Improving access to graduate study
We are taking part in initiatives to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.
- Socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) and your contextual statement (if you choose to provide one) will be used as part of an initiative to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process.
- We recognise that the socio-economic data that we collect may not fully capture an individual student’s personal circumstances or educational trajectory, so if any of the criteria listed on the contextual statement form apply, we encourage you to submit a statement providing additional details on your personal circumstances, using the contextual statement form. Please note, this statement is in addition to completing the 'Extenuating circumstances’ section of the standard application form.
- Once academic shortlisting has taken place, we will use information on ethnicity as part of an initiative to ensure that applicants who identify as Black British are invited to interview.
Entry requirements
As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:
- a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics or a closely related subject.
However, entrance is very competitive and most successful applicants have a first-class degree or the equivalent.
For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum overall GPA that is normally required to meet the undergraduate-level requirement is 3.6 out of 4.0. However, most successful applicants have a GPA of 3.7.
If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.
This course requires proficiency in English at the University's higher level.
As part of the application form, candidates will be asked to upload:
- Official transcript(s)
- For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application
- Statement of purpose/personal statement
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A maximum of 1,200 words
Your statement should be written in English and should focus on your motivation, research interests and career ambitions in the area of the CDT, rather than on other personal achievements, interests and aspirations.
Your personal statement must be structured as follows, and answer each of the six questions in individual separate sections
Please be as specific and detailed as possible in your answers. If possible, please ensure that the word counts are clearly displayed on the document.
Please include the question as headings to each section. The question itself need not contribute towards the word count.
You may also use your personal statement to explain any special circumstances relating to any element of your application that you wish to bring to the attention of the assessors.
1. Give an overview of your academic education and professional career to date and how it led to an interest in conducting research in the fundamentals of AI? [250 words]
2. Describe a research project you have undertaken that involved the development of AI theory or methods. What was the problem you addressed? What was your contribution to the development of AI? Explain why an existing, off-the-shelf solution could not be used? [Up to 400 words]
3. Describe a situation where you once made a programming error. How did you discover the error? How did you trace the source of the error? And how was it resolved? [Up to 250 words]
4. What makes the FOAI CDT more appropriate to you than other options for doctoral study? [Up to 150 words]
5. How could your interests support one or more of the EIT themes? [Up to 150 words]
6. *If you are invited for interview, you will be asked to undertake some technical exercises. In order to help us determine appropriate questions for you, please tell us your current primary area of interest by selecting one option (ONLY) from the following: Foundations - Applied - Systems
Definitions:
Foundations. Researchers in this domain are primarily focused on deep mathematical analysis for the development and further understanding of concepts that have potential broad application to AI such as learning theory, optimisation and stochastic analysis. They may also undertake mathematical analysis of AI methods whose utility have been demonstrated through empirical studies but where theoretical insight has been absent.
Applied. Researchers in this domain are inspired by real-world problems and will focus on developing substantial modifications of foundational concepts to match the particular needs of applications examining issues such as multimodal data integration, missing data, experimental design and causality. They may consider existing heuristically designed AI methods that have demonstrated high performance in applications and reformulate using foundational concepts to improve and extend the use of these approaches.
Systems. Researchers in this domain are concerned with the design, deployment and/or maintenance of large scale AI systems. They could apply formal analysis to understand the properties of such AI systems or substantially adapt and develop foundational concepts to assist in the design of better systems. Research may address topics such as scalability, resource use, safety and algorithmic fairness.
*Please note that your response is only to help guide us with the interview process and does not commit you to this area if you were accepted on to the CDT programme.
- You will also need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course.
