The Institute for Bioengineering (IBioE) connects Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biology and Medicine, for innovative diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical devices and technologies.
Research themes include:
Synthetic Biology - to design and construct (e.g. to ‘engineer’) biological devices and systems, often at cellular level. Applications range from therapeutic to environmental.
Tissue Engineering - the production of 3D or 2D scaffolds or guidance cues for biological cells. Applications are largely therapeutic and also include new forms of lab-on-chip technology.
Biomedical Modelling and Measurement - understanding biological materials through modelling and measurement for applications in, for example, prosthetics, prediction of failure in blood vessels and the behaviour of bone with ageing. We also study the behaviour of biological materials experimentally and in most cases, non-invasively (e.g. via Raman and CARS spectroscopy).
Biomedical Devices and Sensors - working with colleagues in chemistry, we develop sensors on silicon for simple biological parameters (e.g. oxygen concentration) along with sensors of specific biomarkers of disease and therapy.
The development of transferable skills is a vital part of postgraduate training and a vibrant, interdisciplinary training programme is offered to all research students by the University’s Institute for Academic Development (IAD). The programme concentrates on the professional development of postgraduates, providing courses directly linked to postgraduate study.
Courses run by the IAD are free and have been designed to be as flexible as possible so that you can tailor the content and timing to your own requirements.
Our researchers are strongly encouraged to present their research at conferences and in journal during the course of their PhD.
Every year, the Graduate School organises a Postgraduate Research Conference to showcase the research carried out by students across the Research Institutes
Our researchers are also encouraged and supported to attend transferable skills courses provided by organisations such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Robots have the potential to revolutionise society and the economy, working for us, beside us, and interacting with us. This EPSRC-sponsored programme will produce graduates with the technical skills and industry awareness to create an innovation pipeline from academic research to global markets.
The robotics and autonomous systems area has been highlighted by the UK Government in 2013 as one of the eight Great Technologies that underpin the UK's Industrial Strategy for jobs and growth. Key application areas include manufacturing, assistive and medical robots, offshore energy, environmental monitoring, search and rescue, defence, and support for the ageing population.
The University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University are jointly offering this innovative four-year PhD training programme, which combines a strong general grounding in current theory, methods and applications with flexibility for individualised study and a specialised PhD project.
Robotics and autonomous systems are increasingly studied beyond the range of classical engineering. Today robots represent one of the main areas of application of computer science and provide challenges for mathematics and natural science.
It is impossible to imagine transportation, warehousing, safety systems, space and marine exploration, prosthetics, and many other areas of industry, technology and science without robots. Robots are used in theoretical biology and the neurosciences as a model of behaviour.
Areas of interest specific to the center include: movement control, planning, decision making, bio- and neurorobotics, human-robot interaction, healthcare applications, robot soccer, neuroprosthetics, underwater robotics, bipedal walking, service robots, robotic co-workers, computer vision, speech processing, computer animation realistic simulations, and machine learning.
Many more topics can be found be exploring the Centre’s web pages, particularly the personal web pages of the Centre supervisors:
Our four-year PhD programme combines Masters level coursework and project work with independent PhD-level research.
In the first year, you will undertake four or five masters level courses, spread throughout robotics, machine learning, computational neuroscience, computer architectures, statistics, optimization, sensorics, dynamics, mechanics, image processing, signal processing, modelling, animation, artificial intelligence, and related areas. You will also undertake a significant introductory research project. (Students with previous masters-level work in these areas may request to take less courses and a larger project.)
At the end of the first year, successful students will be awarded an MSc by Research by the University of Edinburgh. From this basis, the subsequent three years will be spent developing and pursuing a PhD research project, under the close supervision of your primary and secondary supervisors. The PhD will be awarded jointly by the University of Edinburgh and the Heriot-Watt University.
You will have opportunities for three to six month internships with leading companies in your area, and to participate in our industrial engagement programme, exchanging ideas and challenges with our sponsor companies.
Throughout your studies, you will participate in our regular programmes of seminars, short talks and brainstorming sessions, and benefit from our pastoral mentoring schemes.
Our user partners in industry include companies working in offshore energy, environmental monitoring, defence, assisted living, transport, advanced manufacturing and education. They will provide the real world context for research, as well as opportunities for reciprocal secondments, internships and involvement in our industrial engagement programme.
The School of Informatics holds a Silver Athena SWAN award, in recognition of our commitment to advance the representation of women in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. The School is deploying a range of strategies to help female staff and students of all stages in their careers and we seek regular feedback from our research community on our performance.
You will have access to the outstanding facilities in the Edinburgh Robotarium, a national facility for research into robot interaction, supporting the research of more than 50 world-leading investigators from 17 cross-disciplinary research groups.
Research groups at the Edinburgh Robotarium include humanoid movement control, underwater, land and airborne autonomous vehicles, human robot interaction, bio- and neuro-robotics, and planning and decision making in multirobot scenarios.
In addition, our research groups contain a diverse range of compute clusters for compute and data-intensive work, including a large cluster hosted by the Edinburgh Compute and Data Facility.
Our aim is to produce innovation-ready graduates who are skilled in the principles of technical and commercial disruption and who understand how finance and organisation realise new products in start-up, SME and corporate situations.
We intend for our graduates to become leaders in the globally emerging market for autonomous and robotic systems that reduce risk, reduce cost, increase profit and protect the environment. This vision is shared by our industrial supporters, whose support for our internship programme indicates their strong desire to find highly qualified new employees.
Our component research groups already have excellent track-records in post-graduation destinations, including the research labs of industry-leading companies, and post-doctoral research positions in top tier universities.
The Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour (IPAB) focuses on how to link computational perception, representation, transformation and generation processes to external worlds, in theory and in practice.
This covers domains such as visual perception, dynamic control of robot systems, active sensing and decision making, biomimetic robotics, computer-based generation of external phenomena, such as images, music or actions, and agent-based interaction within computer games and animation.
Supported by the dynamic research culture of IPAB, you can develop robots that learn their own motor control, mimic animal behaviours, or produce autonomous and coordinated team actions. Or you can work with systems that interpret real images and video, or generate complex behaviour in animated characters.
We aim to link strong theoretical perspectives with practical hands-on construction, and provide the hardware and software support to realise this vision.
You carry out your research within a research group under the guidance of a supervisor. You will be expected to attend seminars and meetings of relevant research groups and may also attend lectures that are relevant to your research topic. Periodic reviews of your progress will be conducted to assist with research planning.
A programme of transferable skills courses facilitates broader professional development in a wide range of topics, from writing and presentation skills to entrepreneurship and career strategies.
The School of Informatics holds a Silver Athena SWAN award, in recognition of our commitment to advance the representation of women in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. The School is deploying a range of strategies to help female staff and students of all stages in their careers and we seek regular feedback from our research community on our performance.
Our robotics labs contain a range of mobile platforms, robot manipulators, humanoid robots, and custom-built sensor and actuation systems that attract continuous interest from funders, industry and members of the public.
Recent developments include the UK's only NASA Valkyrie robot platform, application of robotic hardware to prosthetics and assisted living, and a team that competes in the international robot soccer league.
Our new Edinburgh Centre for Robotics (ECR) brings collaboration with Heriot-Watt University to expand the range of facilities and applications we can explore, and to fund research training.
The machine vision lab has facilities for 3D range data capture, motion capture and high-resolution and high-speed video, and the high performance computing needed for graphics is well supported, including hardware partnerships with companies such as NVIDIA.
While many of our graduates go on to highly successful academic careers, others find their niche in commercial research labs, putting their knowledge and skills to use in an industry setting.
Several of our recent graduates have set up or joined spin-out robotics companies. Our graphics researchers have strong connections to the media and games industries.
This is a unique podiatry programme at master’s level leading to Health and Care Profession Council registration. Currently the only programme in the UK.
This is a 3 year full-time programme in which you will be developing practical skills with patients from the first semester (in the University in-house clinics) and then on placement within health services in subsequent years. The placements will be in wide variety of specialisms and you will be supervised by experienced and specialist podiatrists. Aligned with this is the academic component of acquisition of knowledge, the development of critical enquiry, research and application of research into practice. You will be taught by national and internationally recognised academics who are subject specialists. You will also have the opportunity to be involved in the Foot and Ankle Research Programme, led by Professor Chris Nester. You will be taught by and have opportunity to work with senior post-doctoral researchers who, have published in peer reviewed journals and written books aligned to the profession. You will be supported by academic, personal tutors and placement supervisors in the development of skills for critical reflection in order to ensure ongoing professional and personal development, and enhance employability.
Please note: For applications for entry in September 2017 or later, it is likely there will be changes to the funding of fees and a bursary may no longer be available.
This non-standard 3 year full time programme will provide you with a master’s level academic qualification together with a professional practice qualification, which is a pre-requisite for registration to the Health and Care Professions Council. It will provide you with the knowledge, skills and attributes to become leaders in the podiatry profession with research and/or the clinical roles.
The ethos of the programme is to enhance:
Theoretical components
Practical components
Podiatry clinic
Our podiatry clinic adds a cutting-edge to your training, as well as providing a valuable asset to the local community.
The clinic includes:
Clinical gait analysis and research facility
This laboratory was part of a £1.5 million renovation of the podiatry clinical education and research spaces. The laboratory hosts the Salford Gait Analysis Service which provides quantitative gait analysis and consultation services for four National Health Service Trusts in the Manchester area.
The service supports the care of children with cerebral palsy by enabling assessment of their gait to input to their care pathways. We also offer gait and human movement assessment related to amputees, neuromuscular disorders (such as stroke) and a range of orthopaedics disorders.
The equipment includes:
Human movement laboratory
This is the original gait laboratory within the University, and is located adjacent to the prosthetics and orthotics clinical suite and technical workshops.
This lab is used for research, clinical and educational work and has:
Currently, BSc (Hons) students work within NHS services or the independent sector.
With this new programme it is anticipated that in addition to the above, the students will increase their employability in these areas and also increase their career progression. It is also anticipated that students may subsequently want to continue in education to complete PhD studies or to gain employment in the commercial sector.
NHS clinical services/ commercial organisations aligned to podiatry for placements, career advice and mentorship.
PhD in the Foot and Ankle research programme – Health Sciences
