School of Public Health
Department of Population Medicine and Health Services Research
Global health competencies catalogue
GLOHRA Academy-funded project to develop a catalogue of competencies in global health research
Contemporary global health challenges are occurring within an increasingly globalised, interconnected and interdependent world. Researchers make a critical contribution to understanding health and health-related issues within this globalised context, supporting the development of a broad and evidence-based understanding of the growing complexity of contemporary health challenges and how to address them. Researchers in the field of global health are highly heterogenous. They come from diverse disciplines and approaches across the natural and social sciences, work in a variety of institutional, sectoral and geographic contexts, and focus on the full spectrum of health-related issues.
This raises important questions in terms of what kinds of knowledge, skills and competencies are seen to be essential for researchers in the field of global health, and how these competencies can be progressively and systematically developed as part of their professional education, training, and development.
Project partner and aims
- Project funding and cooperation partners
The project is funded by the Global Health Academy, an initiative of the German Alliance for Global Health Research, and is undertaken in cooperation with the Health Equity Studies & Migration Section at Heidelberg University Hospital.
The core project team includes:
Prof. Dr. Kayvan Bozorgmehr (Bielefeld University, Heidelberg University Hospital)
Victoria Saint (Bielefeld University)
André Franke (Bielefeld University)
Bianka Detering (Bielefeld University)- Project aims - more information
The overarching aim of this project is to develop a catalogue of competencies for global health research at postgraduate level. This competence catalogue for global health research will be (i) informed by global health research competencies and standards in Germany and internationally and (ii) refined through a consultation process with selected GLOHRA members, international experts and early career researchers. The project will be oriented towards the competences and standards for global health research in Germany and at the international level and it will aim to identify, assess and prioritise the needs for skills and competencies for research in global health. The project consists of four interlinked work packages, which are outlined below.
Work packages (WP)
- WP 1: Review of global health research competencies
WP1 is a systematic review of key competences for global health research in the literature. The aim of the review is to systematically identify, map and synthesise the existing research, evidence and information regarding key competencies for global health researchers. Specifically, it investigates two essential aspects: firstly, what teaching in global health is currently like, in terms of both content and didactic or pedagogical approach; and secondly, what teaching in global health should be like (e.g. based on existing educational recommendations and guidance). The review will result in a systematic and consolidated inventory and analysis of recognised/existing global health competences in the German and international literature. WP1 is being advanced in 2023.
- WP 2: Preliminary proposal for competency catalogue
The results of WP1 will be complemented by the findings and a re-analysis of interview data from the GLOHRA Academy-funded repository project, which aims to develop a repository of training opportunities for global health researchers in Germany. Based on these inputs, a preliminary proposal for the competence catalogue will be developed. WP 2 is schedule for 2023/2024.
The proposed catalogue of competencies will include:
- relevant domains of competencies including, for example, skills for research such as cognitive skills (e.g. systematic investigation of transnational/supraterritorial drivers of health issues, integration of inter/multidisciplinary theories and methods) and practical skills (e.g. project management, evaluation and reporting), as well as other relevant professional skills (e.g. interpersonal skills, structural competence, cultural reflexivity; professional and academic English);
- disciplinary heterogeneity using the GLOHRA structure (i.e. Biomedical, Public Health, Social Sciences and Humanities, Engineering and Other Sciences); and
- the different levels/stages of competencies that are needed by global health researchers at different career stages (e.g. doctoral, early post-doctoral, mid/senior post-doctoral, etc).
- WP 3: Consultation
A consultation will be run with global health experts and early career researchers to garner inputs and build consensus on the competency catalogue. The consultation process will include two elements, including (i) a panel of invited global health researchers, experts and early career researchers from Germany and internationally, and (ii) an online consultation with GLOHRA members. WP 3 is schedule for 2024. The outcome will be a revised proposal for the competency catalogue for global health postgraduate researchers, reporting on areas of consensus or divergence in the consultation process.
- WP 4: Development of final report on the competency catalogue
Contact
For further information please contact
Prof. Dr. Kayvan Bozorgmehr (Principle Investigator)
kayvan.bozorgmehr@uni-bielefeld.de
Victoria Saint (Project Coordinator)
victoria.saint@uni-bielefeld.de