She then continued her studies at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MSc in Artificial Intelligence in 1994, followed by a PhD that explored the use of immunology as an inspiration for computing, examining a range of techniques applied to optimization and data classification problems.

[2] Her dissertation was titled Immunology as a metaphor for computational information processing: Fact or fiction?,[3] and her doctoral advisor was Peter Ross.

In 2000 Hart took a position as a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, and was promoted to a Reader, Professor, and in 2008 Chair in Natural Computation.

She continues to research in the area of developing novel bio-inspired techniques for solving a range of real-world optimisation and classification problems,[4] as well as exploring the fundamental properties of immune-inspired computing through modelling and simulation.

Hart is D. Coordinator of Fundamentals of Collective Adaptive Systems (FoCAS), a Future and Emerging Technologies Proactive Initiative funded by the European Commission under FP7.