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Mechanisms of Learning Under Uncertainty: Neural, Physiological, and Computational Perspectives on Mental Health

Project Overview 

Flexible learning under uncertainty is essential for adaptive behaviour. When this process breaks down, it can lead to rigid or maladaptive patterns of thought and action, which are central to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions.

This project builds on Dr Apergis-Schoute’s extensive research on cognitive flexibility, uncertainty, and neural functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder (PNAS, 2017; Brain Neurosci. Adv., 2018; Biol. Psychiatry Glob. Open Sci., 2024) and her contribution to a key deep-brain-stimulation study identifying dissociable network effects in this disorder (Biol. Psychiatry, 2019). These studies have provided important clinical insights into how uncertainty and feedback learning are altered in OCD. The next step, and the focus of this PhD, is to expand this work by developing and testing new experimental paradigms that capture how learning under uncertainty operates across the wider population.

The student will design and implement behavioural paradigms that manipulate uncertainty and feedback, using a multimodal approach combining EEG, eye-tracking, and psychophysiological recordings (skin conductance and heart-rate variability) to capture neural, attentional, and emotional dynamics of learning. Computational models will be used to quantify how individuals differ in flexibility, perseveration, and uncertainty sensitivity.

This research will broaden our understanding of learning under uncertainty beyond the key insights from simple probabilistic paradigms. By introducing more diverse and nuanced experimental approaches, the project aims to capture a fuller picture of how uncertainty influences learning and its relationship to mental health in the general population. It will also examine how individual differences in traits such as anxiety and compulsivity relate to these processes. The PhD will allow the student to contribute to developing these new approaches while building expertise in EEG, psychophysiology, computational modelling, and experimental psychology within a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment. Findings from this PhD are expected to elucidate how uncertainty influences learning and emotion, providing new insights with direct relevance for mental health and clinical practice.

Research Environment

The project will be based in the FLEX LAB (Flexible Learning & Executive Function) within the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. The lab investigates how the brain supports flexible behaviour and how its disruption contributes to OCD, anxiety, and everyday challenges such as procrastination. The student will join a dynamic interdisciplinary environment spanning neuroscience, psychology, and computational approaches, with training in EEG, psychophysiological data acquisition, experimental design, and open-science practices.

Find out more about the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences on our website.

Keywords: cognitive flexibility; uncertainty; EEG; psychophysiology; eye tracking; reinforcement learning; computational psychiatry; obsessive-compulsive disorder; mental health variation.

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 Neuroscience, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering, or Computer Science. An interest in how uncertainty and feedback shape learning and mental health is essential.

Knowledge of Programming (Python, MATLAB, or R) or quantitative data analysis is desirable. Experience with EEG and computational modelling would be highly advantageous but is 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. Annemieke Apergis-Schoute

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


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