence partners at the George Institute, Imperial College London and Oxford University. The "Healthy Food, Healthy Planet, Healthy People” project is a newly funded NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence that aims to address the impacts of food on human and planetary health by providing the granular data and insights required to undertake the systemic changes necessary for meaningful transformation of the food system.

Applications close 5pm, Friday 22 April 2022

This scholarship is available over 3 years.

• Stipend of $28,900 per annum tax exempt (2022 rate)
• Relocation allowance of $500-1500 (for single to family) for students moving from interstate
• International students only:  Tuition fees offset for the duration of 4 years. Single Overseas Student Health Cover policy for the duration of the student visa.

To be eligible you must:

• be either a domestic or international candidate. Domestic includes candidates with Australian Citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency or New Zealand Citizenship.
• meet Deakin's PhD entry requirements
• be enrolling full time and hold an honours degree (first class) or an equivalent standard master's degree with a substantial research component.

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

Additional desirable criteria include:

• strong tertiary qualification in environmental science and/or management, ecology, geography, sustainability assessment, ecological economics, environmental/sustainable engineering or related fields
• working background in life cycle assessment, environmental footprinting, input-output analysis, life cycle assessment, food systems modelling, integrated assessment modelling or similar fields
• background in social science, economics, nutrition science or public health with strong quantitative skills and with an interest in sustainability
• sound technical ability and experience working with quantitative data as evidenced by prior work
• excellent data management, numerical and programming skills are essential.
• proficiency in English, including excellent written and oral communication skills.
• evidence of ability to publish or disseminate academic research, or similar