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Postgraduate Research

Computer Science

School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PhD
Entry Year
Academic Year 2024/25
Entry Requirements
2.1

Overview

The School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EEECS) aims to enhance the way we use technology in communication, data science, computing systems, cyber security, power electronics, intelligent control, and many related areas.

You’ll be part of a dynamic doctoral research environment and will study alongside students from over 40 countries world-wide.

We supervise students undertaking research in key areas of computer science, including:

- Artificial Intelligence
- Cybersecurity
- Computing Systems
- Power Electronics
- Robotics
- Sensor-based Systems
- Wireless Communications

As part of a lively community of over 100 full-time and part-time research students you’ll have the opportunity to develop your research potential in a vibrant research community that prioritises the cross-fertilisation of ideas and innovation in the advancement of knowledge.

Within the School we have a number of specialist research centres including a Global Research Institute, the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) specialising in Cyber Security, Wireless Innovation and Data Science and Scalable Computing.

Many PhD studentships attract scholarships and top-up supplements. PhD programmes provide our students with the opportunity to acquire an extensive training in research techniques.

Subject Summary

You will have the opportunity to develop and refine appropriate research skills and learn how to carry out significant, high-quality, original research in your specified research area, as well as having the opportunity to work with some of the most passionate internationally recognised researchers in their field. • Cyber Security • Wireless Technologies • Artificial Intelligence • Computer Systems • Energy, Power and Intelligent Control • Education and Society

Computer Science Highlights

Professional Accreditations
  • ECIT brings together, in one building, internationally recognised research groups specialising in key areas of advanced digital and communications technology.
Industry Links
  • Queen’s researchers have strong links with the local industry, which boasts a rich mix of local startups and multi-nationals. Belfast is the second fastest growing region in the UK in terms of Knowledge Economy activity (Northern Ireland Economy Report, 2018).
  • CSIT brings together research specialists in complementary fields such as data security, network security systems, wireless-enabled security systems, intelligent surveillance systems; and serves as the national point of reference for knowledge transfer in these areas.
World Class Facilities
  • The state-of-the-art £14m Computer Science Building and the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology offer bespoke research environments.

    The Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT), with state-of-the-art technology, offers a bespoke research environment.
Internationally Renowned Experts
  • You will be working under the supervision of leading international academic experts.

Key Facts

Research students are encouraged to play a full and active role in relation to the wide range of research activities undertaken within the School and there are many resources available including:

  • A wide range of personal development and specialist training courses offered through the Personal Development Programme
  • Access to the Queen's University Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme
  • Office accommodation with access to computing facilities and support to attend conferences for full-time PhD students

Student Testimonials

Course content

Research Information

Associated Research
Research within the School is organised into research themes combining strengths by working together on major projects, in many cases in collaboration with key technology companies.
ECIT brings together internationally recognised research groups specialising in key areas of advanced digital and communications technology.

PhD Opportunities
PhD Opportunities are available in a wide range of computer science subjects, aligned to the specific expertise of our PhD supervisors.

Research Impact
Queen’s is a leader in commercial impact and one of the five highest performing universities in the UK for intellectual property commercialisation. We have created over 80 spin-out companies. Three of these -
Kainos, Andor Technology and Fusion Antibodies - have been publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Research Projects
Queen’s has strong collaborative links with industry in Northern Ireland, and internationally. It has a strong funding track record with EPSRC and the EC H2020 programme.

Research Success
The research profile produced by the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) graded 80 per cent of our research activity as 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent', confirming the School's reputation as an internationally-leading department.

Career Prospects

Introduction
For further information on career opportunities at PhD level please contact the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences Student Recruitment Team on askEPS@qub.ac.uk. Our advisors - in consultation with the School - will be happy to provide further information on your research area, possible career prospects and your research application.

People teaching you




Course structure

There is no specific course content as such. You are expected to take research training modules that are supported by the School which focus on quantitative and qualitative research methods. You are also expected to carry out your research under the guidance of your supervisor.

Over the course of study you can attend postgraduate skills training organised by the Graduate School.

You will normally register, in the first instance, as an ‘undifferentiated PhD student’ which means that you have satisfied staff that you are capable of undertaking a research degree. The decision as to whether you should undertake a PhD is delayed until you have completed ‘differentiation’.

Differentiation takes place about 8-9 months after registration for full time students and about 16-18 months for part time students: You are normally asked to submit work to a panel of up two academics and this is followed up with a formal meeting with the ‘Differentiation Panel’. The Panel then make a judgement about your capacity to continue with your study. Sometimes students are advised to revise their research objectives or to consider submitting their work for an MPhil qualification rather than a doctoral qualification.

To complete with a doctoral qualification you will be required to submit a thesis of approx 80,000 words and you will be required to attend a viva voce [oral examination] with an external and internal examiner to defend your thesis.

A PhD programme runs for 3-4 years full-time or 6-8 years part-time. Students can apply for a writing up year should it be required.

The PhD is open to both full and part time candidates and is often a useful preparation for a career within academia or consultancy.

Full time students are often attracted to research degree programmes because they offer an opportunity to pursue in some depth an area of academic interest.

The part time research degree is an exciting option for professionals already working in the education field who are seeking to extend their knowledge on an issue of professional interest. Often part time candidates choose to research an area that is related to their professional responsibilities.

If you meet the Entry Requirements, the next step is to check whether we can supervise research in your chosen area. We only take students to whom we can offer expert research supervision from one of our academic staff. Therefore, your research question needs to engage with the research interests of one of our staff.

Assessment

- Assessment processes for the Research Degree differ from taught degrees. Students will be expected to present write up their work at regular intervals to their supervisor who will provide written and oral feedback; a formal assessment process takes place annually.

This Annual Progress Review requires students to present their work in writing and orally to a panel of academics from within the School. Successful completion of this process will allow students to register for the next academic year.

The final assessment of the doctoral degree is both oral and written. Students will submit their thesis to an internal and external examining team who will review the written thesis before inviting the student to orally defend their work at a Viva Voce.

Feedback

- Supervisors will offer feedback on the research work at regular intervals throughout the period of registration on the degree.

Facilities

Full time PhD students will have access to a shared office space and access to a desk with personal computer and internet access.

Learning and Teaching

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Project name School Funding Subject Status Sort Timestamp
Early warning systems for tropical diseases using Artificial Intelligence
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dengue Fever, Diarrhoea, Tropical diseases, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Time-series prediction Dr Son Thai Mai
Supervisor
Dr Son Thai Mai
Funding
Funded
DFE
Application deadline
6 October 2023
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1696546800
Predicting User Performance for Enhanced Brain-Computer Interfaces
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Algorithm, Brain-Computer Interface, Data Analysis, Engineering, Machine Learning, Predictive Model Dr Alain Desire Bigirimana
Supervisor
Dr Alain Desire Bigirimana
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Leveraging Advanced Machine Learning Methods for Brain-Computer Interface-Based Upper Limb Neurorehabilitation.
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Brain-Computer Interface, Engineering, Machine Learning, Neurofeedback, Neurorehabilitation Dr Alain Desire Bigirimana
Supervisor
Dr Alain Desire Bigirimana
Funding
Funded
3 years
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Responsible and explainable AI for precision medicine
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Responsible AI, explainable AI, data science, machine learning, healthcare, precision medicine Dr Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Supervisor
Dr Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Advancing understanding of rare diseases via AI driven methods
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, healthcare, rare diseases Dr Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Supervisor
Dr Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Efficient Computing with Software-Defined Computer Arithmetic
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Computing systems, Computer Arithmetic, Software-Defined Computer Arithmetic. Dr Amir Sabbagh Molahosseini
Supervisor
Dr Amir Sabbagh Molahosseini
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Efficient Machine Learning on Encrypted Data via Low-Level Arithmetic Optimizations
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Homomorphic Encryption, Machine Learning, Computer Arithmetic. Dr Amir Sabbagh Molahosseini
Supervisor
Dr Amir Sabbagh Molahosseini
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Side-channel analysis and countermeasure on Lightweight Post Quantum Cryptographic
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Lightweight Post Quantum Cryptographic, Side-channel analysis, Machine learning, Hardware security Dr Anh-Tuan Hoang
Supervisor
Dr Anh-Tuan Hoang
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Integrated Side-channel analysis in Physical Uncloneable Function
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Side-channel analysis, Integrated side-channel information measurement tools, Machine learning Dr Anh-Tuan Hoang
Supervisor
Dr Anh-Tuan Hoang
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Getting to know your GPT: Investigating the Representation and Retrieval of Semantic Knowledge in Foundation Models of Language
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Large language models, semantics, conceptual knowledge, interpretability, explainability, NLP Dr Barry Devereux
Supervisor
Dr Barry Devereux
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Using AI and High Performance Computing in Marine Engineering
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Artificial Intelligence, High Performance Computing, computational modelling, ocean waves, marine en Dr Charles Gillan
Supervisor
Dr Charles Gillan
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Digital Twins for Empirical Elasticity between the Edge and Cloud
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Edge and Cloud computing, elasticity, Digital Twins, service deployment, Kubernetes and KubeEdge. Dr Dionysios Athanasopoulos
Supervisor
Dr Dionysios Athanasopoulos
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Chatbot for Dynamic Data-Oriented Serverless Edge Computing
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Edge computing, nanoservices, chatbot, serverless computing. Dr Dionysios Athanasopoulos
Supervisor
Dr Dionysios Athanasopoulos
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Software-based approaches for IoT attack mitigation
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Cybersecurity, InfoSec, Internet of Things (IoT), malware, AI, machine learning, assembly, opcode Dr Domhnall Carlin
Supervisor
Dr Domhnall Carlin
Funding
Funded
DfE
Application deadline
8 April 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1712530800
Tools and techniques for educating educators of developers
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Software Engineering, Software Evolution, Mining of Source Code Repositories, MSR Dr David Cutting
Supervisor
Dr David Cutting
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Understanding Software Evolution Data (USED)
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Software Engineering, Software Evolution, Mining of Source Code Repositories, MSR Dr David Cutting
Supervisor
Dr David Cutting
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Fact-checking with a Conscience: Towards Responsible Fake News Detection
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Fake news detection, responsible AI, human-like AI, fairness, ethics Dr Deepak Padmanabhan
Supervisor
Dr Deepak Padmanabhan
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Energy-Scalable Bio-Signal Analysis and Embedded AI for Smart Health Monitoring
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Heath monitoring, Energy-Efficient Systems, Embedded-Systems, Wearables, Artificial-Intelligence Dr Georgios Karakonstantis
Supervisor
Dr Georgios Karakonstantis
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Energy-Scalable AI Architectures for Resource-Constrained Edge Devices
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Energy-Efficiency, Artificial-Intelligence, Neural-Networks, Fault-Prediction, Accelerators Dr Georgios Karakonstantis
Supervisor
Dr Georgios Karakonstantis
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Transprecise Analytics on Dynamic Graphs
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Graph analytics, transprecision, anytime algorithms Prof Hans Vandierendonck
Supervisor
Prof Hans Vandierendonck
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Online performance optimisation through algorithmic choice
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Prof Hans Vandierendonck
Supervisor
Prof Hans Vandierendonck
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Vitality Quest: Unravelling the Secrets of Super Agers
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Healthy ageing, super agers, machine learning, longitudinal studies, omics data analysis. Prof Hui Wang
Supervisor
Prof Hui Wang
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Multimodal Video Retrieval based on Deep Learning
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Multimodal video retrieval, multimodal representation, multimodal indexing, multimodal ranking Prof Hui Wang
Supervisor
Prof Hui Wang
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Multimodal Document Understanding
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Prof Hui Wang
Supervisor
Prof Hui Wang
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Exploring Security and Privacy Risks of Large Language Models
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Large Language Models, LLM, Security, Privacy, Jailbreaks, Safeguard Evasion, Data Privacy Attacks Dr Ihsen Alouani
Supervisor
Dr Ihsen Alouani
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Bio-Artificial Vision: Building an Artificial Vision System Using Biological Retinal Ganglion Cell Spike Train
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Computer Vision, Bio-inspired Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Neuromorphic Architectures Dr Ihsen Alouani
Supervisor
Dr Ihsen Alouani
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Secure Record Linkage
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Private set intersection, mutable trapdoor PEKS, privacy preserving searching Dr Indranil Ghosh Ray
Supervisor
Dr Indranil Ghosh Ray
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Precomputation Attack Resilient Password based Authentication System Design
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Private set intersection, mutable trapdoor PEKS, privacy preserving searching Dr Indranil Ghosh Ray
Supervisor
Dr Indranil Ghosh Ray
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Self supervised learning for information extraction and anomaly detection in scientific images
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Deep learning, machine learning, self-supervised learning, computer vision, imaging, Prof Iain Styles
Supervisor
Prof Iain Styles
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Learning to engineer drugs
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD machine learning, drug discovery, GPCR, receptor, graph neural network Prof Iain Styles
Supervisor
Prof Iain Styles
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Event-Driven Computer Vision: Algorithms & Programmable Hardware
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Event-driven, computer vision, neuromorphic, embedded systems, programmable hardware. Prof John McAllister
Supervisor
Prof John McAllister
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Evolving Computer Hardware for Machine Learning
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Event-driven, computer vision, neuromorphic, embedded systems, programmable hardware. Prof John McAllister
Supervisor
Prof John McAllister
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Running Large Quantum Circuits on Small Quantum Computers
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Quantum computing Prof John McAllister
Supervisor
Prof John McAllister
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Edge Intelligence: AI/ML-based Resource Scheduling for Edge Computing Platforms
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Edge and Cloud Computing, AI, ML, Algorithms, Resource Scheduling Prof Javid Taheri
Supervisor
Prof Javid Taheri
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
AI/ML-based Content Caching for Mobile Edge Computing Platforms
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Edge and Cloud Computing, AI, ML, Algorithms, Content Caching Prof Javid Taheri
Supervisor
Prof Javid Taheri
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Enhancing Chronic Disease Prediction Through AI-Driven Clinical Information Extraction from Electronic Health Records
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Deep learning, healthcare, electronic health records, natural language processing, artificial intell Dr Lu Bai
Supervisor
Dr Lu Bai
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Data and knowledge dual-driven artificial intelligence in remote sensing
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Data driven algorithm, domain knowledge, artificial intelligence, remote sensing. Dr Lu Bai
Supervisor
Dr Lu Bai
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Trustworthy and Explainable AI for Autonomous Vehicles (AV)
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Autonomous Systems, Autonomous Vehicles, Trustworthy AI, Explainable AI Prof Mehrdad Dianati
Supervisor
Prof Mehrdad Dianati
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Effective Digital Twin and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Model for Autonomous Vehicle Technology 2.0
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Autonomous Systems, Autonomous Vehicles, Trustworthy AI, Explainable AI Prof Mehrdad Dianati
Supervisor
Prof Mehrdad Dianati
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Responsibility Debt and SE Practice (ResponSE)
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Software engineering, requirements engineering, SE methods and tools Dr Maria Angela Ferrario
Supervisor
Dr Maria Angela Ferrario
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Resilience and Burnout: A Game-Play, Solution-Focused Approach For Software Practitioners
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Software engineering, Human Computer Interaction, teamwork health, play, game-based design Dr Maria Angela Ferrario
Supervisor
Dr Maria Angela Ferrario
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Causal Representation Learning for Decision Support Systems: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) Management Empowerment via Interventions
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD AI for Social Good, Causal Machine Learning, NCDs Dr Mohammed Hasanuzzaman
Supervisor
Dr Mohammed Hasanuzzaman
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
End-To-End Sign Language Translation into spoken language
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Mohammed Hasanuzzaman
Supervisor
Dr Mohammed Hasanuzzaman
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Vulnerability Prioritization & Contextualization
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Security, Vulnerability & Threat Management, Attack Graph, Business Process Dependency, ATT&CK, CVE Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Supervisor
Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Approximate Matching Algorithm for Digital Forensics and Threat Hunting
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Approximate matching, Similarity hashing, Fuzzy hashing, Similarity digest algorithm Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Supervisor
Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Drone Security Assurance
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Drone Security, UAV, Penetration Testing, Vulnerability Analysis, Threat Modelling, AI, Drone Forens Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Supervisor
Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Understanding the Effect of Digital Evolution on Threat Design for Cross-Platform Malware Detection
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Malware, Operating System, Reverse Engineering, Cross-Platform, Ransomware, Deep Learning, CPU archi Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Supervisor
Dr Oluwafemi Olukoya
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Understanding Over-Parameterized ML Models
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Computational Learning, Complexity, Large-Scale data. Dr Pourya Shamsolmoali
Supervisor
Dr Pourya Shamsolmoali
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Developing true gigapixel analysis of whole slide histopathology images using deep learning
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Computer Vision, AI, Deep learning, HPC Dr Richard Gault
Supervisor
Dr Richard Gault
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Supervisor
Dr Reza Rafiee
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Drought patterns: Analysing drought situation in Mekong River Delta
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Salinity intrusion, Climate Change, Drought, Mekong River Delta, Deep Learning, Machine Learning Dr Son Thai Mai
Supervisor
Dr Son Thai Mai
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Early warning systems for tropical diseases using Artificial Intelligence
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dengue Fever, Diarrhoea, Tropical diseases, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Time-series prediction, Dr Son Thai Mai
Supervisor
Dr Son Thai Mai
Funding
Funded
Funding TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Space/Terrestrial Comms and Security - jointly with University of Surrey
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Supervisor
Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
30 April 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1714431600
Trustworthy AI for Secure Future Open Networks – jointly with University of Surrey
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Supervisor
Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
30 April 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1714431600
Secure and Trustworthy Hardware - jointly with University of Surrey
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Supervisor
Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
30 April 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1714431600
AI-assisted Physical Layer Security - jointly with University of Surrey
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Supervisor
Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
30 April 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1714431600
Security of 6G-enabled Unified Traffic Management (UTM) Systems
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Drone Security, Autonomous Systems, Unified Traffic Management, Authentication and Authorisation Dr Vishal Sharma
Supervisor
Dr Vishal Sharma
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Evaluating adversarial strengths of the AI algorithms
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD AI, Security, Adversarial agents, Intelligent systems, Network security Dr Vishal Sharma
Supervisor
Dr Vishal Sharma
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Quantifying uncertainty for risk assessment in cyber-physical systems
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Cybersecurity, Cyber-Physical Security, Uncertainty, Risk Assessment Dr Vishal Sharma
Supervisor
Dr Vishal Sharma
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Quantum-enhanced auditing of financial services
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Quantum ML, Quantum Sampling, Quantum Verification, Financial Services, Auditing, Randomness Dr Vishal Sharma
Supervisor
Dr Vishal Sharma
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Energy Efficient Accelerator for Autonomous Systems
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Autonomous Systems, Convex Optimization, Approximate Computing, Hardware Accelerator Dr Yun Wu
Supervisor
Dr Yun Wu
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Energy Efficient and Trustworthy in Multi-modal Federated Learning
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Federated Learning, Approximate Computing, Neural Network Compression Dr Yun Wu
Supervisor
Dr Yun Wu
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Approximate Versatile Tensor Accelerator on Heterogeneous Systems
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Versatile Tensor Accelerator, Artificial Intelligence, Approximate Computing, Design Automation Dr Yun Wu
Supervisor
Dr Yun Wu
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Resilient, Real-Time, Approximate AI Accelerators Design
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Versatile Tensor Accelerator, Artificial Intelligence, Approximate Computing, Design Automation Dr Yun Wu
Supervisor
Dr Yun Wu
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
AI-Assisted Accelerator Design for FPGA technologies
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Artificial Intelligence, Electronic Design Automation, Approximate Computing, Unum Posit Dr Yun Wu
Supervisor
Dr Yun Wu
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Software Engineering for Artificial Intelligence and/or Machine Learning (SE4AI/ML)
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Design Pattern Dr Zheng Li
Supervisor
Dr Zheng Li
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
IoT-native Software Engineering
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Software Engineering, Internet of Things, “4+1” View Model Dr Zheng Li
Supervisor
Dr Zheng Li
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Big Data Gravity and Friction Management
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Big data analytics, big data management, data gravity, data friction, quantum computing Dr Zheng Li
Supervisor
Dr Zheng Li
Funding
Funded
TBC
Application deadline
29 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1709164800
Using Computer Vision to monitor water quality by analysing complex particulates
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence Dr Richard Gault
Supervisor
Dr Richard Gault
Funding
Funded
EPSRC CASE Collaborative Studentship
Application deadline
30 April 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1714431600
Optimising Speed, Energy, and Quality of Machine Learning Models with Transprecise Computing
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Transprecise computing, distributed machine learning model serving, resource-constrained machine lea Prof Hans Vandierendonck
Supervisor
Prof Hans Vandierendonck
Funding
Funded
DfE through project SWEET (USI 226)
Application deadline
31 May 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Open 2 1717110000
Data and knowledge dual-driven artificial intelligence in remote sensing
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Data driven algorithm, domain knowledge, artificial intelligence, remote sensing Dr Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Supervisor
Dr Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Funding
Unfunded
UKRI (Sustain DTP)
Application deadline
25 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Unfunded Computer Science Closed 2 1708819200
Multi-Object Visual Tracking (MOT) of Animals in Agriculture
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Computer vision, multi-object tracking, smart agriculture Dr Niall McLaughlin
Supervisor
Dr Niall McLaughlin
Funding
Funded
UKRI (Sustain DTP)
Application deadline
25 February 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1708819200
The responsible use of generative AI when working with creative stories of lived experience
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Prof Austen Rainer
Supervisor
Prof Austen Rainer
Funding
Funded
LINAS
Application deadline
31 January 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1706659200
Using stories to evaluate the limits of generative AI and large language models, and to promote the continued value of human-interference
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Prof Austen Rainer
Supervisor
Prof Austen Rainer
Funding
Funded
LINAS
Application deadline
31 January 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1706659200
Responsible Algorithms for Platform Cooperativism
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Deepak Padmanabhan
Supervisor
Dr Deepak Padmanabhan
Funding
Funded
LINAS DTP
Application deadline
31 January 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1706659200
Designing Novel Facial Recognition to Empower and Support People Living with Dementia
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD AI, Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Privacy Dr Richard Gault
Supervisor
Dr Richard Gault
Funding
Funded
LINAS
Application deadline
31 January 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1706659200
Can we have it all? Exploring the trade-offs to achieve trustworthy AI in future networks
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Sandra Scott-Hayward
Supervisor
Dr Sandra Scott-Hayward
Funding
Funded
LINAS
Application deadline
31 January 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1706659200
Security, Privacy and Governance in AI-assisted Unmanned Aerial Surveillance
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | PHD Dr Vishal Sharma
Supervisor
Dr Vishal Sharma
Funding
Funded
LINAS
Application deadline
31 January 2024
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Funded Computer Science Closed 2 1706659200

Entrance requirements

Graduate
The minimum academic requirement for admission to a research degree programme is normally an Upper Second Class Honours degree from a UK or ROI HE provider, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University. Further information can be obtained by contacting the School.

International Students

For information on international qualification equivalents, please check the specific information for your country.

English Language Requirements

Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.0, with not less than 5.5 in any component or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required (*taken within the last 2 years).

International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: www.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs.

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

Tuition Fees

Northern Ireland (NI) 1 TBC
Republic of Ireland (ROI) 2 TBC
England, Scotland or Wales (GB) 1 TBC
EU Other 3 £25,600
International £25,600

1 EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled or pre-settled status, are expected to be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident, however this is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly Student Fees Regulations. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB are expected to be charged the GB fee, however this is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly student fees Regulations.

2 It is expected that EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI will be eligible for NI tuition fees. The tuition fee set out above is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly student fees Regulations.

3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.

All tuition fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. All fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

More information on postgraduate tuition fees.

Computer Science costs

There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.

Additional course costs

All Students

Depending on the programme of study, there may also be other extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies . Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £100 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges. Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen. There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, and library fines. In undertaking a research project students may incur costs associated with transport and/or materials, and there will also be additional costs for printing and binding the thesis. There may also be individually tailored research project expenses and students should consult directly with the School for further information.

Bench fees

Some research programmes incur an additional annual charge on top of the tuition fees, often referred to as a bench fee. Bench fees are charged when a programme (or a specific project) incurs extra costs such as those involved with specialist laboratory or field work. If you are required to pay bench fees they will be detailed on your offer letter. If you have any questions about Bench Fees these should be raised with your School at the application stage. Please note that, if you are being funded you will need to ensure your sponsor is aware of and has agreed to fund these additional costs before accepting your place.

How do I fund my study?

1.PhD Opportunities

Find PhD opportunities and funded studentships by subject area.

2.Funded Doctoral Training Programmes

We offer numerous opportunities for funded doctoral study in a world-class research environment. Our centres and partnerships, aim to seek out and nurture outstanding postgraduate research students, and provide targeted training and skills development.

3.PhD loans

The Government offers doctoral loans of up to £26,445 for PhDs and equivalent postgraduate research programmes for English- or Welsh-resident UK and EU students.

4.International Scholarships

Information on Postgraduate Research scholarships for international students.

Funding and Scholarships

The Funding & Scholarship Finder helps prospective and current students find funding to help cover costs towards a whole range of study related expenses.

How to Apply

Apply using our online Postgraduate Applications Portal and follow the step-by-step instructions on how to apply.

Find a supervisor

If you're interested in a particular project, we suggest you contact the relevant academic before you apply, to introduce yourself and ask questions.

To find a potential supervisor aligned with your area of interest, or if you are unsure of who to contact, look through the staff profiles linked here.

You might be asked to provide a short outline of your proposal to help us identify potential supervisors.

Download Postgraduate Prospectus