CS - Dr Anna Maltsev
1. Numerical models of ventricular arrhythmia
Supervisor: Dr Anna Maltsev
Project description:
Ventricular arrhythmia is a leading cause of death world wide. While there is a lot of research on the subject, how normal rhythm breaks up into arrhythmic excitation is poorly understood. Our starting point will be the work of Alonso-Bar “Reentry near the percolation threshold in a heterogeneous discrete model for cardiac tissue” and our prior modeling of sinoatrial tissue to develop new agent-based numerical models for ventricular tissue to explore various cellular aspects such as connection strength and ion channel parameters on arrhythmogenesis.
Funding Notes:
This project is open to candidates applying for CSC/EPSRC/Underrepresented Studentships and self-funded candidates.
Further information:
How to apply
Entry requirements
Fees and funding
PhD Information Session 2026:
On Wednesday 14 January, we will be holding a short information session about PhD studies in Mathematics at QMUL. For full details about the event, please visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/maths/postgraduate/postgraduate-research/phd-information-session-2026/
As one of the UK’s most diverse universities, QMUL fosters an inclusive and supportive academic community.
The School of Mathematical Sciences is committed to the equality of opportunities and to advancing women’s careers. As holders of a Bronze Athena SWAN award, we offer family-friendly benefits and support part-time study.
2. Universality in Random Matrix Theory
Supervisor: Dr Anna Maltsev
Project description:
We know from numerics and experiments that many complex physical systems demonstrate the same behavior independently of the precise details of interactions among their constituent elements. This phenomenon, called universality, is conjectured to hold more generally. In the context of random matrices, the universality conjecture asserts that various properties of large random matrices are independent of the precise probability densities that govern their stochastic behavior. This conjecture has deep philosophical and practical consequences, allowing random matrix theory to be applicable in a wide variety of contexts. Two well-known examples are in data analytics (e.g., Principal Component Analysis), where both data and noise come from an unspecified non-Gaussian distribution, and in nuclear physics where the randomness models the complexity of a large atomic nucleus. Thus random matrix universality fulfils one of the central objectives in mathematical physics: the derivation of macroscopic properties of large systems, despite unknown or random specifics of interactions.
The overarching theme of this proposal is the rigorous study of eigenvector overlaps in non-Hermitian random matrix ensembles. This is a very active area of research dating back to a paper of Chalker-Mehlig which provided a fundamental statistical description of eigenvector correlations in non-Hermitian random matrices. Our main goal here is to build on the recent methodological progress in the field of non-Hermitian random matrix universality.
Funding Notes:
This project is open to candidates applying for CSC/EPSRC/Underrepresented Studentships and self-funded candidates.
Further information:
How to apply
Entry requirements
Fees and funding
PhD Information Session 2026:
On Wednesday 14 January, we will be holding a short information session about PhD studies in Mathematics at QMUL. For full details about the event, please visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/maths/postgraduate/postgraduate-research/phd-information-session-2026/
As one of the UK’s most diverse universities, QMUL fosters an inclusive and supportive academic community.
The School of Mathematical Sciences is committed to the equality of opportunities and to advancing women’s careers. As holders of a Bronze Athena SWAN award, we offer family-friendly benefits and support part-time study.