Statistical Science MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

An MPhil/PhD in Statistical Science obtained at UCL will equip you with the necessary research skills to thrive in the modern era of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. Familiarity with state-of-the-art research methodology in a range of areas, including Statistical Modelling, Data Analysis and Computational Algorithms, places graduates of our programme at the forefront of a highly contemporary and dynamic field.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£6,035
£3,015
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£28,100
£14,050
Duration
3 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
October 2024
February 2025
May 2025
Applications accepted
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree, or a UK Master's degree in statistics, mathematics, computer science or a related quantitative discipline. Overseas qualifications of an equivalent standard are also acceptable.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 1

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.

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

The demand for numerate graduates exceeds the supply in most areas. Many new and existing opportunities in industry, medicine, government, commerce, or research await science graduates who have supplemented their first degree with additional training in quantitative skills, such as those provided by the postgraduate programmes available within the Department of Statistical Science.

Who this course is for

This programme is best suited to those aiming for a research degree and/or an academic career in Statistics, Data Science and other related fields.

What this course will give you

While the department offers world-class expertise along with strong links to practitioners, its position within UCL provides a large breadth of research specialisations. Besides ties to other mathematical sciences, the department collaborates with researchers in a number of fields, including computer science, environmental science, engineering, management, finance, biology and medicine.

The opportunity to engage with leading researchers across disciplines while accessing London-based government and industry figures gives UCL students a distinct advantage.

More intangibly, by being in a truly multidisciplinary environment, UCL students gain an appreciation for knowledge and its societal impact. This leads not only to new insights but also to a readiness to critique the established order, which is both intellectually and personally fulfilling.

The foundation of your career

Destinations after graduation include Universities, the Healthcare Sector, Finance organisations, Consulting organisations, Commerce organisations.

Employability

Graduates of the PhD programme are well placed to continue as researchers in both academia and the private sector. In particular, greater data collection has created a demand for enhanced methodologies for analysis, which is a strength of most recent graduates.

Networking

The department has strong connections with several research organisations, for example the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the UCL Medical School and the Biomedical Research Centre, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and the UCL Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX). The department contributes to the UCL Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science, the UCL Centre for Doctoral Training in Foundational Artificial Intelligence and to the cross-institutional Health Data Research UK-Turing Wellcome PhD Programme in Health Data Science. The Department is a partner in the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership. UCL was a founding member of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science, and continues to play a major role in the Institute’s activities.
 

Staff members also collaborate directly with hospitals, power companies, government regulators, the financial sector and several other organisations.

Consequently, research students have ample opportunity to engage with external institutions in order to frame their work.

Teaching and learning

There are no specific requirements in terms of courses to be attended during a PhD degree.

Students are initially registered for the MPhil degree. No sooner than nine months after registration, they are transferred to the PhD degree with retrospective effect if they show a capacity for original work. This will require the preparation of a substantial upgrade report describing the existing work in the area of investigation, giving details of the original work that they have performed so far, and setting out a plan for the remaining period of their research. It will also involve a viva.

The research degree programme is a self-directed programme under the supervision of academic experts. You should manage your time for research activities by discussing with your supervisor(s). You can arrange a regular meeting with your supervisor(s). The supervisor meetings usually take place once per week, depending on the status of your research.

Research areas and structure

The department’s methodological research is organised into six themes:

  • Biostatistics
  • Computational statistics
  • Economics, finance and business
  • General theory and methodology
  • Multivariate and high dimensional data
  • Stochastic modelling and time series

Research often cuts across these themes. For example, externally funded projects in the following application areas are in progress:

  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Ecology
  • Econometrics and finance
  • Epidemology
  • Environmetrics and hydrology
  • Machine learning
  • Population and systems biology
  • Statistical imaging

Much of this work is interdisciplinary and involves collaborations within and outside UCL.

Research environment

The Department of Statistical Science has played a major role in the development of the subject since its foundation in 1911 as the first department of statistics in the world, with Karl Pearson as its head. Since then, many famous names in statistics have been associated with the department, including Egon Pearson, R. A. Fisher and Jerzy Neyman. Today the Department is among the three largest statistics groups in the UK with more than 40 academic members of staff. .

We carry out research across a wide range of theoretical and applied areas. The main areas of interest are organised into six themes: Biostatistics; Computational statistics; Economics, finance and business; Environmental statistics; General theory and methodology; and Multivariate and high dimensional data. In addition, there are organised research groups in the areas of Probability, Methodology for Weather and Climate and Statistics for Health Economic Evaluation. In the last Research Excellence Framework exercise (2021/22), over 97% of our research output was classified as “worldleading” or “internationally excellent” in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

The department has strong connections with several research organisations, such as the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the UCL Medical School and the Biomedical Research Centre, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and the UCL Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX). The department contributes to the UCL Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science, the UCL Centre for Doctoral Training in Foundational Artificial Intelligence and to the cross-institutional Health Data Research UK-Turing Wellcome PhD Programme in Health Data Science. The Department is a partner in the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership.

UCL was a founding member of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science, and continues to play a major role in the Institute’s activities.

Staff members also collaborate directly with hospitals, power companies, government regulators, the financial sector and several other organisations. 

You are initially registered for the MPhil degree. No sooner than nine months after registration, you are transferred to the PhD degree with retrospective effect if you show a capacity for original work. This will require the preparation of a substantial upgrade report describing the existing work in the area of investigation, giving details of the original work that you have performed so far, and setting out a plan for the remaining period of your research. It will also involve a viva.

The typical length of the PhD programme is three years for full-time students and five years for part-time students; an MPhil is expected to be achieved in a shorter period. If you are not ready to submit at the end of the third year, you may be able to register as a completing research student (CRS) while you write up your thesis.

The MPhil/PhD has no required curriculum. However, you are expected to agree on a customised programme of study with your supervisor, which may involve specialisation courses (either at UCL or externally, for example, at the London Taught Course Centre or Academy for PhD Training in Statistics) or independent reading. Attendance at research seminars is encouraged, and after you have been upgraded to PhD status you are required to present your research in a seminar stream dedicated to this purpose. Finally, the UCL Doctoral School has its own requirements for training courses. For instance, you are required to attend Research Integrity Training.

You are initially registered for the MPhil degree. No sooner than nine months after registration, you are transferred to the PhD degree with retrospective effect if you show a capacity for original work. This will require the preparation of a substantial upgrade report describing the existing work in the area of investigation, giving details of the original work that you have performed so far, and setting out a plan for the remaining period of your research. It will also involve a viva.

The typical length of the PhD programme is three years for full-time students and five years for part-time students; an MPhil is expected to be achieved in a shorter period. If you are not ready to submit at the end of the third year, you may be able to register as a completing research student (CRS) while you write up your thesis.

The MPhil/PhD has no required curriculum. However, you are expected to agree on a customised programme of study with your supervisor, which may involve specialisation courses (either at UCL or externally, for example, at the London Taught Course Centre or Academy for PhD Training in Statistics) or independent reading. Attendance at research seminars is encouraged, and after you have been upgraded to PhD status you are required to present your research in a seminar stream dedicated to this purpose. Finally, the UCL Doctoral School has its own requirements for training courses. For instance, you are required to attend Research Integrity Training.

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) £28,100 £14,050

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 programme-specific costs.

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

Research Council funding may be available for UK and Overseas nationals. Other funding opportunities may also be available. For details visit www.ucl.ac.uk/statistics/prospective-postgraduates/studentships

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

CSC-UCL Joint Research Scholarship

Value: Fees, maintenance and travel (Duration of programme)
Criteria Based on academic merit
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

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 most cases you should identify and contact potential supervisors before making your application. For more information see our How to apply page.

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.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2024-2025

Year of entry: 2023-2024

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