EconJobMarket®

Advertiser: Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne

Field(s) of specialization: Health; Education; Welfare

Position type(s): Assistant Professor, Postdoctoral Scholar, Research Assistant

Location of job: 111 Barry Street, FBE Building, CARLTON, Victoria, 3010, Australia

Degree required: Doctorate

Job start date: Flexible

Job duration: 2 years

Salary: 124,656 to 148,023 AUD

Letters of reference required: 3

Application deadline: 4 Feb 2026 midnight UTC (accepting applications)

Posting end date: 4 Feb 2026

Interviews: Interviews will be conducted remotely by video starting February, 2026.

Ad text:

​Level B – AUD $124,656 to AUD $148,023​ p.a. plus 17% superannuation

Role type: Full-time, fixed term (2 years)
Faculty: The Faculty of Business and Economics

Department/School: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research

Join the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at The University of Melbourne and contribute to pioneering research in healthcare system designs and innovative health policy and economics. Working with leading health economist Professor Yuting Zhang and others, you will engage in high-profile projects related to how to improve the efficiency of the Australian healthcare system, through integrated care model, payment incentives, and Medicare and private health insurance benefit design.

You will be instrumental in supporting the Health Analytics, Leadership, and Economics (HALE) hub. This hub is a vital platform for fostering collaboration and translating research into real-world policy solutions.

You'll help us advance our mission of using data-driven insights to improve health outcomes and inform national health policy.

The role encompasses both academic and contract research and communication of findings to scholarly, policy, and public audiences.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Conducting and disseminating research, undertaking collaborative academic and contract research, analysing complex datasets, preparing reports and scholarly papers, and presenting findings to academic, government, industry, and community audiences.

• Advancing policy impact, contributing to outreach and engagement activities, drafting submissions, articles, and summaries, and ensuring research informs and influences policy and practice.

• Facilitate developing future projects and contributing to funding proposals, expanding research collaborations, and exploring opportunities in health policy related fields.

• Supporting initiatives and activities in the Health Analytics, Leadership, and Economics (HALE) hub, and fostering collaboration and translating research into real-world policy solutions.

You may be a great fit if:

you are an applied microeconomist or data scientist with demonstrated strong econometric/statistics skills, experience using large healthcare administrative data (PLIDA, NHDH) and/or other types of complex datasets, good communication and collaborative skills, excellent writing, and a passion for research to improve the efficiency of the Australian healthcare system, through integrated care delivery, payment incentives, and innovative health policy designs.

You will also:

• Hold a PhD or near completion of a PhD in empirical (applied) microeconomics, statistics, data science or related discipline;
• Can conduct independent economic research, and assume responsibility for the development and completion of research papers;
• Manage projects to ensure successful project outcomes; have ability and willingness to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams;
• Contribute to outreach activities that aim to maximise the impact of the team’s research, including drafting government inquiry submissions, and writing grants/contracts;