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PhD Application Instructions



How to Apply

Applications for a PhD at UCL usually require a First-Class MEng/MSc degree (or equivalent for non-UK Universities) and demonstration of some research capability (e.g., some conference/jounral publications in top robotics venues, such as ICRA, IROS, RSS, CoRL, etc). I am involved into two PhD application pools:
  1. UCL CDT of Foundational AI: here
  2. UCL CDT of Cybersecurity: here
  3. UCL Computer Science: here (Department: Computer Science; Programme: Postgraduate Research; Full-time; Research Degree: Computer Science (4 Year Programme))
Further scholaship funding (DTP, CSC, etc.) might need some extra applications, after you get accepted though. Starting dates are usually Sept. 28 each year, although sometimes students join in January too (not the CDT).

Funding

Students might have their own funding, or they might seek for UCL funding. Sometimes, some projects come with funding (email me for details), but in general funding includes the CDT, DTP, CSC, etc. You can find more details here: link

Notice that scholarships might depend on whether you are a Home (UK national, settled, pre-settled EU) or Overseas student.

Sometimes, you might find UCL-external scholarships. In this case, please contact me, to discuss further.

Research Proposal

PhD applications at UCL require a research proposal. This needs to demonstrate: 1) your ideas about a novel problem and its solution, 2) your knowledge of related work, and 3) your scientific writing. If accepted, the actual PhD might be slightly modified based on feedback and interaction with supervisors and colleagues.

The research of the lab is focused on legged robots (primary) and mobile manipulators (secondary), using perception and path planning. The solutions should include traditional approaches and machine learning methods, such as Reinforcement Learning, Imitation Learning, Deep Learning, Meta Learning, etc. We focus our research on real robot for real applications, and thus all methods will need to be tested on real hardware in uncertain, unstructures environments.

Here you can find and download a template for the research proposal.

The general instructions from the CDT in Foundational AI apply also here: link, and for the CDT of CyberSecurity here. You could follow the following instructions (as described in the MLG of UCL):
  • CV
  • Transcript of records
  • Research proposal (approximately 4-8 pages)
    • Description of what excites you
    • A lay summary (which can be read by someone, who is not from the field) of your research proposal (up to 200 words)
    • Literature overview (what do other people currently do in the area you are interested in?)
    • How would you fill in existing gaps?
    • A concrete 6-months project you wish to start your PhD with (including timeline)
    • Why you would like to join RPL, UCL-CS, and CDT of Foundational AI in particular
    • Download template for research proposal: here

Contact

Ideally, before you apply, it would be good to contact me via e-mail, attaching your CV (include grades and publications), along with a paragraph (10 lines) of your research interests and experience with respect to the topic, as well as if you qualify for Home or International fees in the UK. The email subject line should be "PhD-App FirstName LastName".