Graduate School, Arts Faculty of Arts Aarhus University, Denmark
PhD candidate in anthropology. Dual PhD degree between Aarhus University and University of Nairobi
The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, University of Aarhus (AU), in collaboration with University of Nairobi (UoN), invites applications for one fully-funded 3-year PhD fellowship in anthropology starting on 1 September 2026. The positions are funded by the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon Europe, under a grant by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN). The successful candidates must commence their PhD degree programme on 1 September 2026.
Background HEALENAE
AU and UoN have embarked on the collaborative project HEALENAE: Health and Environment in Africa and Europe which includes seven universities: Aarhus University (Denmark), University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Edinburgh (UK), KU Leuven (Belgium), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Nairobi (Kenya) and Oslo University (Norway).
The HEALENAE Doctoral Network offers a cross-continental, innovative, interdisciplinary, and multi-sectoral anthropological approach to pressing, interrelated health and environmental challenges across contemporary Africa and Europe. HEALENAE seeks to develop a strong interdisciplinary network that is based in anthropology, global one health, environmental and regional studies, to examine connections, correspondences and new challenges for health and environmental contexts in and between Africa and Europe.
By exploring specific topic areas of health and environment through long-term anthropological fieldwork, the research will provide insights into and enable future mitigations of challenges related to current changes of demographics, disease patterns, climate and environmental harm, accelerated urbanisation, unequally distributed growth, refugee challenges, gender and generational dynamics. The HEALENAE Doctoral Candidates will collaborate across projects to bring together insights anchored in different sectors and countries. They will analyse these in relation to each other and create clarity of interlinkages between specific health and environmental domains in an intercontinental perspective. Together, approaches from anthropology, post-colonial and regional studies on health and environment offer unique research perspectives and methods providing grounded, bottom-up understandings of how environments and health issues play out in everyday settings.
The research network offers an academically stimulating and interdisciplinary working environment, an innovative training programme that allows the PhD fellows to obtain specialist knowledge on a specific research topic as well as transferable skills that can be employed in academic as well as non-academic institutions. The HEALENAE PhD education includes one year of fieldwork in Africa and/or Europe, annual training schools and writing retreats and 6 months stay with the secondary university. HEALENAE also offers an attractive salary, the opportunity of favourable pension benefits as well as funding for research, travel, conference participation and dissemination, books and equipment.
The HEALENAE project strives equal opportunity for diversity among the DCs. We encourage candidates from all continents, applicants with disabilities and minorities to apply.
The salary is including social security and will be paid in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.
Available position
HEALENAE will recruit altogether 15 PhD fellows, referred to as Doctoral Candidates (DCs). The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, (AU) Denmark and UoN (Kenya) invite applications for 1 dual PhD fellowship in the field of anthropology where the two universities have mutual strengths and can offer excellent research environments. The available position is hosted by Aarhus University (Primary University) and University of Nairobi (Secondary University)
This will be one fully-funded 3-year PhD fellowship in anthropology of health and environment under the broad topic Biosecurity: food, health risks and animal disease. The successful candidate must commence their PhD degree programme by 1 September 2026.
Project 10: Biosecurity: food, health risks and animal disease.
Supervisors: Michael Eilenberg (AU) & Salome Bukachi (UoN)
Objectives | Aim: To study the social and economic consequences of animal disease outbreaks (both zoonotic and non-zoonotic) and their impact on food security and human health in East Africa, and/or to examine the interrelation of transboundary animal diseases and biosecurity governance between East Africa and Europe. Objectives 1: To document the history, spread and management of animal disease and biosecurity governance in East Africa and/or between East Africa and Europe; 2: To explore the interplay between traditional farming systems, free-ranging wildlife and practices of managing animal disease and risk; 3: To investigate the main drivers of animal dis-ease and its anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic factors and study the interplay with national and international biosecurity governance structures and concerns; 4: To engage with regional and global networks working on traditional husbandry, food security and dilemmas of biosecurity in agriculture. |
Expected Results | By merging insights from anthropology and political ecology, this study will contribute new knowledge to the ongoing and critical discussions around the concept of ‘biosecurity’ within animal livestock production in East Africa and be-yond. East Africa has an abundance of free-ranging wild animals and the interfaces between these and domestic live-stock hosts favourable conditions for transmission risks of various diseases. In particular, the study will show how regimes of biosecurity are accommodated, experienced, or resisted by farmers. The study will generate ethnographic data on the interplay between animal disease outbreaks and its socio-economic consequences for farmers and findings will produce new analytical insights into risk politics of agriculture and animal disease. |
Planned secondment(s) | 1: UoN, one semester after fieldwork (M29-M35), to engage in another academic environment and get face to face supervision from co-supervisor Salome Bukachi; 2: During fieldwork, the DC may also spend time with a local NGO working with food, health risks and animal disease, or the FAO Regional Office. |
Enrolment | AU and UoN |
Required
Interested candidates should submit an application including the following documents:
Please see a detailed description of the requirements for the application in the guide for the application facility: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/how-to-apply/
Requirements
Eligible candidates must have an internationally recognised Master’s or an equivalent degree in anthropology or related social sciences and humanities disciplines. They must have received their Master’s degree or equivalent (120 ECTS) no later than 31 August 2026. They must not hold a PhD degree. All applicants must have achieved a high grade point average in their Bachelor and Master’s studies and must have fluent oral and written communication skills in English and submit their dissertation in English. All applicants must document English language qualifications comparable to an 'English B level' in the Danish upper secondary school ('gymnasium'). Please see this page for further information: https://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/english-test. Applicants can be of any nationality. We encourage applicants who have African language skills and relevant experience outside the academy. However, in order to be eligible, candidates must not have resided more than 12 of the last 36 months in Denmark before the starting date.
The Doctoral Candidate is required to spend time at each university, have a supervisor at each institution and will receive a dual degree issued by each university.
The Doctoral Candidate is expected to take part in the HEALENAE dual degree PhD programme and to complete the project within the set fellowship period. Since the doctoral student will receive a dual degree, his/her research project will be subject to an evaluation meeting according to the standards of both University of Nairobi and Aarhus University. The format of the evaluation will be a public defence at AU and an oral examination before an examination committee (Viva Voce) at the University of Nairobi
The details regarding time spent at each university, supervision, evaluation as well as other legal matters will be specified in a contract prior to the start of the PhD project.
At Aarhus University currently, 245 PhD students are enrolled at the Graduate School, Arts. Aarhus University is a modern, academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 44,500 students and 11,500 employees, and has an annual budget of EUR 830 million. Over the course of the past decade, the university has consolidated its position in the top 100 on the most influential rankings of universities world-wide. Learn more at www.au.dk/en.
At UoN, Department of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies offers a 3-year PhD programme in Anthropology, focused on coursework, research, and thesis. In addition, students are expected to publish 2 peer-reviewed articles. Students are expected to spend 1 year each on coursework, fieldwork and thesis/publication. Courses include research methods, theory, applied anthropology, and anthropology in Africa. Seminars are based on trends in anthropology, proposal development, data analysis, and writing and publication. DCs can join these online seminars. The department has a strong tradition in cultural anthropology (incl. medical and environmental anthropology) and gender studies, and in recent years, one health, environmental health and the commons have become key research areas.
Enrolment and employment at Aarhus University
The PhD student must complete the studies in accordance with the current regulations for the PhD degree programme, currently the Ministerial Order of 19 September 2025 on the PhD degree programme at the Universities: https://phd.arts.au.dk/rules-and-forms/rules-and-regulations
Description of the Graduate School at Art’s PhD degree programme (5+3): https://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/phdstudystructure
Rules and regulations for the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School at Arts: https://phd.arts.au.dk/rules-and-forms/rules-and-regulations
The PhD scholar will be employed as a PhD student at the School of Culture and Society, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University and affiliated with the PhD programme Anthropology, Global Studies and the Study of Religion. In general, the student is expected to be present at the school on an everyday basis when he/she is in Denmark.
The terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations, as well as with the protocol to the agreement covering staff with university degrees in the state sector: https://phd.arts.au.dk/rules-and-forms/rules-and-regulations
The School of Culture and Society’s research programme: http://cas.au.dk/en/research/research-programmes/
Application
If you have general questions to the PhD application process, please contact Graduate.school.arts@au.dk
If you have questions about the PhD position, please contact supervisor Michael Eilenberg etnome@cas.au.dk
If you have questions about the EU requirements or the HEALENAE program, please contact Mia Korsbaek, korsbaek@cas.au.dk
The application must be submitted in English.
Applications for the PhD fellowship and enrolment in the PhD degree programme can only be submitted via Aarhus University’s web-based facility.
Guidelines for the application facility: https://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/application-guide
Deadline for applications: 1 March 2026, at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CETS).
The application deadline has been postponed to 15 March 2026 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CETS).
Read more about the project and see all HEALENAE PhD positions: www.healenae.eu
