How to Apply

Overview


We are inviting applications from prospective PhD researchers who are enthusiastic and strongly motivated to develop cutting-edge AI methods and applications for healthcare in a diverse, multidisciplinary setting. The cycle for entry October 2025 is now open.

Applications are encouraged from students of ALL backgrounds; all applications will be considered equally, purely based on academic merit and aptitude. Our Centre values diversity and equality, and all staff and students are committed and happy to provide a friendly and inclusive environment in which everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our PhD researchers are registered in the Department of Computing which is an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Two Ticks Employer, and working in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.

Entry Requirements and Eligibility

The #AI4Health programme is open to all applicants* who meet both the general Imperial College London minimum eligibility and entry requirements AS WELL AS the eligibility and entry requirements specific to our programme.

The programme is open to UK nationals and applicants settled in the UK (i.e. indefinite leave to remain) as well as international (overseas) applicants.

Imperial College Requirements

The general Imperial College entry requirements for PhD study are listed HERE. If you have a non-UK degree or qualification, please check the Imperial College minimum entry requirements via the ‘Country Index’, but please note that the entry requirements to this CDT programme are normally higher than the Imperial College minimum requirements.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

Our PhD programme requires ATAS. The Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) was introduced in 2007. Students studying certain subject areas at PhD level will require ATAS clearance. Most non-EEA nationals who require immigration permission to be in the UK and intend to study on one of these courses will be required to apply for ATAS clearance. Full guidance can be found here. Our CAH code is CAH11-01-05 Artificial Intelligence.

English Language Requirements

Applicants will be asked to show they have met the Imperial College English-language requirement. The College’s postgraduate English language entry requirement page describes the exemptions and tests accepted: our programme requires that students have proficiency at Standard level.

Competency standards

All students studying at the Department of Computing, which our UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Healthcare (Digital Healthcare) belongs to, will be expected to meet basic academic competency standards. Please follow the link to a webpage that highlights the key competencies: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/computing/prospective-students/courses/competence/

AI for Healthcare Programme-specific Requirements

Entry to our AI for Healthcare CDT programme is very competitive. Applicants are expected to have or to achieve a First Class (4-year) Undergraduate degree and Distinction level Master’s degree or equivalent degrees in a relevant scientific or technical discipline, such as computer science, engineering (mechanical, electrical, biomedical engineering), mathematics, physics, statistics, as well as biological sciences, or medicine. Expected core skills include mathematics, coding, statistics. Additional expertise in medicine or biology (especially quantitative and biological systems) is valuable, as is expertise in machine learning, computer vision, deep learning, robotics, natural language processing, human-computer interfaces or software engineering. If in doubt, prospective applicants are encouraged to apply in any case.

Clinical PhD Fellows Eligibility

Our Centre is inviting applications from medical graduates and healthcare professionals who want to do an AI degree, demonstrating their enthusiasm and commitment to research on AI technologies set in or applied to healthcare. The clinical supervisors and healthcare partners span the full breadth of healthcare challenges facing society, such as dementia, brain and mental health, infectious diseases, cancer and surgery, obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular and lung diseases, intensive care and primary care.

Eligibility criteria: Normally, applicants for the clinical PhD fellowship

  1. must be a GMC registered Doctor in training in the UK
  2. be at Core Training level or above (or in GP Training), normally ST2-4
  3. GP Trainees may apply if within 12 months of having CCT
  4. be eligible to take time out of their clinical training programme (OOPR)
  5. be Home/UK students, or must meet UK residency requirements (e.g. Indefinite Leave to Remain)

Application deadlines

Applications for entry October 2025 will open shortly. There is no application fee to pay at present.
Application deadline(s) will be advised shortly.


Please note that your application can only be considered after you have formally applied through the Imperial College application system, and your application has been received by the Centre.

It takes approximately 3-4 months to confirm the outcome of your application.

Before you apply

Before you apply for this programme, you should have decided what research area within AI for healthcare -as a general idea-you would like to work in, but you do not need to have a full research proposal.

Below in sub-sections A-C, find more details on what information you should include in your application: List A has the details on what to include in your CV; List B is on Academic Transcripts, and List C on your Personal Statement.

It is your responsibility to ensure your application is complete. This means that both references should have been received, in addition to the transcript(s), your CV and your personal statement before we can begin to review the application. Incomplete applications cannot be considered and there will be no reminders of what might be missing.

Furthermore, please ensure you are familiar with the Imperial College application process. This programme requires ATAS clearance which is a UK government requirement. So we also recommend applicants check whether they require ATAS.

A. What to Include in your CV
  1. Full name and your title
  2. Nationality
  3. Country of normal residence for the past 5 years
  4. All correspondence details (address, email, and phone numbers).
  5. Dates, institutions and qualifications arising (with grades) from all of your higher and further education (since the age of 17)
  6. For those currently studying for a degree, the names of the programmes and results that they have achieved so far (percentages as well as grades) and their expected final grade
  7. Any professional qualifications, internships and research projects done in the past; any prizes or awards that you may have received so far
  8. Employment history
  9. Statement of your fluency in English and (if available) scores of English language tests.
  10. Please feel free to include information about any extra support or assistance you may need throughout your application journey, for health, disability or other reasons
B. Academic Transcripts

Please provide all academic transcript(s); this can be in form of scanned documents or transcript confirmations -email or letters- you may have from previous universities. For those currently studying for a degree, please create a list yourself which states the name of the programme you are studying, start and end dates of studies, a list of modules including results that you have achieved so far (percentages as well as grades) and your expected final grade.

C. Personal Statement

The statement should describe your academic and career plans as well as your motivation for research and not be longer than 1 page. When writing your personal statement, please make sure it answers the following questions:

  1. What are your interests in Artificial Intelligence research?
  2. What are your healthcare interests, and where do you see AI research having impact?
  3. Why do you think the AI4Health CDT is the right choice for you?
  4. If applicable: Again, no specific research proposal is required and you do not need to contact a potential supervisor, but if you have spoken to any about a specific project, please mention this in your personal statement.

How to apply

Please submit your PhD application to the Imperial College online application portal. The academic programme title is ‘AI and Machine Learning’ (PhD 4YFT). In the online system’s application category, please select ‘Postgraduate Research’ first to be able to see this programme name.

What the application journey looks like

  1. Students prepare material and documents for their application and then submit it online to the Imperial College application portal. (see sections ‘Before you apply’ and ‘How to apply’).
  2. Applicants who meet the Imperial College entry requirements are required to take admissions tests and are being emailed details about the admissions tests. (please check your Spam folder and add our email address to your safe-sender list).
  3. Applications are being reviewed by the Academic Admissions Panel consisting of several members of senior academic staff and AI and healthcare experts.
  4. Applicants may be invited for interview by the CDT panel; Steps 2 and 3 would be used to determine applicants to be invited for interview.
  5. Steps 2 to 4 are used to prepare a shortlist of applicants who are selected to get access to the projects that are available to select from. Applicants are then asked to select an x-number of projects, ranking them in order of preference. The supervisor teams of the proposed projects review relevant shortlisted applications and decide who they wish to interview for their project. The CDT informs the applicants whether they have been selected for supervisor interviews.
  6. After interviews and reviews, recommendations for a project match are made by the supervisors to the CDT, and those are considered by the CDT Panel for a studentship allocation and a place on the CDT programme, for the specified project only. 
  7. Successful applicants would receive an email confirming the proposed outcome, and any remaining conditions to be fulfilled. Offers are made for a specific project only. Students are then asked to accept the offer for the defined project and supervisor team. The formal offer of admissions will then be sent through the online application portal and the student needs to accept this offer in the online application portal.
  8. Any offer conditions need to be satisfied prior to starting the programme in October. Please see details here on how offer conditions are submitted. 

Please note that the programme is very competitive and being shortlisted for the project selection stage does not guarantee a place on the programme.

Contact

For further enquiries or questions, please email us at ai4health-admissions@imperial.ac.uk

Once your online application is submitted, you can also monitor the progress of your application on your application portal.

If you are experiencing problems with your account, you can report a technical issue.

Funding for Regular PhDs

The studentship can provide support for a minimum of 3 years and up to 4 years, subject to successful completion of progression milestones. The studentship covers a tax-free stipend at the standard UKRI rate (the rate in 2023-24 is confirmed to be £20,622 per annum), the Home/UK-rate tuition fees, and the Writing-up fee in the fourth year. The stipend rates usually increase slightly each year.

Funding for Clinical PhD Fellows

The clinical PhD fellows typically study for 3 years and the funding provides a clinical salary and covers the tuition fees (Home/UK rates), for 3 years.