Many developed countries are experiencing a great demographic change with an ever increasing population life expectancy. In the UK there are now more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18.
Societies need to ensure that as people live longer they maintain their independence in later life by staying healthy and active for longer. This need which stems from socio-economic factors, poses great challenges for engineers and scientists in the field of healthcare engineering.
Through the creation of a Doctoral Training Programme in Healthcare Engineering for an Ageing Population, UCL aims to provide research training for specialist engineers and scientists who wish to pursue careers in the fast-growing section of the healthcare industry addressing improvements to health and quality of life in old age. The students on this programme will pursue their projects with world-leading groups at UCL, which in the area of biomedical research has one of the strongest research communities in the world.
Ageing research at UCL takes place across many of UCL’s schools, faculties, divisions and departments, covering a diverse range of topics including: biomedical engineering, biomechanics, biomaterials, drug delivery, accessibility, infection control engineering, assistive technologies, non and minimally invasive therapies, orthopaedic and dental devices, cardiovascular devices, diagnostics, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
Leader: Nader Saffari