SAINTS CDT: Frequently asked questions

SAINTS stands for ‘Lifelong Safety Assurance of AI-enabled Autonomous Systems'. Our vision is to train PhD students with the research expertise and skills necessary to ensure the development of responsible and trustworthy AI.

CDT stands for ‘Centre for Doctoral Training’, where the University and its partners come together to offer combined research and expertise to support and train PhD students.

By undertaking your PhD in a CDT, you’ll be part of a prestigious cohort that will study together within a structured programme, providing you with a supportive and collaborative environment throughout your programme. You’ll also join a thriving group where you’ll carry out your research alongside people from different backgrounds, and with different perspectives. 

Our industry partners are organisations of all sizes who recognise the importance of developing, regulating, legislating, adopting and operating AI safely. They have partnered with the University of York because they know that our research in this area is outstanding and they are excited to support our PhD students.

We are also partnering with non-industry partners including regulatory and policy organisations, with many of them offering to host research exchanges. Our partners have helped us to develop our CDT to make sure that our graduates have the skills they are looking for.

The following list of publications gives a good introduction to topics relevant to SAINTS, and covers a wide range of disciplines and topics. It is by no means essential to read these papers, but we hope that you find them interesting.

• Amodei, D., Olah, C., Steinhardt, J., Christiano, P., Schulman, J., & Mané, D. (2016). Concrete problems in AI safety. arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.06565. 
• Ashmore, R., Calinescu, R., & Paterson, C. (2021). Assuring the machine learning lifecycle: Desiderata, methods, and challenges. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 54(5), 1-39. 
• Buhmann, A., & Fieseler, C. (2021). Towards a deliberative framework for responsible innovation in artificial intelligence. Technology in Society, 64, 101475. 
• Burton, S., Habli, I., Lawton, T., McDermid, J., Morgan, P., & Porter, Z. (2020). Mind the gaps: Assuring the safety of autonomous systems from an engineering, ethical, and legal perspective. Artificial Intelligence, 279, 103201.
• Chesterman, S. (2020). Artificial intelligence and the limits of legal personality. International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 69(4), 819-844. 
• Etzioni, A., Etzioni, O. (2017). Incorporating Ethics into Artificial Intelligence. J Ethics 21, 403–418 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-017-9252-2 EU AI Act: first regulation on artificial intelligence 
• Habli, I., Lawton, T., & Porter, Z. (2020). Artificial intelligence in health care: accountability and safety. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 98(4), 251. 
• Hawkins, R., Paterson, C., Picardi, C., Jia, Y., Calinescu, R., & Habli, I. (2021). Guidance on the assurance of machine learning in autonomous systems (AMLAS). arXiv preprint arXiv:2102.01564. 
• Hendrycks, D., Carlini, N., Schulman, J., & Steinhardt, J. (2021). Unsolved problems in ML safety. arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.13916. 
• Jia, Y., Lawton, T., Burden, J., McDermid, J., & Habli, I. (2021). Safety-driven design of machine learning for sepsis treatment. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 117, 103762. 
• Joyce, K., Smith-Doerr, L., Alegria, S., Bell, S., Cruz, T., Hoffman, S. G., ... & Shestakofsky, B. (2021). Toward a sociology of artificial intelligence: A call for research on inequalities and structural change. Socius, 7, 2378023121999581. 
• Kaas, M. H., Porter, Z., Lim, E., Higham, A., Khavandi, S., & Habli, I. (2023). Ethics in conversation: Building an ethics assurance case for autonomous AI-enabled voice agents in healthcare. arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.14182. 

Your PhD in Safe AI will train you to work at the cutting edge of AI development and safety assurance. Although many AI careers don’t require a PhD, the knowledge and skills you will gain as part of SAINTS are unique, and the programme has been developed with input from industry professionals and our partners.

This CDT will help you to flourish in your future career, whether that is in further academic research, in a safety or product development role in industry, or working on national strategy, regulation or legislation in the public or private sector. The research you will carry out will make you an expert in your field, while the networks you develop will be the building blocks for your professional life.

You can study the PhD for four years full-time, or eight years part-time.

Part-time study is only available to postgraduate researchers that do not need a Student visa to study in the UK.

Our aim is to recruit a total of 60 PhD researchers across a wide range of disciplines over the duration of the SAINTS CDT. The number of researchers that we recruit to each discipline will depend on the quality of the candidates that apply.

There will be approximately 12 students in a single cohort that starts in the September of each year of admission. There will be a total of 60 students over the full five year period.

The first cohort of postgraduate researchers in the SAINTS CDT will start in September 2024.

No, the PhD in Safe AI is not an integrated programme and does not provide a specific Masters qualification. The length of the PhD in Safe AI reflects the in-depth nature of the programme, providing researchers with the expertise and skills to become future leaders within their discipline.

Yes, postgraduate researchers based in the SAINTS CDT will be funded.

A doctoral stipend of a minimum of £19,237 tax-free (pro-rata for part-time students) will be paid to postgraduate researchers each year. This will cover your living expenses and will be paid to you in regular instalments. It is likely to increase yearly in line with inflation.

Your annual tuition fees will also be paid, and there will be funding available for you to attend relevant events and conferences. 

Your individual research project is not pre-determined by the SAINTS academic team. If you are invited to join stage two of the application process, you will start to share your research ideas through your research statement.

Research projects will be defined in greater detail after applicants have been offered a place. At that point, offer holders will start to discuss their ideas with their supervisor to make the best of their skills and interests within the context of the team they will be working in.

No, you don’t need to contact your preferred supervisor.

Unlike more traditional approaches to applying for a PhD, in SAINTS you are not required or expected to contact anyone about project supervision. You can, for example, speak with individuals about your research area and discuss possible challenges in your area of interest. However, as research projects are defined after offers are made, you do not need to speak to the academic team at this stage. 

Please note that you should not contact any of the SAINTS co-investigators as they will be unable to assist you due to their involvement in the selection process. You can view a list of the SAINTS co-investigators in the drop-down section entitled ‘Team’ at the bottom of the home page for the SAINTS Centre for Doctoral Training. 

The first six months will have a significant amount of time allocated to taught courses and team working, with group and individual assessments. Beyond this period, there will be ongoing taught skills, but the focus will be increasingly on team research and your individual PhD topic.

Our partners will provide you with 'research exchange' opportunities where, as part of your PhD, you will work in industry or the public sector to gain valuable experience that will support your research development. 

The partners will also provide other forms of support, from real-world data and case studies to guest lectures and access to facilities.

Many of our partners also expect to offer employment opportunities to SAINTS researchers when they graduate.

Typically, you should have, or expect to obtain, one of the following combinations of academic qualification:

• A first-class honours degree (or equivalent), OR
• 2:1 in an honours degree and a Master’s degree (or equivalent)

We recognise that applicants may not have followed a traditional career path, and therefore relevant work experience or equivalent qualifications can be taken into account. 

Prior practical experience in creating AI-enabled systems is desirable, but is not essential.

The SAINTS CDT is the UK’s first multidisciplinary PhD programme focused solely on the safety of AI.

You don’t necessarily need to have a degree in computer science. However, your knowledge and experience should enable you to undertake doctoral research in your chosen area within SAINTS. Key areas of research will be in the following academic disciplines: computer science, engineering, mathematics, health sciences, law, philosophy and sociology.

A knowledge of basic computer programming skills is required to enable you to accurately examine statements and assumptions. If you have little or no experience of programming, we will provide a free, week-long 'boot camp' before the PhD programme starts in September 2024. This will give you the skills you need, whatever your background.

Yes, you can apply for the PhD in Safe AI if you have already obtained a PhD qualification.

UKRI-funded studentships are open to UK (home) and international students. Due to funding arrangements, the number of opportunities available to international applicants is limited; however, we still encourage you to apply.

To be treated as a home student, you must meet one of the following criteria:

• be a UK national (meeting residency requirements)
• have settled status
• have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements)
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If you are unable to meet any of the above criteria, you will be treated as an international student.

Our CDT has funding to support 60 PhD studentships (and to cover all costs) but we know that, in some cases, students have other means of financial support. We would be happy to discuss this further if this applies to you, but you should be aware that enrolment is different to a standard PhD, you would still need to go through the standard application route (details below), and the costs of participation will be higher than usual.

All the rest of our usual advice still applies - including ATAS requirements if you are an international student.

Take a look at the how to apply section on our PhD recruitment web pages.

If you have any further questions, please email the SAINTS Administration Team at saints-cdt-admissions@york.ac.uk. 

Yes, you can apply if you’re still studying.

At stage one of the application process, you simply need to tell us about the qualifications you've already achieved, about your current studies, and the predicted grade you hope to achieve.

If we are impressed by your application in stages one and two, we will invite you through to stage three. At that point, we will request official evidence of the qualifications you've already achieved and predicted grades for your current course of study.

No, you do not need to identify a potential supervisor or submit a research proposal when you start the application process.

The three-part application process is designed to assess your academic and collaborative abilities, and to look for evidence of your potential to undertake research in your chosen area. We therefore encourage you to start thinking about how your research interests fit with our two key themes:

• Life-long safety of AI-AS: Safety-driven design and training for evolving contexts; testing for open and uncertain operating environments; safe retraining and continual learning; proactive monitoring procedures and dynamic safety cases; ongoing assurance of societal and ethical acceptability.
• Safety of increasingly autonomous AI-AS: Understanding human-AI interaction to design safe joint cognitive systems; the assurance of safe transition between human and AI-AS control; achieving effective human oversight and AI-AS explainability; preserving human autonomy and responsibility.

If we invite you to attend stage three of the application process, then we will ask you to provide two academic references at that point.

If you are invited to stage three of our applications process, you will attend one of our full-day group selection events. These will take place in the week commencing Monday 18 March 2024 on campus at the University of York.

If you are unable to attend the selection event in person, we will invite you to an online event which will take place in the same week.

Whether you attend online or in person, we will provide you with more information about what you can expect nearer to the time. This will include date and time of the event, exact location and details about what the day will involve.

After each stage of the recruitment process we will contact you to let you know if you have been invited to progress to the next stage.

If we choose to make you an offer we will email you to let you know. Our offer may ask you to meet certain conditions, usually based on your academic qualifications, references or, if you are an international student, your English language qualifications.

You will primarily be based at the Institute for Safe Autonomy on Campus East at the University of York.

You’ll also be able to make full use of the facilities in the department of your primary discipline. This will be on Campus East or Campus West, depending on the location of the department.

Take a look at the University’s Campus Map to find out where our departments are located.

You can choose to apply for university accommodation, which is located on our compact parkland campus. The majority of our postgraduate accommodation is in Wentworth College, our postgraduate-only college based on Campus West.

Find out more about Postgraduate accommodation at York

There are lots of ways you can get involved: not only in your studies, but in student life while you are here in York.

You can join student societies, get involved in a range of sports, or make a difference and stand for election as a course rep.

The University’s Graduate Students’ Association represents and supports all postgraduate students and also offers a range of events and activities.

Completing a PhD is challenging and we would not expect postgraduate researchers to commit to part-time work outside of their studies, unless it was only a small amount of hours per week. 

You will be paid a stipend - a tax free amount like a salary paid quarterly. You do not pay national insurance and, if you have a student loan, you do not have to start paying it back during your PhD. While completing a full-time PhD you are not required to pay council tax (unless you live with non-students).

PhD students are sometimes given the opportunity to do some tutoring or demonstrating which can provide an additional source of income.

In some PhD programmes, it is possible to work full-time and study for a PhD on a part-time basis. 

With SAINTS, we do not recommend that you study part-time while holding a full-time job. Schedule clashes can lead to you missing out on significant academic opportunities taking place during the working week, such as training, workshops and conferences. 

In addition, it is important to note that students in full-time employment are not eligible for a stipend of any kind from UKRI. We therefore do not accept applications from individuals working full-time who wish to study for a PhD on a part-time basis.

Yes, international students are welcome to apply. However, it is important to note that the number of funded studentships for international students is limited.

If you need a Student Visa in order to study in the UK, please note that you must study as a full-time student. It is not possible for you to study on a part-time basis.

If you're a non-native English speaking applicant you must provide evidence of your English language ability. If we choose to make you an offer, then we will ask you to provide a language test certificate at that point, in March 2024. 

If we make you an offer, you may need to obtain a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) in order to make a visa application to study with us. You may also be required to apply for an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) Certificate. If an ATAS is required for entry, then this will be noted on your offer letter.

Find out if you need an ATAS certificate

We offer dedicated support to international students, which will help you settle into life studying and living in the UK.

Read more about the support we offer