Advanced Qualitative Research in Global Health
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This is a specialised course. This means that 80% of the seats are reserved to PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH and 20% og the seats are reserved to PhD students from other Danish Universities/faculties (except CBS).
The course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. This also applies to PhD students from NorDoc member faculties. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. Knowledge
- understand and discuss interpretive epistemology in qualitative research
- identify the empirical versus the analytical object of research
- describe the central characteristics and processes of a qualitative research project,
- present and discuss central dimensions that secure quality of qualitative research
2. Skills
- engage critically in conceptualization and the consecutive phases of qualitative research, including the approaches and tools used to produce data
- apply central quality criteria in qualitative research, including the importance of positionality, pre-understandings, reflexivity, transparency, the role of context and access to the field
- critically consider these concepts in relation to specific research foci
3. Competences
- critically reflect on the process of producing qualitative data
- evaluate ethically sound research conduct and academic integrity in qualitative research
- apply a range of selected analytical approaches to qualitative data, and discuss the interaction between data and social theory
- theorise through critical engagement with different theoretical positions and perspectives relevant for global health and develop the theoretical potential of their own project
Content
This PhD course runs over three weeks and three stages: 1. five days in class, 2. a week of course related individual study and 3. additional four days in class. The course aims to provide PhD students with a solid background for managing the different stages and the progression of qualitative studies from idea (tentative research questions) to analysis and write-up. Participants are supported in strengthening methodological, analytical and theoretical dimensions of their PhD research through lectures, student presentations, and discussions with other course participants and lecturers in group sessions and through home assignments. Particularly important are the workshop sessions in which we focus on participants’ individual projects.
Participants
Participants in this course have some prior experience with qualitative research in terms of planning, and conducting research, analysing data and presenting research, based on qualitative or mixed-methods approaches.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
Medicine, Culture and Society
Pharmaceutical Sciences (Drug Research Academy)
Public Health and Epidemiology
Language
English
Form
Readings in preparation for class, cooperative learning, class discussions, lectures, individual and group exercises and presentations, workshops based on student presentations of their PhD projects
Course director
Britt Pinkowski Tersbøl, Associate Professor, Global Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Briter@sund.ku.dk
Teachers
Helle Samuelsen, Dept of Anthropology, UCPH, Maja Dahl Jeppesen, Maansi Parpiani, Emmanuel Raju Global Health, UCPH, Maria Marti Castaner, Danish Research Centre for Migration, Ethnicity and Health, MESU, UCPH.
Dates
10th – 14th November 2025 (part 1) & 24th – 27th November 2025 (part 2).
Course location
To be announced
Expected frequency
Yearly
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules.
Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.