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Medical Physics and Bioengineering MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

This degree is focused on a multi-disciplinary subject at the interface of physics, engineering, life sciences and computer science. The PhD programme involves 3-4 years (more for part-time students) of original research supervised by a senior member of the department.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2021 rated the department’s research, as part of UCL Engineering, as 97% "world-leading"(4*) or "internationally excellent" (3*) and UCL was the second-rated university in the UK for research strength.

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2024/25)

£6,035

£3,015

Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)

£31,100

£15,550

Duration

3 calendar years

5 calendar years

Programme starts

Research degrees may start at any time of the year, but typically start in September.

Applications accepted

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, or another closely related discipline, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Knowledge and expertise gained in the workplace may also be considered, where appropriate.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2
Overall score of 7.0 and a minimum of 6.5 in each component.

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

If you are intending to apply for a time-limited visa to complete your UCL studies (e.g., Student visa, Skilled worker visa, PBS dependant visa etc.) you may be required to obtain ATAS clearance. This will be confirmed to you if you obtain an offer of a place. Please note that ATAS processing times can take up to six months, so we recommend you consider these timelines when submitting your application to UCL.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

PhD projects will be strongly multi-disciplinary, bridging the gap between engineering, clinical sciences and industry. Over 100 non-clinical and clinical scientists across UCL will partner to co-supervise a new type of individual, ready to transform healthcare and build the future UK industry in this area.

Who this course is for

Read about what it takes to become a UCL graduate research student

What this course will give you

With a Postgraduate Research degree, you will become part of a Department of leading researchers and work towards becoming an expert in your chosen field.

Postgraduate study within UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering offers the chance to develop important skills and acquire new knowledge through involvement with a team of scientists or engineers working in a world-leading research group. Following a Postgraduate Research degree, our students have entered a number of varied careers. Many choose to continue in academic research with a postdoctoral post, enter the NHS or private healthcare sector, or apply their skills in industry.

Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

Postgraduate study within the department offers the chance to develop important skills and acquire new knowledge through involvement with a team of scientists or engineers working in a world-leading research group. Graduates complete their studies having gained new scientific or engineering skills applied to solving problems at the leading edge of human endeavour. Skills associated with project management, effective communication and teamwork are also refined in this high-quality working environment.

Employability

As a multi-disciplinary subject at the interface of physics, engineering, life sciences and computer science, our postgraduate students have a diverse range of options upon graduation. Many choose to continue in academia through the subsequent award of a PhD studentship or a postdoctoral research post. Another common career route is employment in industry where newly-acquired skills are applied to science and engineering projects within multi-national medical device companies, or alternatively, within small-scale start-up enterprises. A substantial number of graduates also enter the NHS or private healthcare sector to work as a clinical scientist or engineer upon completion of further clinical training.

Networking

Supervision and mentorship are available from scientists and engineers who have collaborated nationally and internationally across clinical, industrial and academic sectors. This provides natural opportunities to work in collaboration with a variety of external partners and showcase output at international conferences, private industry events and clinical centres to audiences of potential employers. Moreover, the department holds close working relationships with a number of charitable, research council and international organisations, for example, in new projects involving radiotherapy and infant optical brain imaging in Africa.

Teaching and learning

Our PhD programme involves 3–4 years of original research supervised by a senior member of the department. At any one time, the department has around 60–80 PhD students from a variety of disciplines

A dissertation of up to 100,000 words for a PhD, or up to 60,000 words for an MPhil, is completed as a part of this programme.

Contact hours depend on the type of project and the stage you are at in your PhD. At the start of an experimental, lab-based project, you might spend most of your time working with your supervisor or other researchers. At other times, you might spend most of your time reading or writing and be more self-directed. As a rule, it’s common for students to meet with their supervisor on a weekly basis. You should treat a full-time PhD as you’d treat a full-time job and aim to spend 40 hours a week or so working on your PhD. Sometimes you may need to spend more than this (for example if you’re travelling to a conference, using equipment that has limited availability or have an urgent deadline), but this would be a reasonable average.

Research areas and structure

Biomedical optics
Biomedical Ultrasound
Computing, digital image processing
Continence and skin technology
Functional electrical stimulation
Implanted devices
Laser and endoscopic surgery
Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy
Medical imaging including 3D graphics
Neurophysiology including electrical impedance tomography
Physiological sensing
Radiation physics

Research environment

UCL's Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering is one of the largest medical physics departments in the UK. We have exceptionally close links with major teaching hospitals, as well as excellent academic research. We offer BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering.

Our academic research rating is a top level 5, which means that we have an internationally leading reputation in medical physics and biomedical engineering research.
Ours is a joint department with Medical Physics in the UCLH NHS Trust, and so our staff work side-by-side with hospital physicists, clinical doctors and other health professionals. This close liaison with clinical colleagues in this exciting field enriches our research and teaching.
We develop new technologies and methods for diagnosing, treating and managing medical conditions and diseases.

A PhD at UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering will allow you to pursue original research and make a distinct and significant contribution to your field. We are committed to the quality and relevance of the research supervision we offer and as an MPhil/PhD candidate you could work with academics. Furthermore, as a research student, you will be an integral part of our collaborative and thriving research community. Student-run ‘work in progress’ forums and an end-of-first-year PhD workshop will give you the opportunity to present and discuss your research and academic colleagues. Tailored skills seminars will provide you with a supportive research environment and the critical skills necessary to undertake your research. To foster your academic development, we also offer additional department funds, which can assist you with the costs of conferences and other research activities.

The length of registration for the full-time research degree programmes is 3 to 4 years.

You are required to register initially for the MPhil degree with the expectation of transfer to PhD after successful completion of an upgrade viva 12 - 18 months after initial registration.

Upon successful completion of your approved period of registration, you may register as a completing research student (CRS) while you write up your thesis.

Within three months of joining the programme, you are expected to agree with your principal supervisor the basic structure of your research project, an appropriate research method and a realistic plan of work. You will produce and submit a detailed outline of your proposed research to both your supervisors for their comments and feedback. We hold a PhD workshop at the end of your first year, which provides you with an opportunity to present your research before an audience of UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering Academic staff and fellow PhD students.

In your second year you will be expected to upgrade from an MPhil to a PhD. To successfully upgrade to a PhD, you are required to submit a piece of writing (this is usually based on one chapter from your thesis and a chapter plan for the remainder). You are also required to present and answer questions about this work to a panel consisting of your subsidiary supervisor and another member of the faculty who acts as an independent assessor.

The length of registration for the research degree programmes is 5 to 6 years for the part-time route.

You are required to register initially for the MPhil degree with the expectation of transfer to PhD after successful completion of an upgrade viva 12 - 18 months after initial registration.

Upon successful completion of your approved period of registration, you may register as a completing research student (CRS) while you write up your thesis.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2024/25)	£6,035	£3,015
Tuition fees (2024/25)	£31,100	£15,550

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

There are no additional costs associated with this programme.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Deadlines and start dates are usually dictated by funding arrangements so check with the department or academic unit to see if you need to consider these in your application preparation. In all cases the applicant should identify and contact potential supervisors with a brief research proposal before making your application. For more information see our How to apply page: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-physics-biomedical-engineering/study/postgraduate-research/mphilphd-medical-physics-and-biomedical-engineering/applying-doctoral

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.