HERU was established at the University of Aberdeen in 1977 and is part of the Institute of Applied Health Sciences within the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition.
- Key Facts
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Our core funding is received from the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates and the University of Aberdeen.
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Substantial additional funding also comes from competitive research grants, training activities and commissioned research.
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HERU undertakes substantial programmes of joint research with the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU) and other units across the Institute of Applied Health Sciences.
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The aim of HERU is to develop and encourage the application of appropriate economic methods to improve health and health care in Scotland and is pursued through four Research Themes. More specifically, our aim is to:
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Research economic approaches to health and healthcare at standards of international excellence.
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Develop and apply economic techniques to improve healthcare and population health in Scotland.
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Make available to the health service a body of expertise in health economics.
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Build and sustain capacity in the economics of health.
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HERU contributes to a large portfolio of teaching activities:
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Our Health Economics for Health Professionals postgraduate programme offers qualifications to MSc, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate level. The course is delivered online.
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Our online Short course course on Health Economics course provides an introduction to health economics.
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Our popular training course on 'Using Discrete Choice Experiments in health economics' is aimed at researchers interested in the application of DCEs.
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We also contribute to teaching health economics modules on a number of courses including:
- Master of Public Health (MPH) and MSc in Global Health & Management.
- Medicine (MBChB) and MA in Economics at the University of Aberdeen.
- Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics (SGPE).
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- Scottish Health Economics (SHE)
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HERU are part of the Scottish Health Economics (SHE) group. SHE aims to support, promote and further develop health economics in Scotland.
The group is a collaboration of health economists from Scotland’s universities, NHS and government. The aim is to bring together researchers and users of health economics to explore the development and application of health economics in Scotland.
The SHE website gives more information on the background and aims of the group, and details SHE activities. There is also an option to sign up to the SHE mailing list.
- Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education
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The Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education was awarded to the University of Aberdeen in 2018. The award was in recognition of world-leading research into health economics and health services undertaken at HERU and the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU) over the last 40 years.
Contact details
Health Economics Research Unit
University of Aberdeen
Polwarth Building
Foresterhill
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZD
Scotland
Tel: +44 (0)1224 437196 or (01224) 437197
Fax: +44 (0)1224 437195
Email: heru@abdn.ac.uk
HERU is in the first floor of the Polwarth Building on the Foresterhill campus of the University of Aberdeen.