University of St Andrews — School of Mathematics and Statistics
Supervisors: Dr Michail Papathomas, Prof Andy Lynch
Applications accepted all year round
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
A common challenge in cancer studies concerns the topic of survival analysis; that is, the question of modelling the time until an event happens, where that may mean literal survival or an event such as biochemical recurrence (BCR) or metastasis. For more than fifty years we have had a classical statistical modelling framework for modelling survival in terms of multiple covariates [1], but the potential for biases arising from data collection is well known [2], and with modern molecular data sets there is now a desire to cope with large numbers of potential covariates [examples 3-4].
In this project we aim to improve methods for cancer survival analyses when high-dimensional gene expression data are observed, possibly in the presence of prior biological knowledge, with particular application to prostate cancer. We will begin with two small and self-contained challenges arising from our work in the area [5-6], before moving into the more open-ended questions once the student is familiar with the landscape.
How to apply
To make a formal application, complete the online form at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/apply/
Although there is no fixed deadline, you are strongly encouraged to make your application and contact the potential supervisors as early as possible, ideally by December 2026.
Further details
More details about the PhD programme can be found in this document.
Funding Notes
Fully funded scholarship places (fees, plus stipend currently £20,467 for AY 2026/27 with an uplift to be determined for AY 2027/28) are typically available for well-qualified students. UK, EU and other overseas students are all encouraged to apply. Further details of the application and selection procedure are available at View Website and View Website.
References
- Cox DR (1972) JRSS B 34, (2), 187-220
- Zeng L et al. (2015) Statistics in Medicine 34, (24), 3181-93
- O'Donnell A et al. (2025) Cancer Med. 14, (22), e71375
- Molstad AJ and Patra RK (2023) Biometrics 79, (3), 1610–23
- Ross-Adams H et al. (2015) eBioMedicine 2, (9), 1133-44
- Wedge et al. (2018) Nature Genetics 50, (5), 682-92