Intelligent ‘human-like’ and emotionally intelligent applications, such as 3D games and mobile phone applications are becoming more common in our everyday lives, and also as an important area of focus within the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Multimedia research. Such applications may often use a multitude of sensor-based techniques informed by, for example, effective wearables, user physiological/emotional responses, facial expressions, gestural inputs, natural language inputs, location-based context-based information to enable such applications to interact intelligently with the user.
Whilst a multitude of commercialised examples of such applications have begun to permeate our daily lives, for example in the form of smartphone assistants (e.g. Siri), home-robot assistants, smart home hubs, self-driving cars, mixed reality wearables, little effort has been invested into exploring the potential of using such technologies specifically to make a positive impact on people’s lives within the health and education domains.
There is a need to explore the value of designing, developing and applying such applications for education and healthcare spaces. Hence, we invite applications from candidates that have an interest in the area of intelligent human-like computing and exploring the potential of designing, developing, and evaluating prototype applications within the education and healthcare domain.
Candidates should have good software/prototype design and development skills. Experience of carrying out user-centred research and collecting and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data is also desirable.
Research in Computer Science at Brunel is internationally recognised, ranked 5th in the UK in the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities and 1st in the UK for H-index (source NTU 2018). We have particular strengths in research into computing methodologies (Intelligent data analysis, artificial intelligence, simulation and modelling), software engineering, human centred computing (HCI and interactive multimedia systems) and digital economy (including IOT, trust, privacy and cyber security). Our research delivers creative computing solutions to industrial and societal challenges, with applications including healthcare, overseas development, education, ecology, finance and manufacturing.
Research journey
Doctoral research programmes (PhDs) take a proud place in the world-class research environment and community at Brunel. PhD students are recognised and valued by their supervisors as an essential part of their departments and a key component of the university's overall strategy to develop and deliver world-class research.
A PhD programme is expected to take 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, with intakes starting in January, April or October.
The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1) or an international equivalent. A Masters degree is a welcome, but not required, qualification for entry.
Find out how to apply for a PhD at Brunel
Research support
Excellent research support and training
The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme. The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.
Library services
Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.
Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.
Find out more: Brunel Library
Careers support
You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.
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