PhD research
City Agentic Finance Lab (CAFiL) welcomes prospective PhD students whose research could shape how AI agents are designed, tested and governed in finance.
Research areas
PhD research at CAFiL connects to our four research themes: agentic payments and commerce; credit and risk intelligence; compliance engineering and AI assurance; and digital money and tokenisation. A topic can also start from one of the 20 fields of our experiments, from consumer lending and SME finance to agent-to-agent markets and tokenised funds. Projects can be technical, empirical or both: building and evaluating agents, simulating markets, or studying governance and regulation. All research stays within our scope statement.
What PhD researchers do at CAFiL
PhD researchers take part in the work of the lab. They:
- lead studies, and design and run experiments
- contribute to the Evidence Programme
- co-author with CAFiL members and partners
- present their work at Agentic Finance Talks and Roundtables, where appropriate
- work on real problems with industry partners.
What you gain
Alongside the research degree itself, PhD researchers at CAFiL gain:
- supervision in an engineering department
- access to real industry questions, and to data where partners agree
- a network in London, the UK and internationally
- opportunities to publish and to present at conferences
- teaching experience, where the university offers it.
How to apply
Applications are made through the university’s research-degree process: see research degrees at City St George’s. Before you apply, we encourage you to send us a short CV and a two-page outline of your research idea through the form below. We will tell you whether the idea fits our themes and how to take it further.
Funding
Funding for PhD study may be available through the university and through external routes, such as research councils, charities, employers and governments. What is available changes from year to year, and we cannot promise funding. The university’s research-degree pages set out the current options.
Postdoctoral and visiting researchers
We also welcome enquiries from postdoctoral researchers and visiting academics whose work fits our themes. Use the same form and choose the option that applies to you.
Questions
How is PhD study funded?
Through the university’s schemes and external schemes, which change from year to year. The university’s research-degree pages list the current opportunities. We cannot promise funding.
How is a supervisor found?
Supervision depends on the fit between your proposal and our members’ expertise, and on the university’s admissions process. We will tell you early on whether your idea fits.
What should the outline include?
In no more than two pages: the question you want to answer, why it matters for finance, the method you have in mind and how it relates to our themes.
PhD or visiting researcher enquiry
Attach a short CV and a two-page outline, as PDF files.