Postgraduate Applications

PhD applications in signal processing and communications are welcome at all times from highly qualified individuals. 

Entry to the group is very competitive, and decisions can only be made after we have received a formal application from you, including academic references. If you make contact with an individual faculty member prior to submitting a formal application please include a full CV with details on your academic record. Information on the application procedure including deadlines for funding applications can be found on the University’s central Graduate Admissions pages.

We encourage applications from outstanding candidates with academic backgrounds in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering and related fields, and a keen interest in doing basic research in machine learning and its scientific applications.

The typical duration of the PhD will be four years.

Applicants must formally apply through the Applicant Portal at the University of Cambridge by the deadline, indicating “PhD in Engineering” as the course . Applicants that want to apply for University funding need to reply ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Apply for Cambridge Scholarships’. See http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk /students/gradadmissions/prosp ec/apply/deadlines.html for details. Note that applications will not be complete until all the required material has been uploaded (including reference letters) and we will not be able to see any application until that happens.

Gates funding applicants (US or other overseas) need to fill out the dedicated Gates Cambridge Scholarships section later on the form which is sent on to the administrators of Gates funding.

Deadline for PhD Application:

Applications from outstanding individuals may be considered after this time, but applying later may adversely impact your chances for both admission and funding.

Further information about completing the admissions forms:

We will assess your application on three criteria:

  1. Academic performance (make sure to ensure evidence for strong academic achievement e.g. position in year, awards etc.)
  2. references (clearly your references will need to be strong, they should also mention evidence of excellence as quotes will be drawn from them)
  3. research (detail your research experience, especially that which relates to machine learning)

You will also need to put together a research proposal. We do not offer individual support for this. It is part of the application assessment, i.e. ascertaining whether you can write about a research area in a sensible way and pose interesting questions. It is not a commitment to what you will work on during your PhD. Most often PhD topics crystallise over the first year. The research proposal should be about 2 pages long and can be attached to your application (you can indicate that your proposal is attached in the 1500 character count Research Summary box). This aspect of the application does not carry a huge amount of weight so do not spend a large amount of time on it. Please also attach a recent CV to your application too.

Do you have funding?

There are a number of funding sources at Cambridge University for PhD students, including for international students. All our students receive partial or full funding for the full three years of the PhD. We do not give preference to “self-funded” students. To be eligible for funding it is important to apply early (see https://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/funding. Also make sure you tick the box on the application saying you wish to be considered for funding!

Do I have to contact one of the faculty members first or can I apply formally directly?

It is not necessary, but if you have doubts about whether your background is suitable for the programme, or if you have questions about the group, you are welcome to contact one of the faculty members directly. Due to their high email volume you may not receive an immediate response but they will endeavour to get back to you as quickly as possible. It is important to make your official application to Graduate Admissions at Cambridge before the funding deadlines, even if you don’t hear back from us; otherwise we may not be able to consider you.

Do you take Masters students, or part-time PhD students?

We generally don’t admit students for a part-time PhD. We also don’t usually admit students just for a pure-research Masters in machine learning , except for specific programs such as the Churchill and Marshall scholarships. However, please do note that we run a one-year taught Master’s Programme: The MPhil in Machine Learning, and Machine Intelligence. You are welcome to apply directly to this.