Research profile
Research at Brunel on Biomedical Engineering is addressing unmet needs in health through innovative technology. Health provision is increasingly dependent on technology and the most successful solutions are derived both from strong technical and clinical principles and evidence in the context of health delivery in practice.
Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.
Learn more about research in this area.
Browse the work of subject-relevant research groups
- Aerospace Research Centre
- Assessment of Structures and Materials under Extreme Conditions
- Biomedical Engineering
- Brunel Partners Academic Centre for Health Sciences
- Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research Group
- Circular Metals
- Digital Manufacturing
- Equitable Development and Resilience
- Health Effects of Radiological and Chemical Agents
- Liquid Metal Engineering Hub
- National Structural Integrity Research Centre
- Non-traditional Manufacturing Technologies
- Organ-on-a-Chip
- Pollution Research and Policy
- Quality Engineering and Smart Technology
- Robotics and Automation
- Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains
- Two Phase Flow and Heat Transfer
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Find a supervisor
Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team.
You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.
PhD topics
While we welcome applications from students with a clear direction for their research, we are providing you with some ideas for your chosen field of research:
- Additive manufacturing and sustainability, supervised by Eujin Pei
- Ageing-related pre-mRNA splicing of LMNA gene, supervised by Evgeny Makarov
- AI (Artificial Intelligence) enabled autonomous robots for non-disruptive inspection of utility and sewage systems, supervised by Md Nazmul Huda
- Antimicrobial resistance in marine mammals (seals) from polluted waters, supervised by Gera Troisi and Ashley Houlden
- Automatic computational fluid-dynamics, supervised by James Tyacke
- Budding yeast as a model for sudden cardiac death, supervised by Thomas Hofken
- Central Nervous system Gene therapy to treat obesity Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS). Analysis of the BBS brain development, supervised by Victor Hernandez
- CFD modelling of plasma flow control, supervised by James Tyacke
- Crystal Plasticity Modelling of Hexagonal Closed-Pack (HCP) Materials for Manufacturing, supervised by Rui Ramos Cardoso
- Deep Learning for Medical Imaging, supervised by Yongmin Li
- Deep learning-based autonomous diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract cancers, supervised by Md Nazmul Huda
- Developing a device for marine life and water quality monitoring, supervised by Gera Troisi
- Development of a miniature capsule robot for capsule endoscopy, supervised by Md Nazmul Huda
- Development of a novel PCR-based assay to evaluate CAR-T safety using a human-based genotoxicity model, supervised by Michael Themis
- Development of an Optical Shape Sensing Method Using Optoelectronic Sensors for Soft Flexible Robotic Manipulators in Minimally Invasive Surgery, supervised by Yohan Noh
- Differential expression patterns and transport characteristics of aged cells, supervised by Gudrun Stenbeck
- Fracture assessment of large-scale structural components, supervised by Marius Gintalas
- Genetic and non-genetic factors involved in risk of cardiovascular diseases, supervised by Raha Pazoki
- Health data analysis to identify the role of gene and environment in risk of cardiovascular diseases, supervised by Raha Pazoki
- Hypoxia-driven macrophage modulation in cancer and its impact on T cell immunotherapy, supervised by Doreen Lau
- Identification of determinants of sudden cardiac death and arrhythmias using population studies, supervised by Raha Pazoki
- Individual histone modification roles in regulation of transcription and cell decision-making, supervised by Cristina Correia Antunes Pina
- Investigating molecular disease mechanisms and therapy of Friedreich ataxia, supervised by Sara Anjomani Virmouni
- Investigating the function of common genetic variants that increase colorectal cancer risk., supervised by Annabelle Lewis
- Investigating Therapeutic Effect of Different Antioxidants in Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA), supervised by Sara Anjomani Virmouni
- Large Language Models (LLM) for Automated Finite Element Analysis, supervised by Michael Rustell and Tatiana Kalganova
- Machine learning approaches in health data science for risk prediction of cardiovascular diseases, supervised by Raha Pazoki
- Multi-omics data analysis for critical disease prediction, supervised by Yang Yang
- Nanoparticles in drug delivery, supervised by Gudrun Stenbeck
- Optimisation of geothermal energy extraction, supervised by James Tyacke
- Precision control of Nano-fuel production, supervised by Yang Yang
- Reliability Analysis of Adhesively Bonded Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites, supervised by Sadik Omairey and Mihalis Kazilas
- Repo-Man function in embryogenesis and differentiation, supervised by Paola Vagnarelli
- Role of CDCA/PP1 in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), supervised by Paola Vagnarelli
- Study of stray current induced corrosion in railway construction, supervised by Kangkang Tang
- Study of the ageing-related pre-mRNA splicing of the LMNA gene, supervised by Evgeny Makarov
- Study of the exosomes: RNA composition of exosomes as potential biomarkers for cancer; Exosomes as a delivery vehicle for therapeutic shRNAs, supervised by Evgeny Makarov
- Sustainable products & processes - help industry ditch the plastic and toxic chemicals!, supervised by Gera Troisi
- Targeting TERT and the MYCN gene network as a novel therapeutic approach for high-risk neuroblastoma, supervised by Arturo Sala
- Telomere length elongation following treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs., supervised by Terry Roberts
- The impact of chromosomal rearrangements on the genome organisation of leukaemia cells., supervised by Sabrina Tosi
- The mutations in TP53 gene from the glioma patients that trigger the aberrant pre-mRNA splicing, supervised by Evgeny Makarov
- The role of PE/PPE proteins in tuberculosis, supervised by Anthony Tsolaki
- The sustainability of hydrogen production for future energy uses, supervised by Colin Axon and Peter Hewitson
- Use of Large Language Models (LLM) as a Structural Engineering Design Assistant, supervised by Michael Rustell and Tatiana Kalganova
- Using Machine Learning to Simulate Macroscopic phenomena for Fluid Dynamics, supervised by Nadine Aburumman
Research journey
This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in January. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in October. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in April.
Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here: Research degree progress structure.
Research support
Research support
Excellent research support and training
The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme. The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.
Library services
Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.
Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.
Find out more: Brunel Library
Careers and your future
You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.
In addition, where available, you may be able to undertake some paid work as we recognise that teaching and learning support duties represent an important professional and career development opportunity.
UK entry requirements
The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1).
An interview will be required as part of the admissions process and will be conducted by at least two academic staff members remotely via MS Teams, Zoom, or face to face.
Applicants will be required to submit a personal statement and a research statement.
Please contact your proposed supervisor, where possible, to receive feedback and guidance on your research statement before submitting it. Learn how to prepare a research statement here.
EU and International entry requirements
If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.
English language requirements
- IELTS: 7 (min 6 in all areas)
- Pearson: 64 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 68% (58% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 98 overall (min 20)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2024/5 entry
International
£23,615 full-time
£11,805 part-time
UK
£4,786 full-time
£2,393 part-time
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
Some courses incur additional course related costs. You can also check our on-campus accommodation costs for more information on living expenses.
Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. Recently the UK Government made available the Doctoral Student Loans of up to £25,000 for UK and EU students and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.