Advancing precision digital therapeutics for brain health and wellbeing

The Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (Centre-UB) is inviting applications for a Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner MindMaze to start in October 2025.

Neurological rehabilitation and wellbeing in an ageing population faces a crucial challenge – the limited capacity and financial constraints within the NHS to deliver sustained, high-dose, and engaging training at scale. This requires the accelerated development and adoption of innovative, personalised and effective digitally assisted training and rehabilitation approaches, particularly those delivered in non-hospital environments and at home.

The overarching aim of this PhD studentship is to develop a toolkit for multimodal quantification of motor, cognitive, and lifestyle dimensions of such personalised interventions, and determine the effects of digital neurorehabilitation tools on brain states which underpin changes in behavioural change and performance.

This PhD project will focus on:

– Developing a comprehensive behaviour quantification toolkit: A multimodal digital toolkit will be created to measure motor, cognitive, and lifestyle dimensions in patients, alongside assessing caregivers’ and healthcare providers’ motivations and perceptions. Benchmarking will leverage datasets from ongoing international clinical trials supported by MindMaze and European hospital partners.

– Identifying the impact of digital interventions on cognitive and motor brain states related to behavioural performance: Using advanced neurorehabilitation tools, this project will study how short-term gamified, immersive interventions influence brain states and enhance behavioural performance. Neural markers, such as EEG oscillations, and detailed movement kinematics will be analysed to understand the mechanisms underpinning motor and cognitive recovery using digital interventions.

The cross-sector collaboration between the Centre for Human Brain Health, the Centre for Movement and Wellbeing at the University of Birmingham and MindMaze will inform evidence-based, personalised, and effective rehabilitation strategies for clinical and wellbeing settings, directly contributing to alleviating pressures on healthcare systems.

We are looking for a highly talented and dedicated PhD student with a 1st class or 2:1 degree in the field of Psychology, Neuroscience, Sport Science, Rehabilitation, Computer Science or a related discipline. An MSc degree in a relevant area is desirable though not necessary. Previous experience with movement analysis, cognitive assessments and/or EEG, is required. Experience with qualitative in addition to quantitative is desirable.

To be considered for this PhD, please follow the instructions here. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centre-ub/centre-ub-phd-studentships

Application deadline: 5 March 2025

Informal enquiries about the project prior to application can be directed to Associate Professors Dr Katja Kornysheva (k.kornysheva@bham.ac.uk) and/or Dr David Punt (t.d.punt@bham.ac.uk).

Funding notes:

Centre-UB studentships cover tuition fees, a maintenance stipend, support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Due to funding stipulations set by UKRI, we are able to recruit up to 30% of international applicants to the cohort each year. You can find further details https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centre-ub/centre-ub-phd-studentships