Studentships and scholarships
Join an internationally-recognised centre of research excellence
PhD Scholarships available for 2025/26
The School is able to offer a number of studentships for students, including EPSRC and BBSRC studentships funded through Doctoral Training Grants and School Scholarships.
There are up to 8 studentships available for students starting from 01 October 2025.
School scholarships are open to both home and international students. The award provides full funding for fees (usually at UK fees rate) and living expenses.
EPSRC and BBSRC Scholarships are also available to both home and international students. These scholarships provide full funding for fees (usually at UK fees rate) and living expenses.
The studentships are awarded on a competitive basis. All applicants who have applied and successfully completed an interview before 07 January 2025 will be considered.
Applications received after this date will be considered in subsequent rounds. Dates can be found on our admissions page. For the best chance of being awarded a scholarship we encourage you to submit your application for the January deadline.
International student scholarships in addition to School scholarships the University's International Student Recruitment team administers a number of scholarships. Many of the scholarships require an offer from the School before you can apply so early application is encouraged.
Future School funding opportunities will be updated here throughout the year.
Further Funding Opportunities
AI-Driven infrastruture inspection: continual improvement through reinforcement learning
A three-year studentship, beginning in October 2025.
This project is an exciting opportunity to undertake industrially linked research in partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). It is based within the School of Mathematical Sciences at the Faculty of Science, University of Nottingham, which amongst its wide research portfolio, conducts cutting edge research into the development novel causal inference, automation and robotic control algorithms.
We are seeking for a highly motivated PhD student to conduct cutting edge research of the AI techniques and reinforcement learning, a technology which has powered many of the recent groundbreaking self-guided game engines and large language models.
Together we will study how the existing and emerging paradigms in reinforcement learning can be utilized to power automated annotation and diagnostic software of critical infrastructure via continual learning from sensor feedback.
This PhD aims to develop novel algorithms for Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven continual learning via reinforcement learning (RL), incorporating mechanistic knowledge through causal inference constraints. These algorithms will enable adaptive digital systems for assisted and automated annotation software, as well as diagnostics software, particularly in the contexts of manufacturing and precision imaging. By leveraging causal insights, the project will enhance the systems' ability to learn dynamically from sensor feedback while maintaining consistency and reliability. In the later stages, the research will apply these advancements to a case study on adaptive disassembly lines, demonstrating how continual learning can drive more efficient and sustainable solutions in complex, evolving environments.
You will have the opportunity to join a multidisciplinary team of supervisors: experts in engineering and biochemistry related to different battery technologies; experts in foundational computer science and mathematical foundations of AI; and experts in the industrial utilisation of emerging AI technologies for various manufacturing and built environment inspection processes.
Funding: This 3-year fully funded studentship is open to UK home students. The successful applicant will receive a generous tax-free annual stipend of £25,000 plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees. Additionally, £2,000 per annum is provided for consumables, travel, etc. Due to funding restrictions this PhD position is only available to UK nationals. As this position is sponsored by the MTC, any successful candidate would need to pass the sponsor's own security checks prior to the commencement of the PhD.
For full details please see the project information page.
For informal enquiries please send a detailed CV and academic transcripts to Dr Yordan Raykov and Dr Yazan Qarout
Deadline for applications 28 February 2025