Subject areas:
Mathematics.
Funding type:
Bench Fees / Research Training & Support Grant.
Stipend.
Tuition fee.
Fully-funded PhD studentship available to start in the 2025/26 academic year.
Award details
This is an exciting, funded PhD opportunity in mathematical data science that will appeal greatly to mathematicians who are interested both in theory and practical, real-world applications. This PhD programme will especially interest those who excelled at undergraduate courses in mathematical analysis, linear algebra, programming, optimisation, and machine learning, and want to see how their knowledge of these areas can be used to develop and apply new techniques in industry. Specifically, the project is to design, implement and analyse advanced optimisation and machine learning algorithms for use in a practical supply chain problem proposed with our industrial partner and global consumer healthcare company Haleon.
Haleon’s supply chain is especially complex – it requires multiple thousand material suppliers, 30 internal manufacturing plants and a large number of distribution centres, warehouses and logistics hubs.
Given recent advances both in algorithm design and computational performance, it is timely to consider how state-of-the-art approaches may optimise this process. This is a particularly challenging, but interesting, task given constraints inherent to global healthcare, including the vast number of regulatory bodies that interact with global healthcare companies and the intrinsic perish-ability of some of the products offered. This project will centre around this task, and in particular, both practical and theoretical analysis of some of the more challenging specific aspects of the supply chain.
As part of this programme, it is expected that there will be some analysis of aspects such as robustness and explainability of any solution offered. Furthermore, theoretical and practical analysis of complexity of the algorithmic approach produced as part of this PhD programme must be considered. Ultimately, in conjunction with the data science team at Haleon, the student will be expected to produce working prototype software that makes use of the theory developed in the PhD. The skills required to undertake these challenges will be well suited to a strong mathematics or computer science graduate.
At the end of the programme, a student can expect to have gained and contributed highly advanced knowledge in machine learning. They will gain familiarity with how these techniques can be applied to practical problems. This is an extremely desirable skillset for employers and thus a student completing the programme is well placed for a strong academic or industrial career.
Award value
Studentship covers the following:
- Stipend: Covered
- Bench Fees: Covered
- Tuition fees: Full Home tuition fees covered
Funding is available for 3.5 years
Eligibility criteria
Award open to home students.
Applicants should have a 2:1 or first-class undergraduate degree, or an MMath, MSci or Master’s degree with Merit and high grades in modules relating to the research area. A solid background in linear algebra, calculus/analysis, and probability is expected. A background in optimisation would be considered a plus. The student is also expected to have (or be willing to invest a considerable amount of time to develop) strong programming skills (Python). Finally, an enthusiasm for research with both theoretical and practical aspects is a must!
Application process
To be considered for the position, candidates must apply via King’s Apply online application system. Details are available at our website.
Please apply for “Applied Mathematics Research: Disordered Systems/Financial Mathematics/Probability MPhil/PhD”, indicate Alexander Bastounis as the supervisor and quote the project title in your application and all correspondence.
Please ensure to add the following code “EPSRCMath50%2513/Industry” in the Funding section of the application form. Please select option 5: ‘I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London’ and type the code into the ‘Award Scheme Code or Name’ box. Please copy and paste the code exactly.
The selection process will involve a pre-selection on documents and, if selected, will be followed by an invitation to an interview. If successful at the interview, an offer will be provided in due course.
Contact:
Alexander Bastounis, alexander.bastounis@kcl.ac.uk
If you require support with the administrative side of the application process, please contact
mathematics-pgr@kcl.ac.uk