Essa Khalil

Maynooth University is advertising a fully funded PhD scholarship in the Department of Computer Science for a project titled “Multimodal Learning for Abdominal X-ray Report Generation with Large Language Models.” The research sits at the intersection of computer science , medical science , biomedical engineering , deep learning , computer vision , and multimodal AI . The project is supervised by Dr Zi Ye with co-supervision from Dr Aidan Mooney . The research aims to build a clinically grounded abdominal X-ray image-report paired dataset, create a benchmark for evaluating medical report generation systems, and develop efficient multimodal approaches that improve visual grounding and alignment between images and generated clinical text. The topic is especially relevant for students interested in vision-language models , large language models , and AI for healthcare. Funding: the scholarship is fully funded for up to four years and includes full tuition fee support plus a €25,000 annual stipend . Eligibility highlights: applicants should have at least a 2.1 honours degree (or equivalent), or a relevant Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. A strong background in deep learning , solid foundations in computer vision , and proficiency in Python and PyTorch are required. Experience with multimodal large language models or vision-language tasks is desirable. Non-native English speakers must meet Maynooth University’s English language requirements. Application materials: personal statement, CV, research proposal (max 4,000 words), final academic transcripts, and contact details for two referees. Deadline: apply by 1 July 2026 at 5pm . Applications may be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early submission is recommended. How to apply: email the documents directly to [email protected] and use the subject line “Doctoral Scholarship - Department of Computer Science and FSE 2026” . The post also notes that a formal application through the university portal, MUApply , is required.