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University of Exeter
1 week ago
PhD Studentship: Simulating Person-specific Cognitive Processes from Expressive Behaviours for Mental Health Assessment University of Exeter in United Kingdom
Degree Level
PhD
Field of study
Computer Science
Funding
Available
Deadline
Aug 15, 2026
Country
United Kingdom
University
University of Exeter

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About this position
The University of Exeter’s Department of Computer Science is offering a funded PhD studentship on simulating person-specific cognitive processes from expressive behaviours for mental health assessment. The project is based in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy at the Streatham Campus and is due to start on 21 September 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.
This PhD sits at the intersection of computer science, AI, affective computing, multimodal machine learning and computational mental health. The research aims to develop personalised AI models that infer latent cognitive-response mechanisms from expressive behaviours such as facial expressions, speech, gaze, head movement, affective dynamics and interaction patterns. Rather than using these signals only as surface-level predictors, the project will build an individualised cognitive simulator and then use that simulated cognition to support inference about mental health states, symptom severity and temporal change.
The project is motivated by the limitations of traditional mental health assessment, which often relies on self-report questionnaires and clinical interviews. The student will investigate whether personalised cognitive mechanisms associated with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder can be modelled more robustly from expressive behaviour than from direct behaviour-to-label classification. Research directions include multimodal modelling, graph neural networks, transformers, hypernetworks, temporal modelling, fairness, privacy, uncertainty estimation and explainability. The expected outputs include personalised cognition simulation algorithms, benchmark comparisons with standard baselines, interpretable markers of cognitive-affective dysfunction and prototypes for non-invasive mental health monitoring.
The studentship is funded by the University Startup Package and supported by the University and the Department of Computer Science. For eligible students, it covers Home or International tuition fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £21,805 for 3.5 years full-time, or pro rata for part-time study.
Applicants are expected to have a background in computer science, AI, machine learning, affective computing, computational psychology or a closely related area, and strong programming skills are essential. This is a PhD studentship and is described as funded.
Applications should be submitted via the University of Exeter funding page before the 15 August 2026 deadline.
Funding details
Available
What's required
Candidates should have a background in computer science, AI, machine learning, affective computing, computational psychology or related areas. Strong programming skills are essential.
How to apply
Apply through the University of Exeter funding/application link provided. Review the full studentship details and submit the required application materials before the deadline. The project is due to start on 21 September 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.
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