AI-driven Multi-Agent Systems for Personalised Digital Health

A fully funded PhD studentship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Key information

Lead supervisor: Dr Mengyun Qiao
Application deadline: ongoing
Project start date: 01 October 2026 (or earlier by agreement)
Project duration: 4 years (full-time)
Location: UCL Mechanical Engineering (Bloomsbury, London)
Studentship funding provided: Home tuition fees (currently £6,215/year) and maintenance stipend (currently £22,780/year) for 3.5 years

PhD project description

This PhD project will develop a novel AI framework that combines multi-agent systems and biomedical data integration for personalised cardiovascular digital twins. Building on recent advances in generative modelling and multi-modal data analysis, the project will design intelligent agents that collaboratively reason over complex medical data such as 3D cardiac meshes, imaging sequences, and clinical records. The overarching aim is to improve disease modelling, patient stratification, and decision support in personalised healthcare.

Aims: 
As part of the PhD project you will:

  • Design and implement AI-driven multi-agent models for biomedical data integration.
  • Work with real-world datasets, including cardiac imaging and mesh-based models.
  • Develop algorithms for phenotype representation, reasoning, and personalised prediction.
  • Collaborate with clinical and computational partners, and present results at international conferences.
  • Prepare publications for top-tier AI and medical journals.

Person specification

We are seeking an enthusiastic candidate with:

  • A strong UK-equivalent degree (first-class or distinction) in Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related discipline.
  • Solid programming skills in Python and experience with machine learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch).
  • Familiarity with deep learning, generative modelling, and multi-agent systems.
  • Interest in applying AI to healthcare and biomedical problems.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to work collaboratively.
  • Fluency and clarity in spoken English as well as good written English in accordance with UCL English requirements (TOEFL>92 or IELTS>6.5).

Eligibility

Please note that the available funding supports tuition fees at the Home/UK rate. Students who are eligible to pay fees at the UK rate are welcome to apply. Please refer to our website for further information about Home tuition fee eligibility.

International students who are eligible to pay tuition fees at the Overseas rate are also welcome to apply, however the tuition fees covered by the studentship will be limited to the Home/UK level. International students will be required to find additional funding for the remaining Overseas tuition fees.

Applicants whose first language is not English are required to meet UCL's English language entry requirements.

Please refer to this webpage for full eligibility criteria: Mechanical Engineering MPhil/PhD

How to apply

Eligible applicants should first contact Dr Mengyun Qiao (lumalab0.ai@gmail.com) to express their interest in the project. Please enclose the following documents as a single PDF (in this order):

  1. A one-page statement of suitability, explain why you are a good fit for the project.
  2. A two-page CV, include contact details for two referees.
  3. A one-page project summary, outlining any work you have already done in this research area.

After discussing the project with Dr Qiao, eligible applicants should also submit a formal PhD application via the UCL website.

The supervisory team will arrange interviews for short-listed candidates.