Program Overview

Overview

The University of Portsmouth offers postgraduate research degrees in Computing, allowing students to explore various research areas and contribute to the field. The university is ranked 5th among modern universities for research quality in computer science and informatics (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Research Degrees

PhD and MPhil Projects

The university offers pre-approved funded and self-funded PhD projects in Computing. Students can also submit their own research idea and find a supervisor whose research interests match theirs.

Funded Projects

There are currently no funded PhD projects available in this area. However, students can explore funding options on the university's website.

Self-Funded Projects

A list of self-funded PhD projects is available, including:

• A Novel Framework for Robot Training and Tutoring Using Natural Language
• AI applications in Health Technologies
• AI-Driven Analysis of Online Misogyny
• Air Quality Assessment and Decarbonization Modeling for Portsmouth International Port: Utilising Environmental Drones and Digital Twins
• Ambient Assisted Living Technologies
• Analytics Theory and Applications for Teaching Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Best practice on design of personal health records: Practitioners perspectives and experiences on improving quality of care
• Blocks-based environments for learning programming in text-based languages
• Classifications of Evidence in the SpiderNet
• Clinical data science
• Computer Vision for Ambient Assisted Living
• Data fusion and multimodal learning for Ambient Assisted Living
• Decision support for public security using explainable artificial intelligence
• Deep Learning Models for Health Informatics
• Developing UK energy portfolio strategy using Machine Learning modelling
• Development of a framework for IoT Forensics
• Development of AI technologies to identify ocular disease
• Edge Computing for Ambient Assisted Living
• Enhancing Text Mining through Advanced AI and Machine Learning Techniques for Knowledge Discovery
• Exploit Learning Related Emotion to Improve students Engagement and Motivation in Higher Education
• Human-Robot Collaboration for Agile Logistics and Warehouse Operations
• Improving student retention: identifying at risk students at very early stages using machine learning
• Integrated AI framework for grasp and manipulation of intelligent robots
• Intelligent Human-Robot Interaction for Rehabilitation
• Intelligent sensing and control of a novel rehabilitation robot
• Intrusion Prevention utilising Generative AI
• Machine learning approach to identifying side channel attacks on cloud computer systems
• Machine Learning Framework for Classification of Celestial Objects in Huge Datasets of Multi-spectrum Sky Survey
• Multi-Modal Interaction for Improved Human-Robot Collaboration
• Multi-modal Intelligent Sensing and Recognition for Human-Robot Interaction collaboration
• Optimising Human-Robot Teaming in Healthcare Assistance
• Outcome and Mortality Prediction in Intensive Care Units using Machine Learning
• Predicting Psychosis Journeys: A Data-Driven Approach with Predictive Modeling
• Quantum Machine Learning to Secure Internet of Medical Things
• Real-time Efficient On-road Obstacle Detection Using Fusion of Optical Imagery and Lidar Cloud Points on Edge in Autonomous Vehicles
• Real-time Efficient Small Object Detectors On UAV-based (Drone) images Using Neural Architecture Search (NAS) for Surveillance and Security applications
• Reinforcement-based Security Solution in Software-defined Intrusion Detection System
• Robust Realtime Lightweight Fruit Disease Detection on Small-Form Platform Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Optical Imagery
• Scalable Transfer Learning in Heterogeneous, Dynamic Environments for Robotic Arm
• Security Challenges and Solutions in Modern Transportation Networks
• Self-adaptive machine learning methods for outcome prediction in real-world complex datasets
• Self-learning for computer vision asset management
• Semantic Identification of objects of interest using Convoluted Neural Networks
• Skill Learning Framework for Human–Robot Interaction and Manipulation Tasks
• Smart Digital Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Prediction using Machine Learning and AI
• Smart Energy and Performance Optimisation Framework for Modern Computing Platforms Using Deep Learning and Data Analytics
• Split Learning for Malware Detection
• Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Computing through Deep Learning and Data Analytics
• Sustainable and Robust Federated Learning for Cyber threats Detection in 5G Networks
• Strategic aspects of blockchain technologies
• Technology enabled abuse in the context of domestic violence
• The problem of anonymisation on graph data
• Understanding the barriers to M-Health adoption in older people

Submit Your Own Idea

Students can submit their own research idea and find a supervisor whose research interests match theirs.

PhD by Publication

A PhD by publication is a postgraduate research degree based on research already undertaken and published (excluding self-publishing) before registering with the university.

Duration, Fees, and Funding

What Do My Tuition Fees Cover?

Tuition fees cover the cost of the postgraduate research programme, including registration, tuition, supervision, and examinations.

How Long Will My Research Degree Take?

• MPhil: 2 years full-time, 4 years part-time
• PhD: 3 years full-time, 6 years part-time
• PhD by Publication: 1 year part-time

How Much Will My Degree Cost?

• PhD and MPhil:
  • UK, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man students: £4,786 per year (full-time), £2,393 per year (part-time)
  • EU students: £4,786 per year (full-time), £2,393 per year (part-time)
  • International students: £19,200 per year (full-time), £9,600 per year (part-time)
• PhD by Publication: £4,786 (external candidates), £1,950 (members of staff)

Funding Support

MPhil full-time and part-time courses are eligible for the Government Postgraduate Loan (UK/EU students only). PhD full-time and part-time courses are eligible for the Government Doctoral Loan (UK/EU students only).

Entry Requirements

• Upper second-class honours degree or equivalent in a relevant subject or a master's degree in an appropriate subject
• Exceptionally, equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications will be considered
• All applicants are subject to interview
• English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0

Support and Facilities

• Doctoral College support
• Supervisory team
• High-tech laboratories with the latest technology
• Multimedia studios
• Large-scale 3D immersive Virtual Reality room
• Advanced motion capture facilities
• Advanced interface devices including haptic feedback and EMG sensors

What Can a Postgraduate Research Degree Do for My Career?

A postgraduate research degree demonstrates to potential employers that you are an intelligent, capable, and motivated person with provable abilities and experience in critical thinking, problem-solving, project management, communication, leadership, and creativity.

Research Areas

• Cyber Security
• Systems and Information Systems
• Health Informatics

Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) Short Course

The university offers a Cisco Networking Academy, where students can learn to design, implement, and manage networks of computing devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) for various applications.