PhD Studentships 2014 – Multi-agent Systems

*NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and NIHR Biomedical
Research Unit
*

*To start: October 2014*

We are offering 1 PhD studentship to applicants with a background in
Computer Science, Software Engineering or Mathematics. The awards are
funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through the
Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health (BRC-MH) and Biomedical
Research Unit at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and
the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London (KCL).

The PhD is the aim of building a multi-agent system expert system for the
early prediction and prevention of Adverse Drug Reactions from free-text
patient records. Early detection of possible adverse-drug reactions (ADRs)
is a major issue in caring for Psychiatric patients. Currently, detecting
the factors that contribute to the onset of an ADR relies on spontaneous
reports, which suffer from underreporting, latency, and inconsistency.

The proposed system is to predict the onset of adverse drug events based on
the clinical history, symptoms, medication history, habits and personal
traits of the patients using the information found in the patient records.
The project is motivated by the high abundance of patient information
obtained from the *Clinical** **Record** **Interactive** **Search** *(CRIS)
system, which has been built to provide authorised researchers with access
to anonymised information extracted from the electronic clinical records
system used in the* **South** **London** **and** **Maudsley** **NHS** **
Foundation** **Trust* <http://www.slam.nhs.uk/> (SLAM).

A part of the project will focus on text-mining and information retrieval
from the free-text patient records available. However, the main part of the
award will be directed towards the design and realization of the
large-scale multi-agent expert system system. Background in Software
Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Multi-agent systems or Natural
language understanding are highly desirable.

The BRC-MH and BRU-D are pioneering multidisciplinary translational
research. They bring together researches from different fields and health
professionals from two internationally recognised organisations. SLaM is
the UK’s largest NHS mental health service provider with a long history of
multi-disciplinary research.

*Award*
1 x PhD studentship to applicants with a background in Computer Science or
Mathematics, with knowledge in Artificial Intelligence, Multi-agent
Systems, Software Engineering or Natural Language Processing being
desirable. Funding is available for 3 years.

*Project:*

Entry requirements
You should have (or be expected to obtain) a 2:1 or 1st class honours
degree in a subject relevant to the proposed project. If you already
possess (or expect to obtain) a research-based MSc degree, a merit or
distinction level is expected. English language competence criteria applies.

*Award type and Eligibility*

The award covers academic fees (Home/EU rate); a stipend (£16,000 per year)
and contributions towards research costs, training and conference
attendance. Overseas students and others not meeting UK Home Office
residency criteria may apply but would be required to cover the balance of
fees over the Home/EU rate.

*How to apply*

Applicants must complete and submit an online admissions application, via
the admissions portal https://myapplication.kcl.ac.uk/
On ‘Choosing a programme’ page, please select ‘Research degrees’ and enter
the keyword ‘BRC’.
In your application, you will be asked to include:
Academic Transcripts – where applicable, academic transcripts must be
submitted with the online admissions applications.
Academic References – all admissions applications require two supporting
references. If the applicant is relying on his/her referees to submit
references directly to the College after he/she has submitted his/her
admissions application, then the applicant must ensure that their chosen
referees are made aware of the funding deadline.
Covering letter describing (i) why they are applying for a studentship,
(ii) their area(s) of interest, (iii) the project title (Project 5
Multi-agent Systems for Managin Adverse Drug Reactions)  (Note: the full
list of PhD opportunities offered by the BRC is found
here<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/research/pgr/phdstudentships/BRC-MH,-BRU-D-3-Year-PhD-Studentships-2014.pdf>.
The applicant should clearly state her preference when selecting the
project)  (iv) any other information relevant to the application.
In the Funding section, please tick box 5 and include the following
reference: BRCIOP14. Without this reference, your application may not be
considered. References must be received by the deadline to be eligible.
Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.


For further information about the project, please contact Dr. Zina Ibrahim
at [email protected]

For further information on how to apply, please contact Ms Corinne Farrugia
at [email protected].

Further 
information<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/research/pgr/phdstudentships/BRC-PhD-Further-Information.pdf>
About the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit for Mental Health and Biomedical
Research Unit in
Dementia<http://www.slam.nhs.uk/research/biomedical-research-centre/brc-home.aspx>
MSc courses at the
IoP<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/prospectus/school/institute-of-psychiatry/programmes>
Research degrees at the
IoP<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/research/pgr/pgrprogrammes.aspx>
Postgraduate study at the IoP <http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/index.aspx>
KCL Graduate school<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/school/GraduateSchool.aspx>
KCL Researcher Development
Programme<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/school/training/index.aspx>

*Background*

The Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King’s College London has the highest
research power of any UK Institution in the area of neuroscience, clinical
psychology and psychiatry (2008 Research Assessment Excercise). We are the
largest academic community in Europe dedicated to the study, treatment and
prevention of mental health problems and neurodegenerative disease. We
conduct a high level of interdisciplinary research with Computer Scientist
being our main partners to develop novel methods for the detection and
treatment of psychiatric illnesses.

The IoP offers opportunities for research and training in basic and
clinical science across the mental health spectrum on one campus. Studying
at the IoP you will have access to a large clinical population through
King’s Health Partners, an Academic Health Science Centre that includes
Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trusts.

*Closing date: Friday 22 November 2013 (9.00 am GMT)
*
*Interviews: 9 & 10 December 2013*
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