Wearable technology for remote monitoring of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-disciplinary PhD studentship

About the Project

Interested in wearable technology and its application to human disease? Keen to apply advanced data analysis techniques to real-world data to develop new ways to support people living with rheumatoid arthritis? Then this PhD project could be for you!

We seek an enthusiastic and motivated student to work within our cross-disciplinary research team to develop new approaches to the use of wearable devices to remotely monitor disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This four-year PhD project brings together supervisors with expertise in biomechanical engineering, computing science and clinical rheumatology to support cutting-edge cross-disciplinary research. We hope to develop novel techniques to remotely measure disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis, which may in the future help clinical teams to better monitor response to treatment whilst reducing the number of hospital visits for patients.

You will have access to a rich dataset of extended wrist-worn accelerometry recordings from patients with rheumatoid arthritis starting or stopping arthritis drugs. Using our existing data analysis pipelines, and by coding your own, you will apply advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse continuous accelerometry measurements with access to our high performance computing cluster. You will apply data science techniques to process, analyse and visualise the data to develop novel models to quantify and predict clinical disease activity. You will be supported in authoring peer-reviewed publications, with opportunities to present at local, national and international scientific conferences. Your development will be further supported through access to the Faculty’s postgraduate researcher skills development programme.

Funding

Students who have, or are expecting to attain, at least an upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject, are invited to apply. Funding is available for Home (UK) students to cover tuition fees, a tax-free stipend at the UKRI rate (indicative amount in year 1 in 2026-27, £21,805) and research costs, for four years. Applicants normally required to cover International fees will have to cover the difference between the Home and the International tuition fee rates. There is no additional funding available to cover NHS Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) costs, visa costs, flights etc.

Funding for this studentship is awarded on a competitive basis and is not guaranteed; availability will depend on the outcome of the selection process and subject to final approval by the University.

HOW TO APPLY

Please complete the following application form – Google Form

Applicants can only apply for 1 project; any additional applications will not be accepted.

Applicants should send the following documents to FMSstudentships@newcastle.ac.uk:

• a CV (including contact details of at least two academic (or other relevant) referees).
• a Cover letter – stating your project choice, as well as including additional information you feel is pertinent to your application.
• copies of your relevant undergraduate degree transcripts and certificates.
• a copy of your IELTS or TOEFL English language certificate (where required)
• a copy of your passport (photo page).

A GUIDE TO THE FORMAT REQUIRED FOR THE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS IS AVAILABLE

Please submit your documents in the following format only:

• each document should be submitted as a separate attachment and should be named as follows: candidate surname, candidate name – document type. For example: Jones, Jamie – CV; Jones, Jamie – cover letter.
• Please submit .pdf documents where possible for your CV, cover letter, transcripts and certificates. Do not submit photos of certificates.
• Do not combine documents into one pdf. You may zip separate documents into a zip file to send via email if required.
• When emailing your application, please use the email subject header: FMS PhD Application 2026

Applications not meeting these criteria may be rejected.

Informal enquiries may be made to the lead supervisor of the project you are interested in.

The deadline for all applications is 12 noon BST (UK time) on Wednesday 20th May 2026.