PhD Studentship: CDT in Digital Health and Care

The future of health is digital. We urgently need new technologies to understand, prevent, diagnose and manage illnesses that affect millions of people, including diabetes, depression, and dementia.

Join us at the University of Bristol to become part of a new generation of innovators building and developing apps, wearables, smart homes, and other digital technologies. Together, these technologies are helping to support health professionals in their decision-making and empowering patients in managing their own health conditions.

Our unique multidisciplinary EPSRC-funded PhD programme brings together students from health and life sciences, computer science, design and engineering backgrounds. The programme structure is made up of one taught year followed by three years of doctoral research. 

As a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) student, you will combine technological depth with a broad appreciation of the health landscape and patients' needs, providing you with the foundations to develop the next generation of digital health solutions. This is coupled with a principled commitment to ethics, inclusivity, regulation, data security and privacy.

We offer fully funded studentships (full fees and living stipend) to selected UK and overseas applicants.

For more information, and to apply, see our website. 

Programme details

Our CDT is housed in a purpose-built, newly refurbished lab space adjacent to Bristol Cathedral. The taught first year is designed to bridge the disciplinary gaps and provides students with a unique foundation in the rapidly moving field of digital health. Students from engineering/computer sciences and technical backgrounds will be introduced to relevant aspects of health; while those from a health-related background will be introduced to coding, data analysis and e-health. The cohort comes together to work on real-world digital health problems.

Students attend workshops and develop potential supervisory relationships with more than 20 external partners in the programme – including charities, community groups, small health start-ups, large technology companies, healthcare delivery organisations (including the NHS) and multi-national pharmaceutical companies. The centre’s partner organisations include Arm, AstraZeneca, Microsoft Research, Pfizer and Toshiba.

After their first year, our students undertake a three-year research project, supervised by an interdisciplinary team formed from our supervisory network of over 100 academics across four main university faculties, and in close collaboration with external partners. These projects make use of expertise and facilities supported by £30M of digital health research at the University since 2013.

Applications for 2023 entry are open now and interviews will take place each month until July 2023. We make offers of study throughout this period and it is likely that the course will be full before the end date, so early application is encouraged. 

Fully Funded Studentships Available

Applicants must hold/achieve a minimum of an upper-second class honours degree or international equivalent in a relevant discipline. This can be EITHER a STEM-related discipline (e.g. computer science, engineering) OR a health-related discipline (e.g. life sciences, medicine, health sciences, psychology, neuroscience, nursing or an allied health profession).

Enhanced EPSRC studentships covering fees and living costs are available to UK students (subject to terms and conditions of funding). Limited funding is also available for overseas candidates of exceptional academic backgrounds.

All applicants are considered on an equal basis in line with the University’s Equality and Diversity Policy.

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities, to join our cohort.

For more information, see our website or email enquiries-dhcdt@bristol.ac.uk.