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PhD in Cognitive Maps and Adaptive Causal Inference

Project 2235 · University of Birmingham · School of Psychology

Application workspace

Save this opportunity and prepare around its actual requirements. Confirm deadlines and eligibility at the original source.

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Country or region
United Kingdom
Application deadline
2026-11-23 (confirm the exact time with the source)
Funding
Competitive MIBTP funding. Successful international awardees receive full tuition coverage; international awards are capped at 30% of the cohort (not a personal probability). £21,805/year is the 2026/27 stipend benchmark; the 2027/28 amount is unconfirmed. Students pay visa/IHS costs.

The research opportunity

PhD in Cognitive Maps and Adaptive Causal Inference

Research question

Cognitive maps encode environmental states and the relationships between them. Prospective maps connect states in chronological order to predict outcomes; retrospective maps work backwards from important outcomes to infer possible causes. Animal research motivates the comparison, but how human brains represent and combine these forms of information for learning and decisions remains unknown. The project asks whether retrospective causes revise predictive models and whether prediction errors trigger retrospective search.

Doctoral work

The student will develop behavioural tasks and compare computational explanations, using functional MRI (fMRI) to measure brain activity and transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) to test how brain activity contributes to behaviour. No fixed TUS target, protocol, sample size or experimental design is specified. Habit formation and extinction may be explored depending on the student's interests; these are optional extensions, not a promised patient study or treatment trial. Training covers computational modelling, neuroscience and data analysis.

School and training

The degree is awarded by the University of Birmingham, with the project based in its School of Psychology and Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH). The four-year Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership (MIBTP) links six universities for interdisciplinary training, including research and technical mini-projects, an away-university component, masterclasses and a professional placement; this does not constitute a joint degree. Project and supervisors · MIBTP programme

Eligibility and application

  • The listed entry is October 2027. The deadline is Monday, 23 November 2026; no cutoff time or timezone is stated, and current application status has not been confirmed.
  • MIBTP normally seeks a first or high 2:1 in a relevant subject. A lower 2:1 may be considered with a master's degree or substantial relevant postgraduate experience; a 2:2 requires exceptional evidence. The project materials do not specify a compulsory master's degree, programming language or prior TUS qualification. Individual degree equivalence and English-language requirements need confirmation.
  • Apply through the official MIBTP page for this Psychology project. The listed requirements include a CV, English academic records and a research-methods training response; the research proposal may be left blank and the optional personal statement may be marked N/A. Applicants may select one project per programme and apply to up to five programmes separately. Interviews are expected in late January or early February 2027. MIBTP application and eligibility
  • Contact primary supervisor Paul Muhle-Karbe at p.muhle-karbe@bham.ac.uk about the project. The MIBTP team at uob-mibtp@contacts.bham.ac.uk can clarify the course, application materials, English requirements and deadline arrangements. Davinia Fernández-Espejo is listed as second supervisor. Matthew Rushworth also appears on recruitment materials, but his formal role on this project is unconfirmed.

Funding

Funding is competitive. Successful international awardees receive full tuition coverage; international awards are capped at 30% of the cohort, which is a cohort allocation limit rather than an individual's chance of success. The £21,805 annual figure is a 2026/27 stipend benchmark, not a confirmed 2027/28 amount. Students are responsible for visa and Immigration Health Surcharge costs; training and research expenses or laptop access are not personal living allowances.

Research and application brief

Report generated: . This date does not confirm that recruitment remains open.

Information updated: . Recheck the original notice before applying.

Show report contents

PhD in Cognitive Maps and Adaptive Causal Inference

How does inferring a past cause change the next prediction? This human computational-neuroscience project compares prospective and retrospective cognitive maps through new behavioural tasks, modelling, fMRI and transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS). The saved MIBTP project names Paul Muhle-Karbe as primary supervisor and Davinia Fernández-Espejo as secondary supervisor. Birmingham’s retained recruitment list identifies Birmingham registration, October 2027 entry and a 23 November 2026 application deadline. Funding is competitive, but Birmingham explicitly covers all tuition even for successful international students. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project Birmingham MIBTP 2027 exact projects and application

Research work and unresolved problem

A cognitive map represents environmental states and relations. Prospective maps link states chronologically to predict outcomes; retrospective representations run conceptually backwards to infer possible causes of rare, significant outcomes. The project asks whether human brains encode these differently, how retrospective causes revise predictions, and whether prediction errors trigger backward information search. Prior non-human work motivates the question; human answers remain to be established. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project

The student will develop tasks and computational accounts, measure human representations with fMRI, and use TUS to probe brain contributions. Habit formation/extinction and addiction relevance are optional extensions depending on interest, not a promised patient trial or addiction treatment. Training covers neuroscience, modelling and analysis. This is attractive for applicants wanting experimental human research and computational explanation together, rather than assuming an AI-engineering or purely imaging-analysis position. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project Muhle-Karbe research agenda

The key design problem is distinguishing retrospective causal inference from remembering reverse sequences, surprise, value and attention. Neural decoding differences alone do not establish distinct map algorithms; perturbation also needs interpretable behavioural controls. Ask what first task already exists, how competing models will be distinguished, how participant recruitment and ethics/technical support are organised, and which behavioural/imaging study remains viable if stimulation timelines slip. The advert gives no TUS target or protocol; none should be invented from adjacent papers. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project Muhle-Karbe et al. 2023 goal seeking compresses neural codes Calzolari et al. 2025 goal directed task preparation CHBH annual report 2024 facilities

School, subject and doctoral training

Birmingham awards the degree, based in Psychology and the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH). MIBTP links six universities for interdisciplinary quantitative bioscience training; it does not award an automatic joint degree. Matthew Rushworth, also named in the advert, is an Oxford professor and department head. His formal role, availability and any visits/resources require confirmation because the official project records only Fernández-Espejo as secondary supervisor. An Oxford collaborator does not change the awarding institution. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project MIBTP current programme Paul Muhle-Karbe current Birmingham profile Matthew Rushworth current Oxford profile

The saved university summary places Birmingham 68th globally in QS World University Rankings 2027 overall; this should not be presented as Psychology's subject rank. More relevant evidence is the active human-neuroscience community, published task/model research and CHBH imaging/stimulation capacity. A 2024 facility report supports FUS/fMRI capability, not allocated 2027 scanner time or project approvals. The Psychology programme describes seminars, first-year probation, a nine-month report/mini-viva, annual review and a thesis of up to 50,000 words plus viva. The exact MIBTP timing of these checkpoints should be confirmed. Birmingham official university rankings Birmingham Psychology PhD programme CHBH annual report 2024 facilities

MIBTP lasts four years, despite the generic Psychology page's three-year/full-time heading. Its training year includes research and technical mini-projects, including an away-university component, masterclasses and a professional placement. Confirm the detailed scheduling, travel/accommodation arrangements and how the main project begins. This offers quantitative breadth but reduces time spent exclusively on the main cognitive-map question. University doctoral support adds transferable skills, wellbeing and careers provision. MIBTP current programme MIBTP programme FAQ Birmingham Doctoral Programme

Supervisors and recent research evidence

Paul Muhle-Karbe is Assistant Professor, joining Birmingham/CHBH in 2022 after Ghent doctoral work and Duke/Oxford postdocs. His official profile matches learning, memory and adaptive decisions. His MIBTP statement promises weekly individual meetings, lab meetings/journal clubs, early training from himself and experienced postdocs, flexible working and no expected out-of-hours replies. These are explicit self-described expectations, not independently verified satisfaction or completion statistics. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project Paul Muhle-Karbe current Birmingham profile

Davinia Fernández-Espejo is Professor of Neuropsychology and Clinical Neuroscience/Deputy Head of Research, not merely the older “Dr” label. Her imaging, consciousness and stimulation expertise complements the computational focus, without making clinical patients part of this advert. Rushworth is Oxford's Watts Chair/Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, with frontal/cingulate decision research; do not describe him as Birmingham faculty. Davinia Fernandez-Espejo current profile Matthew Rushworth current Oxford profile

Recent papers and their limits

The three papers retain their existing beyond-abstract reading and recorded contributions; no new full-paper reading is claimed.

Muhle-Karbe et al.: 2023 goal-dependent representations

The 2023 Neuron study by Muhle-Karbe and colleagues finds goal-dependent compression of hippocampal/orbitofrontal spatial representations. Muhle-Karbe is co-first/lead contact and contributes analysis, simulations, visualisation and drafting; Sheahan and Chien performed experiments. Population BOLD geometry does not resolve individual-neuron mechanisms or demonstrate retrospective causal inference. Muhle-Karbe et al. 2023 goal seeking compresses neural codes

Löwe et al.: 2024 gradual learning and abrupt strategy change

The 2024 PLOS Computational Biology study by Löwe and colleagues shows abrupt human-like strategy changes can arise through gradual learning in simple regularised networks. Muhle-Karbe's recorded contribution is conceptualisation and review/editing, not the main computational analysis. Gating, regularisation and noise matter; subjective insight and broad biological realism are not established. This demonstrates a useful habit of comparing behavioural signatures with alternative mechanisms. Löwe et al. 2024 abrupt strategy switches in regularised networks

Calzolari et al.: 2025 task-switch preparation

The 2025 Human Brain Mapping study by Calzolari and colleagues examines internal/external task-switch preparation with fMRI and effective-connectivity modelling. Fernández-Espejo contributes conception, methodology, analysis, supervision and funding; Calzolari leads investigation/analysis/drafting. The 30-person analysis identifies network reconfiguration but lacks a neutral baseline separating switching costs from repetition benefits; expected general thalamic activation was absent and some regions overlapped. It supports task/imaging expertise, not interventional proof of cognitive maps. Calzolari et al. 2025 goal directed task preparation

Funding and living costs

The saved Birmingham 2027 MIBTP rule covers all international tuition, resolving generic UKRI home-fee-only language. Up to 30% of cohort awards may be allocated internationally. £21,805/year is the 2026/27 UKRI stipend benchmark, not a confirmed 2027/28 award. The programme also describes training/research expenses and laptop use, which are not personal disposable income. Visa/IHS are the student's responsibility; obtain current costs and the individual award rather than treat the programme's approximate immigration estimate as a quotation. Birmingham MIBTP 2027 exact projects and application MIBTP 2027 application and eligibility MIBTP current programme UKRI student funding support

The university's 2025/26 weekly budget examples total £241–253 privately housed or £268–280 in halls, including listed accommodation/bills, food, personal care, phone and study costs. Multiplying by 52 weeks gives £12,532–13,156 or £13,936–14,560. Travel, social spending and clothing are excluded, and these are not 2027 quotations. Against the 2026 stipend this leaves a nominal balance before exclusions, inflation and immigration/rotation costs; it is not promised savings. Do not add rent again. Birmingham current living-budget guidance

Applicant fit and preparation

MIBTP normally seeks a first or high 2:1 in a relevant subject; lower 2:1 with a master's or substantial relevant postgraduate experience may be considered, and a 2:2 requires exceptional evidence. The generic Psychology entry rule is not the whole funding selection threshold. No compulsory master's, programming language or pre-existing TUS qualification is stated for this project; ask how quantitative/non-Psychology degrees and English conditions are assessed. Useful preparation includes modelling competing explanations, programming reproducible analyses and explaining a personal behavioural-data contribution. MIBTP 2027 application and eligibility Birmingham Psychology PhD programme

Selecting the project also means being willing to undertake human research, address recruitment and data quality, and revise explanations when model predictions and behaviour diverge. Being able to run software is a starting point; explaining which evidence rules out a competing account shows scientific judgement. Access to scanning or stimulation requires the team’s training, approvals and technical support.

Career and transferable skills

The skills transfer to research, behavioural data science, neurotechnology and analytical roles, supported by MIBTP placements and dedicated doctoral careers guidance. Evidence here concerns training and career support, not a lab employment rate, guaranteed industry placement employer, or qualification as a clinical psychologist. MIBTP programme FAQ Doctoral researcher career support Muhle-Karbe research agenda

Next actions and questions

Contact p.muhle-karbe@bham.ac.uk before applying about task readiness, supervision and modality balance. Ask uob-mibtp@contacts.bham.ac.uk about the correct Psychology MIBTP course, exact cutoff time and English/reference conditions. Follow the project's link in Birmingham's official 2027 list, enter the exact title/supervisor, attach the mandatory CV and academic evidence/English transcripts, answer research-methods training questions and complete EDI after portal submission. MIBTP guidance permits blank research-proposal fields and an optional personal statement marked N/A; do not import self-proposed-PhD requirements. One project per programme is allowed, up to five programmes with separate applications. Interviews are expected late January/early February 2027. Before acceptance obtain the 2027 award, scanner/TUS support, checkpoint timetable and Rushworth's agreed role. Official cognitive maps MIBTP project Birmingham MIBTP 2027 exact projects and application MIBTP 2027 application and eligibility

Evidence and Sources

Current vacancy availability and individual eligibility remain unconfirmed. The existing papers retain their stated reading and contribution limits. Institutional imaging capacity, Oxford collaboration and general doctoral milestones are not guaranteed project allocations, joint registration or confirmed 2027 personal terms.

Sources

The listing may come from a university or recruitment platform. Check the notice and official sources in the report for current application requirements. View the recruitment source

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