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.
We are looking forward to receiving applications 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 and/or applied to healthcare. The #AI4Health research and healthcare partners span all disciplines of medicine, public health, preventive care and well-being, including making health & care provision more efficient and effective by increasing productivity, researching AI-based diagnostics & digital biomarkers that can detect disease earlier and faster, researching AI-based clinical
decision support systems and digital therapeutics for more personalised and optimised treatment, Preventing disease e.g. through digital public health and smart behaviour change.
Eligibility criteria: Normally, applicants for the clinical PhD fellowship
- must be a GMC registered Doctor in training in the UK
- be at Core Training level or above (or in GP Training), normally ST2-4
- GP Trainees may apply if within 12 months of having CCT
- be eligible to take time out of their clinical training programme (OOPR)
- be Home/UK students, or must meet UK residency requirements (e.g. Indefinite Leave to Remain)
Application deadlines
Recruitment to our UKRI AI Centre in Digital Healthcare is now open, for 2025 entry. There is no application fee to pay at present.
The recommendation is to apply by 1 February 2025. Please note that applications are considered on a rolling basis which means that the programme would close once all of the available places have been filled. [Update March 2025: The programme has still places left and is still open for applications.]
Please also 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 programme for review. It can take approximately 3-4 months to confirm the outcome of your application.
**Please note: A PhD opportunity has become available for a start in Spring/early Summer 2025**
Please email the AI4Health Programme team at bross@ic.ac.uk for more information. This opportunity comes with a full studentship award to include a stipend and tuition fees at the Home level only.
Project title: AI for Clinical-grade Mobile Mental Health Management
Traditional interventions for emotion regulation face significant challenges. Individuals with emotion regulation difficulties often struggle to identify mood and emotional patterns in daily life and their associations with factors such as sleep, behavioural habits, or external stressors. Additionally, techniques developed in therapy are often hard to remember and apply in day-to-day life, leading to a prolonged trial-and-error cycle. This project seeks to address these challenges by harnessing AI technologies, particularly LLMs, to provide timely, personalised support through digital means. This research proposal focuses on developing a personalized, AI-guided intervention via the MindCraft app to enhance emotion regulation skills in young adults experiencing mild-to-moderate mental health difficulties.
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
- Full name and your title
- Nationality
- Country of normal residence for the past 5 years
- All correspondence details (address, email, and phone numbers).
- Dates, institutions and qualifications arising (with grades) from all of your higher and further education (since the age of 17)
- 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
- Any professional qualifications, internships and research projects done in the past; any prizes or awards that you may have received so far
- Employment history
- Statement of your fluency in English and (if available) scores of English language tests.
- 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:
- What are your interests in Artificial Intelligence research?
- What are your healthcare interests, and where do you see AI research having impact?
- Why do you think the AI4Health CDT is the right choice for you?
- 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
- 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’).
- 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).
- Applications are being reviewed by the Academic Admissions Panel consisting of several members of senior academic staff and AI and healthcare experts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 UKRI AI4Health 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 the Home-rate tuition fees (£7,340 per annum in 2024-25) and a bursary at the standard UKRI rate (£22,780 per annum in 2025-26).
Please note that funding to cover international fees is very competitive and limited, however, if an international application is successful then the offer would include funding to cover international fees.
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 maximum.