Investigating the Mechanisms of Working Memory Enhancement
Supervisor :
27th January 2027
Queen Mary University of London has partnered with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to offer a joint scholarship programme to enable Chinese students to study for a PhD programme at Queen Mary. Under the scheme, Queen Mary will provide scholarships to cover all tuition fees, whilst the CSC will provide living expenses and one return flight ticket to successful applicants.
Applicants must:
- Be applying for CSC funding.
- Be a citizen and permanent resident of the People’s Republic of China and hold a Chinese passport.
- Satisfy all eligibility criteria set out by the CSC and must refer to the CSC website for full details.
- Apply to QMUL by 27th January 2027. Late applications will not be considered.
- Submit ALL required documentation, including evidence of their English Language ability ahead of the CSC application deadline.
CSC application rules differ slightly for domestic applicants (students applying from China) and overseas applicants (students applying from overseas). Therefore, ALL applicants are advised to see the CSC website for full details on eligibility and conditions on the scholarship.
Project Overview
Working memory (WM) allows us to hold information in mind for short periods and is essential for everyday activities such as learning, reasoning, and decision-making. However, WM has a severely limited capacity, typically holding only a few pieces of information at once. Despite this limitation, we can perform complex cognitive tasks by drawing on knowledge stored in long-term memory (LTM). For example, remembering a phone number becomes easier when some digits form a familiar sequence. Our recent research shows that familiar information improves memory not only for familiar items themselves but also for novel information encountered alongside them. Using behavioural experiments and computational modelling, we identified specific mechanisms underlying this. However, important questions remain about how these mechanisms operate and under which conditions they are activated.
This PhD project aims to further investigate the mechanisms through which familiarity benefits WM and test predictions derived from our computational model. The student will design and conduct behavioural experiments accompanied with different measurements (e..g,, EEG, eye-tracking) examining how prior knowledge influences memory representations and use computational modelling to distinguish between competing theoretical explanations. Depending on their interests, the project may also explore how these mechanisms generalise across different types of information and memory tasks. The student will develop skills in experimental design, quantitative data analysis, and computational modelling, with opportunities to contribute to the development and testing of theoretical models of human memory. The findings will advance our understanding of how prior knowledge helps us overcome the limitations of WM, with broader implications for learning and cognitive performance.
Research Environment
QMUL’s Centre for Brain and Behaviour (CBB) is a diverse, interdisciplinary, scientific environment. Within the CBB, there is a growing research group bringing together multiple research teams who offer strong expertise in cognitive differences, transdiagnostic frameworks, research co-production, and statistical, cognitive neuroscience and measurement methods relevant to the PhD project.
The supervisors are leading experts in the proposed topic and methodologies. They will provide mentorship and access to international collaborative networks, and diverse research training and career development opportunities, including but not limited to those available across QMUL. The PhD student will have the opportunity to explore their own research ideas within the broad scope of the project and under the guidance of PhD supervisors and collaborators, work on high-quality first-author and co-author publications in scientific journals, and present findings at scientific conferences.
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Entry Requirements
We are looking for candidates to have or expecting to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree and a Master’s degree in an area relevant to the project such as cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and research methods. Candidates must also have some prior research experience and data analysis skills.
Knowledge of cognitive theories, and neuroscience and skills in programming and advanced statistical approaches (e.g., mixed models) of behavioural data and brain data from EEG recordings or fMRI data, programming of online experiments, would be highly advantageous but are not essential.
You must meet the IELTS requirements for your course and upload evidence before CSC’s application deadline, ideally by 17th March 2027. You are therefore strongly advised to sit an approved English Language test as soon as possible, where your IELTS test must still be valid when you enrol for the programme.
Find out more about our entry requirements here.
How to Apply
Formal applications must be submitted through our online form by 27th January 2027 for consideration. Please identify yourself as a ‘CSC Scholar’ in the funding section of the application.
Applicants are required to submit the following documents:
- Your CV
- Personal Statement
- Evidence of English Language e.g.) IELTS Certificate
- Copies of academic transcripts and degree certificates
- References
Find out more about our application process on our SBBS website.
Informal enquiries about the project can be sent to Eda Mizrak at e.mizrak@qmul.ac.uk Admissions-related queries can be sent to sbbs-phd-admissions@qmul.ac.uk
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a formal interview by the supervisor. If you are successful in your QMUL application, then you will be issued an QMUL Offer Letter, conditional on securing a CSC scholarship along with academic conditions still required to meet our entry requirements.
Once applicants have obtained their QMUL Offer Letter, they should then apply to CSC for the scholarship with the support of the supervisor.
For further information, please go to the QMUL China Scholarship Council webpage.
See Also