Academic Environment

CINCH, the national research centre for health economics located in Essen, has been at the forefront of empirical health economics research since its inception in 2012. Our mission is twofold: to advance cutting-edge research in health economics and to foster the training and development of junior researchers in the field.

CINCH's research is focused on three pivotal themes:

Health as Human Capital: Investigating the determinants of individual health and examining how health influences socio-economic outcomes
Health Insurance as a Social Protection Mechanism: Developing optimal policies for equitable risk adjustment and cost-sharing
The Health Care Sector as a System: Analysing how healthcare providers respond to incentives

All of our research projects are designed to have an international impact and are driven by the ambition to influence policy while meeting the highest academic standards. CINCH is deeply embedded within the international research community, maintaining strong connections with partner organizations both locally and globally.

At CINCH, we are committed to excellence in health economics and provide a rich, dynamic and engaging academic community that includes the following components.

University of Duisburg-Essen

The University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) - one of the youngest and largest universities in Germany - is located in the middle of the Ruhr Metropolitan Region. Since its establishment in 2003, the UDE has developed into a globally recognized research university.

Economics, and especially research about health make a substantial part of the university's research and teaching infrastructure. Find all chairs of economics here.

Weekly Health Econ Seminar

CINCH hosts a weekly seminar series devoted to health economics in collaboration with the RWI Health Economics research group. In the seminar, renowned external researchers from various institutions present their latest findings in health economics. This series fosters an environment of continuous learning and exchange among both early-career and experienced researchers, promoting a vibrant academic dialogue. We have received recent speakers from North America, Europe, Scandanavia, Australia and even Hawaii.

Essen Health Conference

The Essen Health Conference, currently in its 16th consecutive year, is an annual event that unites leading experts from around the world for a dynamic two-day academic gathering. This conference provides a premier platform for presenting cutting-edge research and networking with academics in health economics and related fields. Each year, the conference features several keynote lectures delivered by internationally renowned experts, offering valuable insights and fostering global collaboration.

DAAD Guest Professorship

As a cornerstone of our commitment to bring an international perspective into our academic environment, we successfully obtained funding for a prestigious program funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the DAAD Guest Professorship program. This program will bring internationally esteemed researchers to our faculty for a full semester. These guest professors will contribute to our health economics courses, enriching the international environment and enhancing the quality of both our teaching and research activities. Students will benefit from the courses taught by the guest professors and by having the opportunity to receive feedback on their work from a leading international expert.

CINCH-dggö Academy in Health Economics

In partnership with the German Health Economics Association (dggö), the CINCH-dggö Academy in Health Economics offers specialised training for doctoral students and early-career researchers. This academy focuses on pressing topics such as the economics of pandemics, risky health behaviors, and mental health, featuring highly renowned lectures from esteemed international academics. Special emphasis is placed on the professional development of junior researchers and providing ample opportunities for career development, including individual feedback, career advancement modules, networking, and mentoring.

CINCH International Fellowships

At CINCH, we have an active international visitor programme that brings junior and senior economists from around the globe to Essen for one semester to join our research group. Our visitor programme promotes collaboration and exchange of ideas, providing visitors with the opportunity to engage with our ongoing research projects and present their work. The visitors are fully integrated into our academic environment and participate in seminars, workshops, and other academic activities, enriching our academic community with diverse perspectives and expertise. Our recent guests have come from various countries including Australia, Italy, Norway, and the United States.

Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ)

The Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ) offers a PhD programme in Economics, complying with the highest international standards and combining the expertise of four economics departments at the universities in the Ruhr Valley Area (UA Ruhr): Ruhr-Universität Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen; with that of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research. The RGS organizes early-career conferences, workshops, and short courses taught by prominent international researchers that connect our students both internally and externally and often lead to collaborative dissertation projects.

Research Training Group: Regional Disparities

The goal of the RTG Regional Disparities and Economic Policy is to provide an outstanding education for doctoral students while, at the same time, contributing to frontier research in the exciting and dynamic field of regional economics. Combining the expertise of scholars from distinct economic backgrounds (e.g. labour, public, health, macro) and thus different methodological skills, institutional knowledge, and data access, the school provides a graduate program that promises internationally visible scientific output and an excellent academic training environment for PhD candidates.

RWI Health Department

CINCH collaborates closely with the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, which is a leading centre for scientific research and evidence-based policy advice in Germany. RWI's research is organized in five departments, including a research group on health economics, that has close ties with the research group CINCH. The groups jointly organize and actively participate in the Essen Health Economics Seminar Series. Several collaborative projects and grant applications have emerged out of this partnership, which enriches the learning experience by integrating practical policy insights from the RWI with theoretical research undertaken at CINCH.

Our International Network

The M.Sc. in Health Economics programme at the University of Duisburg-Essen thrives within a vibrant international network. Over the years, we have collaborated on numerous international projects and hosted esteemed researchers from around the globe. These partnerships have enriched our academic environment and provided our students with unique opportunities to acquire an international outlook. Notably, our collaboration with CINCH and its extensive network has positioned us at the forefront of health economics research in Europe. Additionally, our faculty maintains partnerships with several international universities, enabling our students to spend exchange semesters abroad.

Visiting fellow
Sabrina Lenzen

Health Economist & Research Fellow
University of Queensland, Australia

Visiting Fellow 2023/24

"I visited CINCH on a 3-month research fellowship and my time was super inspiring and collaborative. The group is incredibly inclusive of everyone who is eager to engage with the team and in Health Economics research. I was always invited to join wider professional activities, such as attending seminars, weekly catch-ups, and was even able to join the centre’s yearly organized Essen Health Conference. For me, the time at CINCH was a real pleasure. I have been able to connect with many like-minded people and I can highly recommend the group to everyone who is looking for a place to learn and thrive."

Research Project
The Economic and Social Impact of COVID-19 Mitigation Policies

This project investigates the economic and social effects of COVID-19 mitigation policies and the information environment generated by the pandemic. By linking these policies to data from ongoing household-based panel studies across 10 countries and rich administrative data from an eleventh, the project aims to exploit the substantial temporal and geographic variation in non-pharmacological intervention policies. This variation, combined with pre-COVID baseline levels or long-running trends in the outcomes studied, will help identify the effects of the mitigation policies.

The project, led by Dean Lillard from Ohio State University, runs from April 15, 2022, to January 31, 2027, and is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Key collaborators include researchers from the University of Melbourne, Peking University, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, RLMS-HSE, Keio University, Seoul National University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), University of Lausanne (UNIL), University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), and DIW Berlin/SOEP.

Research Project
Evaluation of Pre- and Postnatal Care: Short- and Long-term Effects on Health and Living Standards

This completed three-year project, funded by the Swedish Riksbank Foundation, was a collaboration between the University of Duisburg-Essen, the University of Essex, and Lund University. It analysed the effects of pre- and postnatal care interventions in Sweden during the 1930s and 1940s on the health and socioeconomic outcomes of mothers and their children. The study utilized high-quality administrative data to evaluate the short, medium, and long-term impacts of these interventions. The results indicate significant improvements in infant mortality, cognitive skills, education, and long-term earnings, particularly for women. Key publications from this project highlight the lasting benefits of early-life care on survival rates and socio-economic achievements, demonstrating the importance of such interventions for long-term public health and economic outcomes.

Visiting fellow
Fernanda Gutiérrez Amaros

Doctoral Researcher
Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), Italy

Visiting Fellow 2023/24

"My experience visiting CINCH as a PhD student has been incredibly gratifying. The department comprises a young, international, and dynamic research faculty who use cutting-edge methods to explore policy-relevant topics. I had the opportunity to attend outstanding research seminars and engage in fruitful collaborations. Additionally, I had the pleasure of meeting new colleagues, many of whom I now consider friends. Visiting CINCH has certainly been a highlight of my PhD experience and has been invaluable in developing my job market paper. I cannot recommend CINCH enough."

Partner Universities

Interested in expanding your international network during your studies and going abroad?

In the M.Sc. Health Economics programme, we strongly encourage you to spend a semester abroad. Our curriculum is specifically designed to support these exchanges, offering flexible and generous conditions for credit transfer. Additionally, the University of Duisburg-Essen has partnerships with institutions in 56 countries worldwide. Below, you will find examples of some of our partner universities.