University of Exeter
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PhD Studentship: Improving Artificial Intelligence through Neuroscience University of Exeter in United Kingdom
Degree Level
PhD
Field of study
Biology
Funding
Available
Deadline
Dec 8, 2026
Country
United Kingdom
University
University of Exeter
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About this position
PhD Studentship at the University of Exeter: Improving Artificial Intelligence through Neuroscience
This PhD studentship explores how ideas from neuroscience can improve modern artificial intelligence, particularly deep neural networks. The project is based at the University of Exeter and is funded by the EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The research has two main themes. First, it investigates whether astrocyte-inspired regularisation can make deep networks simpler, more robust, and better able to generalise to unseen data. Astrocytes are brain cells that interact with neurons and may provide a biological model for constraints that improve learning and explanation in machine learning systems. Second, it examines how spontaneous retinal wave activity in early development could inspire better network initialisation and synaptic plasticity rules for deep networks. The aim is to test whether biologically informed initial weights help networks learn faster and require less training data.
The project sits at the interface of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, with a strong focus on deep learning, generalisation, robustness, and explainability. Students will likely develop and test computational models, implement biologically inspired training or initialisation rules, and evaluate their effects on learning efficiency, resilience to injury, and interpretability.
This studentship offers full fee funding and a stipend of £21,805 per annum for 2026/7. The application deadline is 08 December 2026. Interested candidates should apply through the University of Exeter funding page using the official application link.
Students with interests in deep learning, neuroscience, biologically inspired AI, and computational modelling may find this an excellent opportunity to contribute to more sustainable and explainable AI systems.
Funding details
Available
How to apply
Apply via the University of Exeter funding/application link provided. Review the project details and submit your application before the deadline. Use the official application page to confirm any required documents and eligibility steps.
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