Personal statement

David Li is a Reader in Optoelectronics at the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He received his PhD in electrical engineering from the National Taiwan University. He then joined the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan, as an R&D engineer working on 1.25-12.5Gbps optical communication chipsets and wireless communication IP, knowledge transfer, and international joint projects (with Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA).

From 2007 to 2011, he worked at the Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, University of Edinburgh, on the European projects "MEGAFRAME" and "METOXIA" for CMOS single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) based fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) cameras and analogue front-end circuits. He has invented several hardware-embedded imaging processors, which resulted in the first video-rate FLIM imaging on CMOS SPAD arrays.

In January 2014, he joined the Centre for Biophotonics, SIPBS, after his first lecturing position in biomedical engineering and embedded systems at the School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex (where he led a research team working on industry-funded projects).

His current research activities include the development of time-resolved imaging and spectroscopy systems for biomedical applications, fluorescence-based sensing systems, digital signal processing, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence-enhanced image analysis. He has been working with researchers within the UK and overseas, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, China, the USA, and Taiwan.

Please also check https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=UFE7FyIAAAAJ.

David would be delighted to collaborate with colleagues or hear from potential PhD candidates interested in exploring any aspect of imaging/sensing and biomedical instrumentation research.

Teaching:

BE905: Biosignal Processing and Analysis (Spring)

BE908: Biomedical Instrumentation (Autumn)

Available PhD/EngD positions:

One 3-year PhD studentship in fast imaging techniques for blood flow measurements (starting as soon as possible from 2026).

One 4-year EPSRC Applied Photonics EngD studentship (from September 2026)

Project Title: Quantum-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for advanced molecular sensing

https://cdtphotonics.hw.ac.uk/project/quantum-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy-for-advanced-molecular-sensing/

Candidates interested in these projects could send CVs and transcripts to him for further discussion.

Other funding opportunities for post-graduate students, postdoc researchers and visiting scholars:

China Scholarship Council: http://en.csc.edu.cn/ (for students in China) 

Commonwealth Scholarships: http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk 

EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowships: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/

Newton Fellowships: http://www.newtonfellowships.org 

Royal Society Newton Mobility Grant: https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/newton-mobility-grants/ 

Royal Academy of Engineering Newton Mobility Grant: http://www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and-prizes/international-research-and-collaborations/newton-fund-programmes/newton-research-collaboration-programme