Available
Project number:
2025_A02
Start date:
October 2025
Project themes:
Main supervisor:
Lecturer in AI for Speech Analysis
Co-supervisor:
Nancy F. Chen, I2R, A*STAR, Aural & Language Intelligence Department. Designations: Senior Principal Scientist & Multimodal Generative AI Group Leader, AI for Education Programme Head.
Utilising vocal biomarkers and artificial intelligence to aid psychological and neurological health assessments
Our voices are a window into our mental health when combined with powerful artificial intelligence analyses; they contain valuable clues to how well our brain and the speech muscles it controls are working. Already, researchers have been able to assess the severity of health conditions such as depression from speech recordings made in tightly controlled conditions. In the future, the analysis of speech recorded on smartphones in everyday life could meet a large unmet need for convenient, objective tools that monitor symptom severity, increasing access to health services. However, to reliably monitor changes linked to our mental health, we first need to explore how best to develop robust and reliable machine learning models to characterise and track these changes. This project will utilise data resources collected as part of large observational trials on the use of Remote Measurement Technologies (RMT) to monitor changes in health state, for example, to assist in predicting changes in symptoms and relapse in people with major depressive disorder. The supervisory team contains expertise across the domain of speech processing and machine learning, with relevant training opportunities provided through the Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics and King’s College London. In short, this project represents a unique chance to undertake novel research with leading experts in the field, whose outputs will represent a clear step change in the development of speech phenotype for use in healthcare and research settings.
We are now accepting applications for 1 October 2025
How to apply - A*STAR projects
Candidates should possess or be expected to achieve a 1st or upper 2nd class degree in a relevant subject including the biosciences, computer science, mathematics, statistics, data science, chemistry, physics, and be enthusiastic about combining their expertise with other disciplines in the field of healthcare.
Important information for International Students:
It is the responsibility of the student to apply for their Student Visa. Please note that the EPSRC DRIVE-Health studentship does not cover the visa application fees or the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) required for access to the National Health Service. The IHS is mandatory for anyone entering the UK on a Student Visa and is currently £776 per year for each year of study. Further detail can be found under the International Students tab below.
Key dates - A*STAR projects
- Applications submitted by the closing date of Thursday 30 January 2025 will be considered by the CDT. We will contact shortlisted applicants with information about this part of the recruitment process.
- Candidates will be invited to attend interview(s). Interviews are projected to take place in March 2025.
- Project selection will be through a panel interview chaired by CDT Directors at EPSRC DRIVE-Health and relevant supervisors from A*STAR Institute followed by informal discussion with prospective supervisors.
- Successful candidates are required to accept their conditional places by 14 April 2025.
- If you have any questions related to the specific project you are applying for, please contact the main supervisor of the project directly.
For any other questions about the recruitment process, please email us at drive-health-cdt@kcl.ac.uk.
