PhD Admissions
We are keen to hear from aspiring PhD candidates with outstanding academic records. If you fulfill our academic and English language requirements (see below), you are encouraged to contact our director, Dr Panagiotis Angeloudis, for a preliminary discussion.
We also recommend reviewing the general admission information provided on the central College website.
How do you assess PhD applications?
We assess new applications based on the following three criteria:
- Academic achievement: Successful applicants will hold a first-class or distinction Master’s degree in an engineering discipline or non-UK equivalent.
- English language skills: International applicants should meet our minimum English Language requirements, as outlined here.
- Alignment of research interests: Your research interests should closely align with our research portfolio and current research priorities.
What are your current research priority areas?
A non-exhaustive list of topics that we are currently interested in is as follows:
- Cooperative control of autonomous vehicle swarms
- Applications of Generative AI in transport operations
- Collaboration, coordination and competition if last-mile urban delivery
- Autonomous technologies in shipping
- Energy efficiency of autonomous transport technologies
- Safety and resilience of autonomous transport operations
- Autonomous freight transport operations
Our list of recent publications might provide you with further ideas regarding potential research topics that are currently of interest to our group.
Please refer to this page for the minimum admission requirements used at Imperial College London. We expect successful candidates to possess a first-class Master’s-level degree (or non-UK equivalent).
Do you have any scholarships?
A variety of scholarships are available, and further information on key dates and eligibility requirements can be found at the following links:
- College-wide scholarships are listed here.
- Scholarships offered by the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering are advertised here.
Update April 2023: All internal PhD scholarship schemes are now closed. Any prospective applicants who require funding are encouraged to monitor the above pages for apportunities linked to entry in October 2024.
Please keep in mind that these programs are highly competitive, and we will only nominate applicants who graduated with summa cum laude honors (top 1-3% of their year). Many of our students also receive funding through scholarship schemes from their home countries—please inform us if you have identified such a scheme.
When should I submit my application?
Due to the limited number of PhD positions available in our group each year, we strongly encourage potential applicants to submit their applications as early as possible.
Additionally, if you wish to be considered for any internal scholarships, please consult the relevant pages for specific deadlines that may apply.
More:
How long will it take until I receive a response to my application?
The processing time for submitted PhD applications is approximately three months.
If my application is accepted, when would my studies begin?
Although PhD students can commence their studies at any time, our preference is for a start date in early October, which would coincide with most induction courses and welcome events.
How should I structure my research statement?
Should you decide to proceed with an application, please make sure that you include a personal statement that is 2-3 pages long and follows the structure below:
- A summary of the research topics that excite you.
- A section on your thoughts on how you endeavour to fill existing gaps in knowledge.
- Overview of your academic background, highlighting previous GPAs, awards, and graduation rank.
- Summary of any prior research outputs (i.e. dissertations, research placements).
- Brief literature survey that covers recent developments in your area of interest.
Postdocs and Fellowships
We do not currently have direct funding available for postdocs and research fellows. However, if you would like to propose a collaboration based on an externally-funded post-doctoral scholarship, please get in touch.
Some indicative schemes within the remit of our research are:
UROP and Internships
We welcome applications for summer internships from students currently studying towards an undergraduate engineering, mathematics or computer science degree in the United Kingdom.
For further information, please refer to the homepage of our UROP Programme, and register your interest with Dr Panagiotis Angeloudis by the beginning of the Spring Term.