Last Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Dr Theodoros Arvanitis

Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

About the Project

Hypothesis: realistic synthetic clinical data—data that looks real to a human observer and behaves like real data from a statistical perspective—can significantly accelerate the validation of AI-supported clinical workflows in simulated environments. Project Overview: This proposal aims to create and validate realistic synthetic clinical data for populating clinical information systems. The synthesised data will be used to simulate clinical workflows to validate digital health interventions, including AI-based solutions. The project will be executed in in three phases: Aim 1: Requirements Analysis and Method Exploration Objective: Establish the technical, statistical, and functional requirements for creating realistic synthetic clinical data. This phase will include a comprehensive exploration of existing data synthesis methodologies and current knowledge gaps. Aim 2: Development of Novel Synthesis Methods Objective: Develop novel data synthesis techniques that fulfil the requirements identified in Aim 1. These methods will focus on generating convincing and credible clinical data that closely mimics real-world patient information while preserving its statistical properties. Aim 3: Implementation and Validation Objective: Implement the newly developed synthesis methods, validating the accuracy and authenticity of the generated clinical data. This validation will be conducted using simulated clinical workflows within the Digital Health Validitron, ensuring the synthetic data’s fidelity to real-world scenarios.

This Joint PhD project will be primarily based at the University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at the University of Birmingham.

Supervisors: Prof Theodoros Arvanitis (University of Birmingham) and Assistant Professor Daniel Capurro Nario (University of Melbourne)

Eligibility Criteria

The entry requirements for the Birmingham/Melbourne Joint PhD are either:

An upper second-class four-year honours UK undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (or equivalent)

An MSc/MRes in a relevant subject

How to Apply

Applicants must make their application through the application portal. Applicants are encouraged to contact prospective supervisors informally to discuss the project. Please detail the supervisor and project title under the Research Information section of the application form. This project falls under “Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering”

Please note that applications will close once a suitable candidate is identified. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their application as early as possible.

Funding Notes

The successful applicant will receive a scholarship package which includes a tuition fee waiver, living allowance, health insurance, and relocation support. This Joint PhD programme between the University of Birmingham and the University of Melbourne is anticipated to start in September 2025. This project will be hosted by the University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at the University of Birmingham.