Programme structure

The course syllabus includes a mix of common training modules, specialist elective modules from the relevant pathways of: Medical Imaging, AI in Healthcare Technologies and Molecular Imaging, and the individual MRes research project.

The course also has group activities that will foster interdisciplinary training as well as cohort building. The relevant CDT MRes pathway components are:

• Common Training on research design, creative media, scientific publishing & peer review, journal club, scientific funding, healthcare economics, healthcare challenges, research ethics, sustainability, equality & diversity
• Group Training in form of an interdisciplinary group project bridging between the different pathways, and to further promote cohort building
• Personalised Training based on elective modules relevant to individual research project
• Individual Training in the form of an MRes research project, as scientific foundation to the PhD

The MRes project will be written up as a report, with formal assessment by supervisors and an independent academic (typically one of the Scientific Theme Leads). MRes students will present their project to the cohort to share their research experience. The MRes year has been designed so that CDT students will “hit the ground running” when they embark on their PhD, as they will have acquired all the necessary skills needed. Several students from our current CDT, in fact, have published journal or conference articles during their MRes year, and all our students are expected to finish their PhD within the three years.

As a CDT PhD research student, you will join a world leading interdisciplinary group of over a hundred scientists and clinicians. Our interdisciplinary nature provides a unique environment for our focus on rapid translation of cutting-edge research into the clinic.

In parallel with your research project, you will benefit from a dedicated training programme in transferable skills, responsible research and innovation, and entrepreneurship.

In year 2 of their PhD, CDT students will also choose from the following placement options:

• Industry internship with one of our industry partners, to understand the gap between research and product development for commercialization
• International lab visit to one of our academic partners or our international doctoral training partner networks, enriching their PhD experience with further academic perspectives

Placements will normally run for a period of 3 months.

Our students’ skills and expertise are highly sought after by research institutions and technology companies alike. Through our networks and support many opportunities have arisen for students to gain experience with external organisations.

Rob Robinson, CDT student During my time at the CDT, I have had the opportunity to undertake several internships for different multinational technology companies. For my first placement, I worked on a project at Samsung involving building, training and testing deep learning-based classifiers. These are algorithms that take an input – for example an image or a sound – and assign it to different categories depending on its content.

My work involved error-proofing and unit-testing of this codebase. We needed to run large numbers of experiments to find the right settings for all of our parameters, so I also conducted automated evaluation and validation of the algorithm. One aspect I found interesting was the systematic manner in which the progress was continuously assessed. Deliverables were a key outcome for all projects at Samsung. Each project had milestones at which we showcased recent work, known as “Demos”. This helped focus all of our research.

Before going into my placements, I had a general idea of what the industrial environment might be like, but my experience taught me a lot about the realities of the workplace. Perhaps the primary takeaway was the importance of demonstrating how our work related to our project goals and, ultimately, the impact it would have on the product and customer.

Students attend conferences around the world in their own fields of research. These provide the opportunity to gain further insights into their research areas, network with experts, and explore future professional opportunities.

We also hold our own Post-Graduate Research Symposium, a yearly event attended by up to 150 delegates, organised by a committee of our own students. Keynote speakers have previously included industry partners, clinicians and academics.

Elisa Roccia, CDT student: A highlight of my time at the CDT has been my involvement with the CDT’s Post-Graduate Research Symposium. I had responsibility for overall supervision of the different teams of students involved in organising the event and acted as liaison with the CDT Management Board. With this experience under my belt, I have since been asked to join the organising committee as Executive Co-ordinator for the IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging, a significant scientific conference.

• Introduction to public engagement
• Research ethics and Data management
• Responsible research and innovation
• Making the most of conferences
• Writing up your thesis
• Preparing for your viva
• Career seminars (academia, industry, policy)
• Research seminars

CDT students demonstrate the potential of VR in surgical planning at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2019	Children with heart conditions visit the Science Gallery London to hear about our cardiac surgery-related research
CDT staff and students explain the use of radioactivity to diagnose and treat cancer at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2018	CDT students host a series of Coding for Girls workshops for local Girlguiding groups

Public Engagement Ambassadors

Formed in early 2019, the Public Engagement Ambassadors (PEAs) are a group of CDT students and alumni with an enthusiasm for public engagement. The PEAs endeavor to further embed public engagement into the CDT’s research culture and practice. Their responsibilities include planning and delivering engagement projects, encouraging the involvement of fellow students, and providing advice and insights to the CDT’s public engagement officer. If you are a CDT student who would like to become a PEA or a member of the public interested in their work, please contact Bella Spencer.

Meet our ambassadors

Aidan Michaels, 1st Year CDT student

I am just about to embark on my PhD in which I’ll seek to investigate the cause of the Warburg Effect, the phenomenon describing how cancer cells use different metabolic pathways to healthy cells. My interests are largely in cancer biology, however, I have a broad interest in medical science. To try and get a bit more science into everyone’s lives I’ve started a podcast, RadioNuclear, where I and other CDT students talk about science and engineering topics in accessible ways. When I’m not in the lab I’m playing or watching sport; I’m a pretty broken and therefore retired rugby player, so now I stay “en garde“, fencing for King’s.   

Aishwarya Mishra, 2nd Year CDT student

My PhD is aimed at the delivery and tracking of nanomedicines in the body using new radiotracers, imaging and focused ultrasound. Being involved in public engagement during my time at KCL, has given me a better understanding of my research field. I enjoy interacting with the public, especially kids and explaining basic concepts of radioactivity, cancer and chemistry. I am a keen advocate of use of STEM engagement to counter myths and false information in present times. Outside work, I enjoy watching a fair bit of cinema and theatre. Also, I am a big fan of museums and exhibitions. 

Elsa-Marie Otoo, 2nd year CDT student

My PhD research focusses on the visualisation 3d imaging and its use in education, diagnosis and surgery in medicine. I like teaching in general, so really enjoy interacting with the public, explaining interesting topics such as my work and being a BAME representative to inspire others. In my free time I like writing poetry, reading manga and manhuas.  

Faysal Farah, 2nd year CDT student

My PhD focuses on developing nanoparticles that can combine two different imaging techniques to help with cancer diagnosis and management. Public engagement allows me to have meaningful conversations with the general public about my research (and science in general), and it is one of the ways in which I can encourage students from BAME backgrounds to get involved in STEM. When not in the lab, I would often take part in football matches or binge watch the latest documentary on Netflix. 

Ines Costa, 3rd year CDT student

My PhD aims to determine the potential of different types of radiation for therapy and understand their safety when they are used for imaging patients. Being involved in public engagement has given me the opportunity to decrease the stigma attached to radioactivity! Recently, I created an Instagram account @radiation_hotstuff to show that radiation is everywhere and it can be used for imaging and to treat diseases, like cancer. Outside my PhD, I like doing exercise, travelling, designing my Instagram posts and watching too much Netflix. 

Jonny Jackson, 3rd year CDT student

The aim of my PhD is to construct a patient-specific model of the arteries in the heart in real-time using 2D images captured during surgery. Spending time talking to a young wannabe astronaut, or a science fair-fanatical retiree, is a great reminder of just how much science can influence and inspire people. Though I occasionally get to talk about the use of neural networks in heart imaging that forms my research, during my public engagement projects I’ve mainly  focused on the bigger picture around AI ethics, scientific pursuit and education. Outside my PhD, I’m that friend who’s always doing too many side projects.  

Madeleine Iafrate, 4th year CDT student

The goal of my PhD research is to be able to track the location of human cells within a person’s body using a combination of genetic engineering, radiopharmaceutical development, and medical physics. I love talking to as many people as I can about science and the environment, and I have been known to speak at public engagement events, coordinate them (e.g. Pint of Science 2019), and even host a podcast about all things PhD. Outside of my research, I am actively trying to find ways of reducing the environmental impact of scientific research waste and I won a Churchill Fellowship to continue my work in this area

Sam Vennin, Alumni (Aligned student 2014-2018)

My PhD focused on investigating the relationship between blood flow and pressure to derive new clinical technologies and gain insights on the physiological mechanisms causing hypertension. My biggest achievement is… not having fainted once in my whole PhD even though I can’t stand blood!  I have participated in various types of engagement activities during my time at King’s, from planning science festival stands to writing lay summary articles and organizing workshops in schools. Beyond my research, you can find me outside running everywhere or inside reading anything.

Virginia Fernandez, 1st year CDT student

I have just begun my PhD, which is about generating an atlas of the diseased human brain using Deep Learning. For years, I have been obsessed with drawing cartoons about  science; at the beginning it was a way to explain scientific concepts to myself in a simple and funny way, but then I discovered the value of making them for and with the public. For me, being involved in public engagement is like bringing a pair of lungs to my research: it is a way to exchange, show what we are working at and bring in some fresh air to our projects. During my “”free”” time, I do a bunch of different things, from hiking in nature to participating in podcasts about cinema, but my favorite activity is – of course – drawing. I could do that all day.