This page lists current doctoral studentship opportunities within the School of Health & Medical Sciences.
Studentship 1
A new approach to minimum colour vision requirements and optimum use of colour signals within Network Rail
Deadline for applications: 8 May 2026
Supervisors:
- Dr Marisa Rodríguez-Carmona (City St George’s, University of London)
- Professor John Barbur (City St George’s, University of London)
Collaborators:
- Professor Anya Hurlbert (Newcastle University)
About the project
This project aims to investigate how changes in the early stage encoding of red/green (RG) and yellow/blue (YB) chromatic signals as a result of either congenital or/and acquired colour deficiency affect the use of suprathreshold colour signals. Of particular interest is to establish whether post-receptor chromatic mechanisms continue to function normally in anomalous red/green trichromats.
If this were the case, changes in perceived colour and the corresponding differences in colour naming observed in anomalous trichromats could be predicted from the expected spectral shifts in L or M cones in anomalous trichromacy. Deviations from normal metamerism in RG colour deficiencies will also be examined and the extent to which such deviations affect colour naming tasks and hence visual performance will be investigated.
The proposed work is also of significant practical interest. The study will identify the most challenging task-specific, colour vision requirements for mainline train drivers and other employees involved in colour-related, safety-critical tasks. The research will investigate how detection, discrimination, and correct interpretation of colour signal lights and the use of colour in modern digital cab displays affect visual performance.
We propose to combine visual task analysis, spectral and photometric characterisation of real-world stimuli, and laboratory-based psychophysical assessments of colour-related tasks. Participants with normal colour vision and subjects with varying degrees of congenital or acquired colour deficiencies will be examined.
The outcomes of the project will inform the development of bespoke pass/fail criteria for occupational colour vision assessment and support the development and validation of efficient and affordable colour vision screening tools suitable for use in occupational health settings.
The findings from the project will have immediate practical significance in predicting how anomalous trichromats perform in bespoke, colour-related, visually demanding tasks. The empirical results obtained in normal trichromats and in subjects with colour deficiencies will be used to develop and implement new protocols for colour assessment to ensure that safe, minimum colour vision requirements can be implemented in practice.
The new protocol will ensure that those applicants who can carry out the most demanding, safety-critical, colour related tasks within Network Rail as well as normal trichromats pass and are not discriminated unfairly.
The work involved is embedded within the well-established research programme in occupational vision requirements at City St George's, University of London.
Research environment
The project will be based in the Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Vision Science at City St George’s, University of London, a leading centre for research in advanced visual assessment, the measurement of visual performance and occupational vision. The student will have access to specialised psychophysical and photometric laboratories, advanced vision assessment clinics and state-of-the-art colour vision testing equipment. The project will be carried out in collaboration with researchers at Newcastle University.
Eligibility
Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours BSc or Masters degree in optometry and vision science, experimental psychology, neuroscience, physics, engineering, or a closely related discipline.
Experience in visual psychophysics, data analysis, or programming (e.g. MATLAB, Python, or similar) is desirable but not essential. An essential requirement is enthusiasm to study the processes involved in human colour vision and how these are affected in congenital and acquired colour deficiencies.
Funding
This 3-year PhD is fully funded for eligible UK home students (or EU students with settled status). International students can apply but they would be expected to pay the difference in tuition fees. The studentship includes:
- Full-time students will receive a tax-free stipend at the UKRI rate (£22,780 for 2025/26, expected to increase annually in line with UKRI stipends)
- Full tuition fees for UK home students are covered
- Access to specialist research facilities and training.
How to apply
Applicants should apply through the City St George’s postgraduate research application system PhD/MPhil Applied Vision * City St George's, University of London. When applying, please include:
- The latest CV
- A brief statement of interest to include relevant background information and to explain why you are interested in this project
- Academic transcripts
- Contact details for two academic referees.
City St George's, University of London is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all its activities, processes and culture for staff, students and visitors.
We welcome applications regardless of age, gender, gender identity, trans status, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, or social class.
Contact
Please address any informal enquiries to Marisa Rodríguez-Carmona.
Studentship 2
Exploring the feasibility of a Healthy Food Standard for small and medium sized businesses
Start date: 1 October 2026
Deadline for applications: 1 June 2026
Interviews: W/C 29 June 2026
Proposed supervisory team:
- Professor Christina Vogel (Centre for Food Policy, SHMS Clerkenwell)
- Dr Olivia Brown (Centre for Food Policy, SHMS Clerkenwell).
Background
The NHS is heavily burdened by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and stroke, which are directly caused by unhealthy diets and obesity. Improving population-level diet and reducing obesity prevalence is therefore vital if we are to reduce the strain on primary and secondary health services and address the drain on workforce productivity that these preventable NCDs are causing.
Our modern-day ‘obesity promoting’ food environment fuels unhealthy diets and maintains the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the UK. There is also evidence that everyday food environments are exacerbating inequalities in diet and obesity.
Public health policies to address unhealthy food environments are now a priority for local and national policymakers, but further evidence is needed on local government policies that can be implemented to comprehensively reshape everyday food environments to be healthier.
This doctoral studentship forms part of a larger NIHR programme of research that aims to:
- Build research capacity and generate evidence to evaluate and develop public health food environment policy interventions to prevent diet-related disease and reduce inequalities in health
- Work closely with policy makers and the public
- Drive long-term change in UK public health policy to reduce the burden of diet-related disease and narrow inequalities in health
In July 2025, the UK Government outlined their intentions to introduce a Healthy Food Standard against which large businesses would be required to report on the healthiness of their sales and meet health sales targets.
This national policy sets a potential framework for similar policies to be implemented at the local government level, potentially implemented via business or property tax relief measures.
This doctoral studentship will develop measures and criteria that could complement the Healthy Food Standard and explore the feasibility of applying them at the local level for small and medium businesses selling, manufacturing, processing or producing foods and drinks.
Expected outcomes
The doctoral research project will generate the evidence that will guide local authorities in new measures they may consider implementing to reshape the food environments in their constituencies towards health, alongside existing zoning and advertising ban measures.
The doctoral research activities will complement and help to inform a feasibility trial that is part of the larger NIHR programme of research.
Eligibility
- Applicants with a strong interest in food policy, food environments and interdisciplinary research are encouraged to apply.
- Experience in qualitative and quantitative methods or community/food business engagement is desirable.
- Enthusiasm and commitment to collaborative research and to creating healthy, fair and resilient food systems are essential characteristics for the successful candidate to possess.
The Centre for Food Policy and City St George’s, University of London are committed to building a diverse research community and we encourage applications from backgrounds that are underrepresented in academic research.
Funding
The studentship offers a stipend of £23,819 for 2026/7 which will rise in line with UKRI stipends and a waiver for home tuition fees. Overseas students who are successful will need to cover the difference between the waived home fee and the overseas fee.
How to apply
Applicants should apply through the City St George’s postgraduate research application system PhD/MPhil Food Policy * City St George's, University of London. Applicants will need to submit:
- A 2-page research proposal
- A personal statement to include relevant background information and to explain why you are interested in this project
- Current CV
- Academic transcripts
- Contact details for two academic referees
Funder and collaborators
This fully funded studentship is supported by a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) programme which aims to understand how we can change the food environment to prevent diet-related disease and obesity.
The studentship will be based at the Centre for Food Policy, City St George’s, University of London. The Centre for Food Policy is an interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to informing policy and practice to redesign food systems to be fair, healthy, sustainable and resilient. The Centre for Food Policy provides a vibrant and collaborative environment for PhD researchers.
Students will be actively encouraged to engage with, and learn from, the collaborating institutes in the programme, namely the University of Liverpool, Oxford University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Each studentship has a dedicated budget for personalised training, research visits and external placements, which we anticipate students to make full use of during the studentship.
Students will also become members of the NIHR academy: a dedicated network to support their training and development as a researcher.
Contact
For more information please contact christina.vogel@city.ac.uk or Olivia.brown@city.ac.uk