PhD, MPhil Computer & information sciences

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Research opportunities

You can study an MPhil over the course of one year or a PhD over the course of three years. Part-time study is also available.

You can study either option in any of our research groups:

Cybersecurity
Data Analytics, Software Systems and Interaction
Digital Health & Wellness Group
Strathclyde iSchool Research Group
Mathematically Structured Programming

Saudi Arabia programme

Female members of academic staff in some Saudi universities may be eligible to apply for PhD entry under our External Joint Supervision Programme. This allows for study to take place in Saudi Arabia with occasional student visits to Strathclyde. In the first instance, prospective applicants should contact the External Joint Supervision Programme administrators in their home institution as local university support is required.

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View our current research opportunities

THE Awards 2019: UK University of the Year Winner

Fees & funding

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Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year should be aware that tuition fees are revised annually and may increase in subsequent years of study. Annual increases will generally reflect UK inflation rates and increases to programme delivery costs.

2023/24

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Scotland	2023/24: £4,712 2022/23: £4,596
England, Wales & Northern Ireland	2023/24: £4,712 2022/23: £4,596
International	£19,900
Funding	Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information. You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.
Postgraduate research opportunities	Available postgraduate research opportunities: Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training: Energy-efficient indoor climate control for optimised health Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.
Additional costs	International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year.

Support & development

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Support & development

Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD)

As part of your PhD degree, you'll be enrolled on the Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD).

This certificate is designed to support you with your research and rewards you for things you'll do as a research student here.

It'll help you improve skills which are important to professional development and employability:

knowledge and intellectual abilities to conduct your research
personal qualities to succeed in your research and chosen career
standards, requirements and conduct of a professional researcher in your discipline
working with others and communicating the impact of your research to a wide range of audiences

All you have to do is plan these activities alongside your doctorate, documenting and reflecting your journey to success along the way.

Find out more about the PgCert RPD programme.

Careers

The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation.

Student support

From financial advice to our IT facilities, we have a wide range of support for all students here at Strathclyde. Get all the information you need at Strathlife.

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School provides a vibrant and comprehensive student-centred research and training environment in order to grow and support current and future research talent.

The School encompasses our four faculties and is committed to enriching the student experience, intensifying research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring training is at the highest level. As a postgraduate researcher, you'll automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

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Supervisors

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Supervisors

Research supervisors are assigned to you by the Department of Computer & Information Sciences. Let us know in your application who you'd like to work with, but the department will team you up with the best supervisor for your project.

Once we've received your application, your research proposal is passed to potential supervisors for consideration. If it's not compatible with the researcher's current projects and they are unable to supervise, it's passed along to another for consideration. If they can supervise you, they’ll confirm and nominate a potential second supervisor.

As soon as a second supervisor is confirmed, an offer will be sent to you through Pegasus, our online application system.

When you accept our offer of study, you'll receive a full offer in writing via the email address you'll have provided.

Name	Research methodologies & topics	Current PhD student topics
Dr Robert Atkey	formal analysis of programming languages via type theory, denotational semantics, and theorem provers	resource aware type theory
Dr Diane Pennington	data collection - data mining such as hashtags and comments or other online metadata, surveys, interviews, case studies. Analysis: descriptive/nonparametric statistics, discourse analysis, multimodal analysis, geospatial analysis, qualitative and quantitative content analysis.	social media for national libraries, online self-harm information on social media, academics' social media use, hashtags for information retrieval, mental health information access, credibility of tweets for dementia information, resource discovery in heterogeneous digital content environments.
Dr Leif Azzopardi	qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, mixed methods, data analytics, user studies, simulations, economic models.	conversational search agents, human agent interaction, neural and deep learning for information retrieval, search engine and algorithmic bias, search user interfaces, models of search and information behaviour, predictive analytics of user behaviour.
Dr Mark Dunlop	user-based research particularly in mobile and activity support, qualitative and quantitative usability studies, technology probe development, machine learning for interaction	investigating smart-app support for: speech therapy independent travel for people with Down's Syndrome medical consultation for people with mild learning difficulties people getting dialysis treatment

Our research

We research a wide range of areas including theoretical computer science, human-computer interaction, information sciences and software systems.

Our research projects are funded by a wide range of organisations including the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, the Arts & Humanities Research Council, the Economic & Social Research Council and the European Union.

Find out more about our research

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International students

We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 100 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.

Visit our international students' section

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Glasgow is Scotland's biggest & most cosmopolitan city

Our campus is based right in the very heart of Glasgow. We're in the city centre, next to the Merchant City, both of which are great locations for sightseeing, shopping and socialising alongside your studies.

Life in Glasgow

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Entry requirements

We look for a first-class or upper second-class UK Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in a computer sciences discipline from a recognised academic institution.

If English isn't your first language, you'll also need to have an IELTS score of 6.5 as proof of English proficiency.

The application

During the application you'll be asked for the following:

your full contact details
transcripts and certificates of all degrees
proof of English language proficiency if English is not your first language
two references, one of which must be academic
funding or scholarship information
research proposal of 250-1,000 words in length, detailing the subject area and topic to be investigated.

By filling these details out as fully as possible, you'll avoid any delay to your application being processed by the University.

Accepting an offer

Once you've accepted our offer, we'll need you to fulfil any academic, administrative or financial conditions that we ask.

UK or EU students

If you're applying as a UK or EU student, you'll then be issued with your registration documentation.

International students

An ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate is a mandatory requirement for some postgraduate students in science, engineering and technology.

Find out if you need an ATAS certificate.