Join the van der Schaar Lab

Applications are now open for a fully funded joint PhD opportunity co-supervised by Prof. Mihaela van der Schaar and Prof. Jonathan Schwarz. To find out more and learn about the next steps in the application process, please visit the Frontier AI Research Lab’s PhD admissions page.

Please note that general PhD applications to the van der Schaar Lab are not currently open. Applications for candidates seeking to start in October 2027 will open in Sep/Oct 2026.

We are looking for:
leaders who want to realize their full potential and shape the future of machine learning
explorers who think boldly and prefer pushing boundaries to sitting still
builders who see projects through to completion and want to make a real-world impact

1. Fully funded
All positions are fully funded for 4 years, thanks to the our sponsors. Funding covers both home and international fees in addition to living costs/stipend.

2. World-leading research and tuition
Mihaela van der Schaar is one of the foremost names in machine learning, and the University of Cambridge is the absolute pinnacle of academia.

We’re a small group with under 20 researchers, but we punch well above our weight. Our lab has had 32 papers accepted at the four largest AI and machine learning conferences (NeurIPS, AISTATS, ICLR, and ICML) in the last year alone.

3. Freedom to think big and explore
We are creating new frontiers in machine learning. Despite our primary focus on medicine, we produce ground-breaking work across an enormous range of machine learning sub-fields – including generative AI, deep learning, AutoML, time-series analysis, reinforcement learning, and many more.

This breadth of expertise is a product of our exceptional academic diversity: among our researchers, we have computer scientists, engineers, applied mathematicians, statisticians, econometricians, and physicists.

4. Projects with a purpose; work that can change the world
Our research projects are targeted and practical. Our mission is to apply machine learning to real-world problems in healthcare, and our goal is nothing short of a revolution in medicine.

5. Unmatched prospects
Employers know that our lab only takes the best and brightest. When you graduate,  you won’t need to settle: our alumni around the world have become leaders in their fields, with some continuing to full professorships and others joining top private-sector teams including DeepMind, Intel, Qualcomm and Apple.

Applications are now open for a fully funded joint PhD opportunity. This will be a PhD position in AI for Bio-Science, Foundational Models, Next-Generation AI Agent, Creativity in AI.

The Thomson Reuters-Imperial Frontier AI Research Lab welcomes applications from exceptional candidates for a fully funded PhD under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Schwarz, with external supervision from Professor Mihaela van der Schaar. Successful candidates will be based at Imperial’s Department of Computing, and will also receive supervision from a member of the department’s academic staff. 

To find out more and learn about the next steps in the application process, please visit the Frontier AI Research Lab’s PhD admissions page.

Please note that all candidates who apply will need to meet Imperial and the Department of Computing’s admission criteria, and supervision arrangements are confirmed upon funding offers. Full admission criteria can be found in the Department of Computing’s PhD application guidelines.

Please note that general PhD applications to the van der Schaar Lab are not currently open. Applications for candidates seeking to start in October 2027 will open in Sep/Oct 2026.

Admission is competitive, and successful candidates will need to meet all eligibility requirements.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Excellent mathematical background, ideally with prior experience in machine learning. No knowledge of medicine or biology is required.
• Undergraduate degree with top grades from world-leading academic institutions – equivalent to a UK first-class degree with honours (or predicted to achieve), in a subject with a strong quantitative component (e.g. engineering, comp sci, mathematics, economics etc.).
• Master’s degree (or equivalent research/work experience) preferred.

The lab views diversity of all kinds as a crucial source of strength and creativity. We welcome applications from candidates of diverse nationalities, academic specialisations, and professional backgrounds. This is reflected in the composition of the broader research team.

Please contact us using the form below, uploading your resume/CV and providing links to any relevant publications, reports or code if these are available.

We will make every effort to review your application, but this may take time due to the volume of applications and internal review requirements.

Please note that we will only contact you if we plan to follow up (i.e. request further information or invite you to interview). Additionally, note that you do not need to submit your information via the University of Cambridge’s website unless we have contacted you to follow up on your application.