MPhil/PhD Studentship in Translating 3D Human Mesh Recovery into Clinical Workflows for Markerless Clinical Gait Assessment

Investing in excellence: studentship opportunities

The University of Derby has an opportunity for a full-time postgraduate research studentship in the Data Science, Biomedical and Clinical Science and Public Services areas of research in the College of Health and Humanities (HH).

The successful applicant will receive a maintenance stipend (based on the minimum stipend defined by UKRI, currently £21,805 for the academic year 2026/27) and home MPhil/PhD tuition fees (£5,238 - subject to amendment) only up to the target submission date.

The intended intake period is January 2027.

International applicants may need to defer to March 2027 to allow sufficient time for CAS issuance and visa processing.

Please note: If your application is successful and you are assessed as international for fees purposes, you will need to pay the difference between the home fees and the international fees.

The successful applicant will be expected to complete their MPhil/PhD within 3 years on the MPhil/PhD route, contribute to the College REF submission and get involved in the wider research activities of the College.

Applicants will become part of a friendly and welcoming team and will be supported and managed by their supervisors.

The vacancy details are as follows:

Project description

Are you passionate about bridging computer vision and clinical biomechanics to revolutionise healthcare? Clinical gait analysis is an established standard for evaluating medical conditions such as cerebral palsy and age-related pathologies. However, it is severely bottlenecked by its reliance on traditional marker-based optical motion capture. This methodology requires expensive hardware, extended patient preparation, and can cause significant discomfort.

This doctoral project will engineer and validate a markerless motion capture pipeline directly resolving these clinical limitations. You will leverage Human Mesh Recovery to extract highly accurate multiplanar joint kinematics and kinetics without physical laboratory markers. By comparing the HMR pipeline against gold-standard 3D marker-based systems across healthy controls, individuals with age-related gait decline, and patients with cerebral palsy, you will establish clinical accuracy and sensitivity to pathological deviations.

Working closely with clinical scientists and the wider orthopaedic surgery team, you will scale proven methodologies into pipelines and clinical workflows. This is a unique opportunity to translate cutting-edge computational biomechanics directly into point-of-care public health practice.

Purpose/objectives 

The primary purpose of this doctoral programme is to transition validated artificial intelligence motion capture methodologies from functional screening into active clinical workflows. By addressing the limitations of traditional marker-based systems, this project aims to drastically reduce patient preparation time and assessment bottlenecks within standard NHS care.

The specific objectives of the project are:

• To develop a robust human mesh recovery pipeline to extract kinematic and kinetic variables during the gait cycle.
• To evaluate monocular and multi-camera approaches to determine which best mitigates occlusion and captures subtle multiplanar rotational kinematics.
• To validate the pipeline against gold-standard 3D motion capture.
• To assess the clinical accuracy of the tool across healthy controls and clinical populations, including cerebral palsy and age-related osteoarthritis.

Potential project impact 

This studentship offers the opportunity to deliver high-impact research through a structured dissemination strategy encompassing three distinct validation and clinical assessment studies. By modernising standard clinical pathways, your research will translate computational innovation directly into tangible public health benefits.

The potential impact of this project includes:

• Enhancing diagnostic efficiency and significantly reducing patient assessment times and physical distress for vulnerable paediatric and elderly patients.
• Generating robust empirical pilot data that will serve as the direct foundation for targeted future external funding applications, such as the Royal Society Research Grant.
• Strengthening institutional areas of excellence in artificial intelligence-driven movement screening while bridging Data Science and Clinical Biomechanics.

To apply

Please review our entry requirements before submitting your application and check out the 'Getting Started' section below.

Completed applications should be submitted via our online application system. It is important that you quote the funding reference: QR_HH_GAIT_2627

Apply online

Closing dates for applications: Sunday 8 November 2026.

Interviews: Friday 20 November 2026 to Thursday 26 November 2026.

If you have not been invited for an interview by the interview date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.

For other enquiries which are subject-specific please contact:

Dr Cavan Aulton - c.aulton@derby.ac.uk

Dr Tom Outram - t.outram@derby.ac.uk

Getting started

Before you begin your application, make sure you have the following:

Studentship funding reference code

It is important that you quote the funding reference: QR_HH_GAIT_2627 in your application, at the top of your personal statement.

Required Documents

Before submitting your application, please ensure you upload all required documents to enable us to assess your application fully. References may be provided at a later stage.

Personal statement

A 500-word personal statement outlining your suitability for the studentship project. This is a mandatory requirement and you must upload it into your application. You should include your reasons for applying for the studentship, your experience in the field, how you feel you would benefit from studying and relevant information about your previous studies.

Your CV

A CV outlining your academic and professional experience.

Qualifications

Your qualification details including grades and dates taken. You will have the opportunity to upload scanned copies of your qualification certificates and transcripts in the application. If you have no formal qualifications, you can also state this in your application.

Photo ID

A scanned copy of your photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence. This will help us verify your application to study with us.

Academic references

Two signed academic references. This is optional at application stage but highly encouraged. If successful in your application, two academic references will be a mandatory requirement of admission. The references should be in written format, signed and dated from either a supervisor or tutor from your most recent studies.

For international applicants

The University of Derby has a network of international agents and representatives in different regions. For postgraduate research degree applications, depending on your country of origin, you may need to apply through an agent. You can contact any of our agents and apply to study with us through them.

Some agents may charge for provision of services so please check this directly with the agent. Please be aware that, if you apply directly to the University without going through an agent, we may contact you and you will be required to re-apply through an agent or representative before your application can be considered.