Modelling fluctuating cognitive and mental health states in psychiatric disorders

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship at King’s College London focusing on the development and application of computational approaches to model fluctuating cognitive and mood states in psychiatric disorders. This project, funded by Boehringer Ingelheim, will leverage uniquely rich online cognitive assessment datasets that we are collecting in order to understand the dynamic nature of psychological states in major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and other conditions. The start date will be June or October 2025.

The successful candidate will work within the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, under the joint supervision of Professors Adam Hampshire and Steve Williams from King’s College London, and Dr Elizabeth Gillott from Boehringer Ingelheim. The project will make use of high-frequency cognitive and behavioural data, integrating multiple assessment modalities—including cognitive tasks, self-report measures, and actigraphy. There is also the opportunity to work with other data types including brain imaging, speech and virtual reality behavioural data. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to further develop the project with the supervisors.

This studentship provides an excellent opportunity for a candidate interested in the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, computational psychiatry, and data science. The successful applicant will receive training in:

• Statistical and machine learning techniques for analysing high-dimensional cognitive and behavioural data.
• Psychiatric research methodologies, with access to large-scale online cognitive assessment datasets.
• Translational applications relevant to academic, clinical and industry contexts.

The candidate will have the opportunity to spend time at Boehringer Ingelheim, engaging directly with computational scientists and clinical researchers in an industry setting.

Applicants should have:

• A strong academic background in a relevant discipline (e.g., cognitive neuroscience, computational modelling, psychology, psychiatry, statistics, or a related field).
• Experience with data analysis and programming (e.g., Python, MATLAB).
• An interest in applying computational methods in mental health research.
• The ability to work independently while contributing to a multidisciplinary research environment.

For informal inquiries, please contact Professor Adam Hampshire (adam.hampshire@kcl.ac.uk).

How to apply:

Applicants must complete and submit an online admissions application for June 2025 entry, via the admissions portal by midnight (23:59 GMT), April 1st 2025.

On the ‘Choosing a programme’ page, please select Neuroimaging Research MPhil/PhD (Full time).

More information on the department and the programme is available at the departmental prospectus page here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/areas/neuroimaging-research-mphil-phd  

In your application, you will be asked to include:

• Academic Transcripts – where applicable, academic transcripts must be submitted with the online admissions application
• Details of your qualifications – you will need to attach copies
• Details of previous employment – please include your CV
• A personal statement describing your interests and why you wish to apply for this project. Please include this as an attachment rather than using the text box.
• Academic References – all admissions applications require one supporting reference. If the applicant is relying on their referees to submit a reference directly to the College after they have submitted their admissions application, then the applicant must ensure that (1) their chosen referee is made aware of the funding deadline (i.e. 7 days from application deadline) and (2) that the reference needs to be sent from an institutional email address.

In the Funding section, please tick box 5 and include the following reference: AH-IoPPN-BI-25

Please note there is no need to complete the Research Proposal section in your application as the project has already been set. You are welcome to email supervisor name (email address) for more information regarding the project and studentship.

References must be received by the deadline for the applicant to be eligible. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.