Supervisor: Dr Antonia Ho
Application deadline: Thursday, October 08, 2026
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
Background
The threat of a high-impact respiratory pandemic is growing, underscoring the urgent need for advanced surveillance systems. This project proposes the development of a pathogen-agnostic, AI-driven approach to respiratory syndromic surveillance by integrating clinical, laboratory (including genomic), and radiological data. Building on the CHARISMA study, an enhanced surveillance study at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, the team aims to overcome current limitations in UK data access…
by leveraging federated analytics within Trusted Research Environments (TREs). To date, CHARISMA has recruited ~2000 severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) cases over winter seasons 2021/22 to 2024/25, and linked them to granular routine healthcare data, thus offering near real-time insights into influenza and SARS-CoV-2 trends. With ethics approval to include an additional 100,000 control cases across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the project will incorporate viral sequencing and chest radiograph data to train multi-modal AI models. These models will stratify risk and identify SARI endotypes, enabling early detection of abnormal clusters and enhancing outbreak preparedness and response.
Further Details
At the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, DETECTIVE is looking for a Doctoral Candidate (DC) to work on Work Packages 3. As DC13, your objectives are:
- Integrate diverse and complex healthcare datasets from an existing enhanced surveillance study of hospitalised SARI in Scotland
- Develop algorithms for implementing real-time surveillance systems and interpreting epidemiological trends
- Develop and validate multi-modal AI models to identify i) patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) at high risk of severe outcome, and ii) SARI endotypes.
- Gain experience in accessing and handling secure data within Trusted Research Environments (TREs)
- Develop skills in stakeholder engagement and translational research through experience in cross-sector collaboration between healthcare (NHS), academia and public health bodies.
You will be supervised by Prof Antonia Ho, Professor David Lowe, Professor David Robertson and Dr Clarisse de Vries. Secondment opportunities and training will be provided through collaboration with Dr Cristina Andrés Vergés (Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Spain), and Dr Elaine McCulloch from Quality Control for Molecular Diagnostics (QCMD), UK).
Requirements
Essential:
- Hold a First Class or Upper Second Class (2.1) Honours degree, or international equivalent, in a life sciences, biomedical sciences, quantitative biology, or related discipline.
- Have a strong interest in infectious disease research and emerging pathogens.
- English language requirements in line with the University of Glasgow's terms. For details see: University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Postgraduate research opportunities A-Z - Virology
- Demonstrate the ability to work effectively in an interdisciplinary and international research environment.
- Have not resided/carried out work or studies in the UK for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the April 1st, 2027.
- Must not hold a doctoral degree at the time of recruitment.
Desirable:
- Experience with health informatics or machine learning/AI
- Master's degree (or equivalent) in biomedical sciences, microbiology, virology, immunology, epidemiology, or a related field.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie eligibility criteria
Applicants must:
- Not already hold a doctoral degree.
- Comply with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie mobility rule, meaning they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work or study) in the United Kingdom for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding recruitment.
What we offer
A contract with the University of Glasgow for 3 years (probation of 6 months).
A competitive salary and comprehensive employment benefits in line with MSCA Doctoral Network requirements and the University of Glasgow’s employment terms.
The opportunity to work on large-scale and in-house research with motivated colleagues.
- Planned secondments in the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory agency (MHRA, London UK) and Tampere University (TAU, Finland).
- Interdisciplinary network-wide training schools (one week each): 1) Foundations in Virology, Bioinformatics and Epidemiology; 2) Advanced Integration of Scientific, Diagnostic and Public Health Virology, and 3) Translational Virology and connecting Academia, Clinical Practice and Public Health for Pandemic Preparedness.
- Individually tailored career development plan and personal empowerment program.
- Access to Campus Sport Services at a reduced rate price
- Cycle to work scheme: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/benefits/travel/cycletowork/.
- A competitive salary and comprehensive employment benefits in line with MSCA Doctoral Network requirements.
- A holiday allowance of eight weeks annual leave, including public holidays.
About the host institution
The MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) is home to an internationally leading critical mass of virologists, entirely focused on the study of human viral diseases and viruses at the human-animal interface. Established in 2010 as a partnership between the University and the Medical Research Council (MRC), the CVR contributes to national virology capability and supports the global response to viruses and the diseases they cause. The CVR has excellent facilities for conducting research in molecular biology and virology located in a purpose-built research building at the Garscube campus of the University of Glasgow, including high containment laboratories, purpose built Viral Genomics suite and Viral Bioinformatics expertise. The CVR is a core component of the School of Infection and Immunity within the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow. The University of Glasgow is a world top 100 University with a rich history of academic excellence and innovation since 1451, with a diverse community of students from over 140 countries. https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/
About DETECTIVE
DETECTIVE (Data driven Excellence in Training of Epidemiological, Clinical, Technological and Innovative Virus Experts) is an EU-funded MSCA training programme aimed at developing new, data-driven methods to anticipate, detect and respond to emerging viral threats at an earlier stage than before. Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Heli Harvala, Professor of Virology at the University of Turku in Finland, the network brings together 8 academic institutions and 14 associated partners from across Europe.
Within DETECTIVE, researchers will develop innovative methods used to detect emerging pathogens earlier, understand who is most at risk, and translate the complex multi-source data into real-time, evidence-based decisions and clinical applications. The project's overall goal is to establish a unified, end-to-end epidemic-intelligence framework, enhancing Europe’s capacity to respond to threats quickly and in a coordinated manner. This will be achieved by an integrated approach combining virology, evolutionary genomics, epidemiology, diagnostics and AI-based analytical methods.
Funding Notes
Start date: 1 March 2027
An employment contract with the University of Glasgow for 3 years (probation of 6 months) as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Career Researcher.
A competitive salary, living allowance and mobility allowance in line with MSCA Doctoral Network requirements.
Where will I study?
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow has been changing the world since 1451. We are a world top 100 university and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities. Our people have always been at the forefront of innovation, including eight Nobel Laureates, two UK Prime Ministers, three First Ministers of Scotland, 10 Fellows of the Royal Society and 11 Fellows of the British Academy. Our past achievements inspire our current world changers. As a globally connected university, we work in partnership with others across the world to advance global solutions to real world problems.
College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences
The College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow is one of the largest centres for research and professional training in the UK. Our purpose is to make world-changing impact on major challenges that we face within Scotland and globally. Our focused ambition is to deliver a strategy structured by four key themes, which will shape the social, cultural and economic prosperity of our city, the country and civilisation across the globe through inventions, interventions and innovations. Don’t wait for your future. Build it.