Health Risk Assessment

Can be taken as a single course.

Who can apply for admission?

• PhD students at UiT who wish to take a course at the PhD level.

• PhD students from other universities and institutions.

• Applicants that has already achieved a master’s degree (five year master or three year bachelor degree + two year master degree), but isn’t a PhD student.

Learning Mode

• Short lectures for theoretical foundations
• Interactive seminars for critical discussion
• Individual reading.
• Group work using real or realistic datasets•
• ndividual final project linked to the student’s PhD topic where possible.

Class will be conducted once a week (3 hours).

• This course is aimed at PhD candidates from engineering and technology disciplines, but is also open to postdoc fellows if seats are available.
• PhD candidates from UiT and other universities may be admitted to the course. PhD candidates who are not registered at UiT must upload a document from their university stating that they are registered as PhD candidates.

If there are 5 applicants or fewer, the course responsible will evaluate whether the course will take place.

Prerequisites:

Students should have completed graduate-level coursework in environmental science/engineering, public health, or a related field.

Recommended prior knowledge:

Prior experience with modelling, epidemiological data, or environmental monitoring datasets, and knowledge of basic water chemistry and microbiology, water and wastewater treatment processes is an advantage but not mandatory.

After completing the course, the PhD candidate should have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge and Understanding

The candidate will have advanced knowledge of:

• Understand advanced risk assessment frameworks for microbial and chemical contaminants in water systems, including hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response assessment, and risk characterization.
• Apply microbial and chemical health risk assessment methods, including Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment, chemical exposure assessment, toxicity values, contaminant fate, treatment removal, and infection, illness, non-cancer, and cancer risk estimation.
• Critically evaluate water safety risks in real systems, considering pathogens, chemical pollutants, emerging contaminants, uncertainty, sensitivity, regulatory guidelines, risk communication, stakeholder engagement, Water Safety Plans, Sanitation Safety Plans, and current research gaps.

Skills

The candidate will be able to:

• Design and structure advanced risk assessment studies by identifying relevant microbial and chemical hazards, exposure routes, vulnerable populations, and realistic risk scenarios in water systems.
• Apply appropriate quantitative risk assessment methods, including microbial and chemical frameworks, exposure modelling, dose-response models, and estimation of infection risk, illness risk, hazard quotient, hazard index, cancer risk, and other relevant risk metrics.
• Analyze data, uncertainty, and system performance using monitoring, literature, and modelled data, supported by computational tools for probabilistic modelling, visualization, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity analysis, and evaluation of treatment barriers or system failures.
• Critically interpret and communicate results by assessing regulatory standards and guideline values, reviewing scientific literature, identifying methodological limitations, and developing evidence-based recommendations for risk mitigation and water safety management.

General Competencies

The candidate will be able to:

• Integrate interdisciplinary evidence and systems thinking by combining knowledge from engineering, microbiology, chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, and public health to address complex water-related health risk problems.
• Conduct independent PhD-level analysis by evaluating water safety challenges from technical, societal, ethical, and regulatory perspectives, and by formulating relevant research questions and methodological approaches
• Communicate and collaborate for evidence-based decision-making by explaining complex risk concepts to interdisciplinary audiences, working across disciplines, and contributing to policy, planning, and management of safe water systems.

The course will use a blended teaching approach consisting of lectures, seminars, modelling exercises, case studies, group work, individual reading assignments, peer review, and oral presentations.

Teaching Methods

• Research-based lectures
• Student-led seminars and literature discussions
• Case-study-based learning
• Group-based risk assessment tasks
• Individual research assignment

Activities include: Reading and discussion of selected scientific papers, development of conceptual exposure models, calculation of microbial infection risk using QMRA methods, estimation of chemical non-cancer and cancer risks, Monte Carlo simulation or scenario-based uncertainty analysis, preparation of a technical risk assessment report, and presentation and defense of risk assessment findings.

Language of instruction and examination

Schedule

More info about the coursework requirements

To qualify for final assessment, students may be required to complete compulsory coursework activities.

Suggested requirements include:

• Participation in lectures, and seminars
• Completion of assigned readings•Active contribution to literature discussions
• Submission of short individual assignments
• Participation in group case-study work
• Oral presentation of a selected risk assessment topic
• Submission of a PhD-level risk assessment report
• Peer review of another student’s work

A recommended minimum requirement is:

• Approved seminar presentation
• Approved final written assignment or project report

More info about the assignment

Assessment reflects the PhD-level emphasis on independent thinking, methodological competence, and critical evaluation.

Final Project Report and Oral Examination (Viva).

Given the academic level of a PhD course and the complexity of the subject, the combination of the Final Project Report (case study) and Oral Examination is the chosen examination format.

The Final Project Report accounts for 60% of the final grade, while the remaining 40% will be determined by the oral examination (viva), which will be evaluated by an external examiner panel.

More info about the oral exam

Re-sit examination