Neurodivergence and mental health in children and young people
- Primary Supervisor: Dr Giorgia Michelini
- Co-supervisor(s):
- Studentship Funding: Awaiting CSC Funding Decision
- Application Deadline: 28th January 2026
- PhD Programme: PhD Psychology
Project Overview
Neurodivergent children and young people (e.g., with neurodevelopmental traits and/or diagnoses, including autism, ADHD and dyslexia) experience mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety, at much higher rates than neurotypical peers. However, these issues in neurodivergent youth are often not recognised and supported early enough in clinical settings, leading to a host of negative outcomes. We also know very little about what drives the emergence of mental health problems in neurodivergent young people, which has hindered the development of mental health interventions tailored to this population.
This PhD project aims to identify the processes leading to common mental health conditions in neurodivergent young people and develop new early identification and support strategies. Working with international collaborators and research networks, the student will have the opportunity to develop skills in transdiagnostic dimensional approaches (e.g., Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, Research Domain Criteria) and advanced analysis of existing longitudinal datasets, including measures of psychosocial, neurocognitive and genetic risk factors in neurodivergent and neurotypical young people. The project may also include opportunities to collect new quantitative or qualitative data and work in collaboration with the neurodivergent community and charity sector (e.g., participatory/co-production approaches), based on the student’s interests. The findings will inform new approaches to improve neurodivergent young people’s mental health, in line with the priorities of the neurodivergent community.
Research Environment
QMUL’s Centre for Brain and Behaviour (CBB) is a diverse, interdisciplinary, scientific environment. Within the CBB, the Cognition and NeuroDevelopment in Youth (CANDY) Lab, a growing research group bringing together six research teams co-led by the supervisor and other academics, offers strong expertise in transdiagnostic frameworks, research co-production, and statistical, cognitive neuroscience and psychiatric genetics approaches relevant to the PhD project.
The supervisors are leading experts in the proposed topic and methodologies. They will provide mentorship and access to large existing samples, international collaborative networks, and diverse research training and career development opportunities, including but not limited to those available across QMUL and the ESRC LISS Doctoral Training Partnership. 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.
Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website.
Funding & Eligibility
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 28th January 2026. 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.
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 mental health, developmental psychology, psychiatry, cognitive neuroscience, statistical genetics, bioinformatics or epidemiology. Candidates must also have some prior research experience and data analysis skills.
Knowledge of mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions and skills in programming and advanced statistical approaches (e.g., longitudinal or structural equation modelling, machine learning) of clinical/behavioural data, brain data from EEG recordings or genetic data would be highly advantageous but are not required.
You must meet the IELTS requirements for your course and upload evidence before CSC’s application deadline, ideally by 1st March 2026. 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.
Please find further details on our English Language requirements page.
How to Apply
Formal applications must be submitted through our online form by 28th January 2026 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 Dr Giorgia Michelini (Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Neurodiversity & Mental Health)
Admissions-related queries can be sent to sbbs-pgadmissions@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.
Apply online