JustHealth project – open positions for 2 Doctoral Candidates (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks Fellowships)

ABOUT THE PROJECT
“JustHealth: Building a Decolonized Ethics and Governance Framework for Just and Trustworthy AI in Healthcare” is a project funded by the EU Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network, and coordinated by the University of Macerata.
It is an international, intersectoral and highly interdisciplinary project providing Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowships to 8 Doctoral Candidates, with the potential to become the leaders of tomorrow in the booming domain of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to the Health sector.
In fact, JustHealth aims to develop, test, validate, and valorise a robust ethics and governance framework for AI in healthcare, grounded in decolonised values and principles and on a co-creation approach, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that AI systems (especially those based on Foundation Models – FMs) are not only trustworthy but also just (i.e. guaranteeing social justice for Global Health).

SPECIFIC RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:

1. Map and critically analyse interdisciplinary gaps (ethical, legal, technical, clinical) that hinder social justice in AI, identifying co-creation strategies and tools.
2. Develop an ethics and governance framework tailored to FMs in the healthcare sector, applied to two use cases involving vulnerable groups: monitoring freezing of gait (FOG) which affects older populations in Western countries and screening rheumatic heart disease (RHD) which affects younger populations in the Global South.
3. Validate and refine the framework and related outputs (e.g., assessment tools, care pathways, FM-based applications) within the context of 2 pilot actions to be conducted respectively in Belgium-Netherlands and in South Africa (one related to FOG, one related to RHD).
4. Promote the adoption of the framework via recommendations for policy- and decision-makers, insights for standardisation, and guidelines for its use in other health cases.

The project objectives will be achieved by 8 PhD students (also indicated as Doctoral Candidates - DCs), who will collaborate within the JustHealth research program by focusing on various interdisciplinary aspects related to AI and FMs in healthcare: 2 of them (DC1 and DC2) will be hired at the University of Macerata. More information on the JustHealth project: https://justhealth-project.eu/ 

JOB DESCRIPTION

• DC1 will work on developing, testing, validating, and valorising a decolonized ethics and governance framework for just and trustworthy AI in healthcare, with regard to the ethical aspects (values and principles), tailoring it for FMs in the two use cases of FOG and RHD.
• DC2 will work on developing, testing, validating, and valorising a decolonized ethics and governance framework for just AI in healthcare, with regard to the governance aspects (policy and regulations), tailoring it for FMs in the two use cases of FOG and RHD.

For more details on the research activities expected to each DC, see the call for applications with regard to relevant positions.

WHO CAN APPLY

• Researchers with a master's degree or equivalent that provides access to PhD programmes
  - For DC1: Master Degree in in Philosophy (or related interdisciplinary studies) or STS (Science, Technology, and Society), with a background in ethics and/or philosophy of technology, with outstanding study results.
  - For DC2: Master Degree in Law (or related interdisciplinary studies) or Political Sciences or International Relations, with a background in governance studies, with outstanding study results.
• Researchers who are not already in possession of a doctoral degree
• Researchers who are proficient in English (at least C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages i.e. IELTS, IBT, TOEFL or Cambridge).
• Researchers that, at the date of the recruitment, have not resided, or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date, unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.

For other desirable requirements and selection criteria, incomes, benefit and other details please see the call for applications below

START DATE: 1 September 2026
DURATION: 36 months
PLACE OF WORK: University of Macerata. International secondments are foreseen (see details the call for application with regard to relevant DC position).
ENROLLMENT: recruited candidates will have to enroll at the University of Macerata’s Doctoral School

Before submitting your application read carefully the whole CALL FOR APPLICATIONS, more specifically the general section and the attachments related to DC1 and to DC2.

HOW TO APPLY to DC1 and DC2
Applications must be sent exclusively in English and through the online application system available here.
Applications sent through other means or in other languages (other than English) will not be evaluated.


N.B. After submitting your application, you should receive a confirmation email from the following address: sito@unimc.it.
If you do not receive it, please contact ricerca.internazionale@unimc.it immediately.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31 January 2026 – 17:00 CET

For more information, please contact:

• The JustHealth scientific coordinator, Professor Benedetta Giovanola, at the following address: benedetta.giovanola@unimc.it, for information about scientific aspects
• The International research, Project design and Open Science Office, at the following address: ricerca.internazionale@unimc.it, for information about the recruitment process