PhD Studentship in Neurotechnology: Spatiotemporal Population Dynamics for Neural Decoding

Award Summary

100% of home tuition fees paid and an annual stipend equal to that provided by UKRI (for reference 2025/26 is £20,780). 

Overview

Are you interested in developing neurotechnologies for treating brain disorders? In this PhD you will work with datasets of neuronal activity in animals and humans. You will apply computational approaches to describe spatial and temporal patterns across different neurons in the neocortical circuit and use them for closed-loop brain stimulation. By examining how these spatiotemporal dynamics relate to behaviour, you will develop new brain decoding methods and test the extent to which these generalise across brain areas and species. 

You will be working with an interdisciplinary team led by Prof Andrew Jackson funded by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) that is using state-of-the-art multielectrode technologies to obtain high-resolution recordings from inside the brain. You will become an expert in the latest AI approaches to interpreting these large datasets, as well as computational models that capture low-dimensional structure that reflects the architecture of the neocortex. By working with researchers developing new brain stimulation methods, you will contribute to developing closed-loop algorithms for regulating brain dynamics with clinical applications in epilepsy and psychiatric disorders. 

Number Of Awards: 1

Start Date: September/October 2025, or potentially 5th January 2026 

Award Duration: The funding covers a four-year PhD.  

Application Closing Date: 31 August 2025; Interview the week of 8th September 

Sponsor: ARIA & Newcastle University - Faculty Medical Sciences

Supervisors

Dr Alexander Kraskov and Dr Luke Bashford, Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University 

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent, in a subject relating to neuroscience or neural engineering. Further qualifications such as an MRes is advantageous. The candidate must have or be willing to learn computational methods for data analysis. 

The studentship covers fees at the Home rate only. 

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal via the above 'Apply' button.

In the ‘Course choice’ tab:  

• Select ‘Postgraduate Research’ in the 'Type of Study' field  
• Select ‘Full Time’ in the ‘Mode of Study’ field  
• Select ‘2025’ in the ‘Year of Entry’ field  
• Enter programme code 8420F in the ‘Course Title’ field  
• Leave the ‘Research Area’ field blank  
• Press ‘Search’  
• Select ‘PhD Biosciences (FT)’  
• Save selection  

In the ‘Further Details’ section:   

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form, quoting the studentship reference code BI095, stating the title of the studentship, how your interests and experience relate to the project, highlighting if possible your experience in data analysis, computational approaches to describe neuronal data. 
• The studentship code BI095 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field   
• When prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’, and type in the title of the research project from this advert (No need to upload a research proposal). 

In the ‘Supporting Documentation’ section: 

• Upload your CV 

You must submit one application per studentship, you cannot apply for multiple studentships on one application. 

Contact Details

For further details, please contact: 

Dr Alexander (Sasha) Kraskov, Biosciences Institute, E-mail: sasha.kraskov@ncl.ac.uk 

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