EPSRC DLA Scholarship in the School of Computer Science

The School of Computer Science is offering a fully-funded, 3.5 year PhD studentship for UK fee-rated applicants, to start on 1 October 2026, as part of the EPSRC DLA scheme.<br /> <br /> These can be in any area of computer science for which the school is actively engaged in research, which includes the following areas:<br /> <br /> - Artificial Intelligence (robotics, biomedical analysis and imaging, reasoning).<br /> - Computer Science in Biology, Medicine and Health (computational neuroscience, healthcare process analytics).<br /> - Algorithms and Complexity (graph theory, scheduling).<br /> - Distributed Systems and Services (cloud and edge computing, digital democracy).<br /> - Computational Science and Engineering (computational fluid dynamics, high-performance graphics, physics-informed neural networks).<br /> <br /> Further information can be found in the detailed description, where you can also find contact details if you want to be put in touch with a suitable member of staff to help develop a research project for your submission.

<p>We invite proposals in any area of current active research in our School, which is divided into five research themes as detailed below. You can also find more information about the School and our current research activities on our <a href="http://eps.leeds.ac.uk/computing-research-innovation">School of Computer Science Research</a> website.</p> <p>Our five research themes are as follows:</p> <p><strong>Artificial Intelligence</strong> - AI for healthcare (biomedical image analysis and segmentation, surgical vision and perception, early cancer detection), robotics (object manipulation and planning, learning for object planning), reasoning (semantics of actions and events, spatial relations and physical systems, knowledge representation), natural language processing (corpus linguistics, text analytics).</p> <p><strong>Computer Science in Biology, Medicine and Health</strong> - computational neuroscience (neural control of behaviour, biorobotics and bio-inspired control, machine learning fundamentals), process analytics (data and process mining, conformance, electronic health record systems, health informatics strategy), computational medicine.</p> <p><strong>Algorithms and Complexity</strong> - graph theory (complexity and computability, algorithms on graphs and partially ordered sets, parameterised algorithms, structural graph theory, matroids), scheduling (deterministic scheduling theory, scheduling with controllable parameters, scheduling for distributed computing).</p> <p><strong>Distributed Systems and Services</strong> - Architecture, security and dependability (fault-tolerance, transactions), performance and quality of service (cloud/edge-based services for cloud providers), decentralised networked systems (self-managed techno-socio-economic and supply-demand data sharing systems), machine learning in software development (accelerating large-scale models), scheduling (optimising distributed computing), collaboration in distributed environments (semantic web).</p> <p><strong>Computational Science and Engineering</strong> - Visualisation and high-performance graphics (scientific visualisation), real-time rendering (data structures and algorithms), virtual and augmented reality, numerical algorithms for complex, real-world problems in industry and nature (performance and scaling on massively parallel architectures), physics-informed neural networks, mixed-precision floating point arithmetic for modern hardware.</p> <p>The School of Computer Science collaborate extensively with other universities and companies across the world, such as the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and we are active participants in the Alan Turing Institute, Trust and Legitimation in the Digital Democracy, and other national and international centres of excellence. We hold the Athena Swann silver award for gender equality, and 99% of our research was classified as world-leading or internationally excellent in the most recent REF exercise.</p> <p><br />  </p>

<p>Formal applications for research degree study should be made online through the University’s website. Please state clearly in the Planned Course of Study section that you are applying for <em><strong>EPSRC DTP Engineering & Physical Sciences</strong></em> (if you do not apply under this programme code, your application will not be considered), in the Research Area, the<em><strong> name of your own project </strong></em>and that the funding you wish to be considered for is <em><strong>EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award 2026/27: Computer Science</strong></em>.</p> <p>Applications will be considered after the closing date.  Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact supervisors for an informal discussion before making a formal application. We also advise that you apply at the earliest opportunity as the application and selection process may close early, should we receive a sufficient number of applications or that a suitable candidate is appointed.</p> <p>Please note that you must provide the following documents in support of your application by the closing date of Friday 30 January 2026:</p> <ul> <li>Full Transcripts of all degree study or if in final year of study, full transcripts to date including grading scheme</li> <li>Personal Statement outlining your interest in the project</li> <li>CV</li> </ul> <p>If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence that you meet the University's minimum English language requirements (below).</p> <p><em>As an international research-intensive university, we welcome students from all walks of life and from across the world. We foster an inclusive environment where all can flourish and prosper, and we are proud of our strong commitment to student education. Across all Faculties we are dedicated to diversifying our community and we welcome the unique contributions that individuals can bring, and particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to Black, Asian, people who belong to a minority ethnic community, people who identify as LGBT+ and people with disabilities. Applicants will always be selected based on merit and ability.</em></p>

Applicants to research degree programmes should normally have at least a first class or an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. The criteria for entry for some research degrees may be higher, for example, several faculties, also require a Masters degree. Applicants are advised to check with the relevant School prior to making an application. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the School or Graduate School prior to making an application.

The minimum English language entry requirement for research postgraduate research study is an IELTS of 6.5 overall with at least 6.5 in writing and at least 6.0 in reading, listening and speaking or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid. Some schools and faculties have a higher requirement.

<p>A highly competitive EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award providing full academic fees, together with a tax-free maintenance grant at the standard UKRI rate (£20,780 in academic session 2025/26) for 3.5 years.  Training and support will also be provided.</p> <p>This opportunity is open to UK applicants only.  All candidates will be placed into the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award Competition and selection is based on academic merit.</p> <p>Please note that there are up to 2 funded places available.  If you are successful in securing an academic offer for PhD study, this does not mean that you have been successful in securing an offer of funding.</p> <p>Please refer to the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukcisa.org.uk%2F&data=05%7C02%7CJ.S.Hewer%40leeds.ac.uk%7C07632c93c06a442dca3d08ddfc172939%7Cbdeaeda8c81d45ce863e5232a535b7cb%7C0%7C0%7C638943898649349324%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=nylGSov8jOc7hr6X%2FmfnfQPecbVUnGqgoSqVgPGy5K0%3D&reserved=0">UKCISA</a> website for information regarding Fee Status for Non-UK Nationals</p> <p> </p>

<p>For further information about this Scholarship, please contact PGR Admissions by email to <a href="mailto:phd@engineering.leeds.ac.uk">phd@engineering.leeds.ac.uk</a>.</p> <p>If you are interested in pursuing a PhD in any of these areas of research, please contact Dr David Head informally with your area of interest by email to <a href="mailto:d.head@leeds.ac.uk">d.head@leeds.ac.uk</a> and he will happily put you in touch with a member of staff to discuss things further.</p>