Fully funded PhD position opening

Intelligent Systems and Networks Group

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Imperial College London

Supervisors: Dr Danyal Akarca & Prof Daniel Goodman

PhD student status: UK “Home” fee status (for information, see here)

We are seeking a PhD candidate to join us at Imperial College London. This position offers a unique opportunity to explore the cutting-edge intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, with the broad goal to investigateshared principles of computation within both artificial and biological intelligent systems.

Research topics: These include, but are not limited to: (i) Information and communication within brain circuits of modular network topologies; (ii) Inductive structural and communication biases within brain-inspired neural networks; (iii) Comparing neural coding schemes; (iv) Resource rationality in task-solving neural networks and their scaling; (v) Evolutionary and developmental models of heterogeneity in the brain. Relevant papers of the supervisors include thisand this.

Requirements: There is a requirement for a Master’s level degree (at level Merit minimum) and that your undergraduate degree is at level UK 2:1, but a 1^st class and/or Distinction (respectively) would be highly desirable. We welcome candidates from a broad range of disciplines, including Neuroscience, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Machine learning, Cognitive Science, and related fields. Applicants should have a strong analytical and computational background, with proficiency in programming languages commonly used in AI research (e.g., Python). Experience with neural network modelling, machine learning algorithms, or computational neuroscience tools is highly desirable. We are really looking for individuals who are curious, driven, and passionate about research in this exciting field. The ability to work collaboratively within a team and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences is essential.

The position comes with funding, covering tuition fees with a stipend, covered by Danyal’s Imperial College Research Fellowship supported by Schmidt Futures. Note, this position can only support UK Home fee status students. This means that you would have been resident and settled in the UK at the start of the PhD (i.e., living in the UK most of the time) for the previous three years.

If interested, please send an email to both supervisors with a CV and a paragraph summarising your interests (we welcome research proposals if you have one, but not necessary to write one) at danyal.akarca@gmail.com and d.goodman@imperial.ac.uk