PhD Studentship: Agentic AI Ensemble Systems for Real-World Reliability
[Funding comprises ‘Home’ tuition fees, an annual tax-free maintenance stipend (2026/27 rate £20,408) for a maximum of 3 years, and £2,000 per annum to support research training activities.]
This PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia focuses on developing agentic AI ensemble systems for real-world reliability. The project, supervised by Professor Wenjia Wang, addresses the challenges faced by large language model-based autonomous agents, such as hallucinations, logical inconsistencies, and brittleness in complex workflows. The research aims to create a robust Multi-Agent Ensemble Framework that enhances accuracy and reliability through collaborative intelligence.
Key objectives include the development of adversarial debate protocols, dynamic role allocation based on real-time performance metrics, and integration of human-in-the-loop triggers to ensure dependable outputs. The project will investigate various agent architectures, foundation models, tool-use capabilities, and employ Reinforcement Learning from Operational Feedback (RLOF) to fine-tune coordination logic. Evaluation will involve stress-testing the system against non-stationary, real-world datasets from domains such as healthcare, agriculture, environmental science, and finance.
The School of Computing Sciences at UEA offers a vibrant research environment, collaborating with multinational companies and research institutes, and is a member of the Turing University Network. The successful candidate will also contribute to laboratory support activities for BSc and MSc courses in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Computing Sciences.
Funding is available for ‘Home’ tuition fees, an annual tax-free maintenance stipend (£20,408 for 2026/27) for up to 3 years, and £2,000 per annum for research training activities. The minimum entry requirement is a 2:1 degree in Computer Science or a related subject. The position is full-time, starting 1 October 2026. Applications should be submitted online via the UEA postgraduate research portal by 18 June 2026.
