Centre-UB early career researcher fellowships are submitted into our annual competition by the prospective fellow having co-produced their fellowship proposal with a partner organisation.
To help facilitate links between potential fellows and partner organisations, our partners have submitted expressions of interest and these are included in the dropdown links below.
Contact Name: Jerome Sewell
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
Over 2 years we will launch a research project aimed at testing the impact of arts based mental health services outside of traditional mental health provisions with a particular focus on ethnic minority communities. We aim to trail whether alternative mental health provisions delivered through the use of outreach and art brought to communities has the ability to have an impact on mental health outcomes, assist with addressing many of the social ills and assist with repairing emotional, social and psychological damage done to communities. We are testing the ability to scale out mental health provisions to hard to reach communities and delivery models that allow mental health provisions to reach a wider audience whilst understanding the impact this can have and what problems it can solve. Using the arts as a gateway to providing culturally sensitive care.
Our approach is to use the process of artistic creation to integrate therapy based methods during the creation of art. Through the process of creating music, drama performances and other forms of expression we will use artistic sessions as a gateway to providing engaging therapy to hard to reach communities. We trailed this model of delivery with service users last year who created a documentary drama with us.
Our team was asked to meet the Minister for Mental health last year and we are seeking to provide systemic impact through the this research. Our desire to work with an academic centre would involve designing the research elements of the project, data collection and report writing.
Contact Name: Evaluation and Research Team
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in products and services is accelerating and is central to the Government’s growth mission and Industrial Strategy. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) must understand the potential harms that AI in consumer products may pose and explore how AI can be used to enhance the organisations effectiveness as the UK’s product regulator, while supporting growth and innovation.
When assessing AI-related risks in consumer products, it is essential to consider the broader impact on the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI). The UK’s NQI is a coordinated system of national bodies ensuring products and services meet standards for safety, reliability, and quality. As a key sponsor and participant in the NQI, OPSS must remain informed about innovations to uphold consumer protection and support the UK’s participation in global markets.
Most NQI institutions involved consumer products are using AI and Machine Learning. To fulfil its responsibility as the UK’s product regulator, OPSS must stay informed of these innovations and respond to them appropriately.
The objectives of this project are to:
- Understand whether using AI to create and assure compliance of consumer products introduces new hazards, harms, or risks to consumers and public safety, including behavioural influences
- Examine how the NQI can address these challenges, if they arise. The research spans academia, industry, government, and other regulators’ best practices internationally, to bridge knowledge gaps and foster collaboration.
Aligned with the Digital Harms and Goods theme, the project investigates the challenges and benefits of integrating AI in consumer products, focusing on technical, regulatory, and societal impacts. The aim is to ensure AI innovation supports the public good while mitigating digital harms. This will contribute to a deeper understanding of how emerging technology can shape the future and influence behaviour.
References: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/study-on-the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-on-product-safety https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/study-on-the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-on-product-safety https://opss.blog.gov.uk/2025/07/14/ais-evolving-role-in-product-safety/
Contact Name: Helen Roberts
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
The Met Office’s purpose is ‘helping people make better decisions to stay safe and thrive’. A weather forecast or warning is of no value if appropriate decisions are not made and actions are not taken.
Behavioural science is required to ensure our weather and climate information is used and useful.
Areas of particular interest are:
- using imagery in weather warnings
- weather warning response
- impact advice optimisation
- impact of false alarms versus misses
Contact Name: Alice Wootton
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
We are interested in an evidence review to identify which behavioural interventions are most effective in reducing foodborne diseases in the UK. E.g. [Types of] behavioural interventions to reduce [different FBDs] are [highly/moderately/not very] effective in [these settings] based on a [high/moderate/low] volume of [high/moderate/low] quality evidence.
Contact Name: Tony Craig
Email: [email protected]
The Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) department of the James Hutton Institute conducts critical and engaged social science, and is one of the largest and well-regarded interdisciplinary environmental social science departments in the UK. We have a strong portfolio of policy-focussed research, and aim to provide high quality social scientific evidence to help policymakers have a good foundation of independent academic knowledge to build on.
We have a particular interest in understanding pro-environmental behaviour, and behaviour change, and would be happy to discuss any proposals in this broad area.
Example areas of interest include:
- Multi-level and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental behaviour change
- Use of computer simulation models (such as agent based models) to understand the dynamics of behaviour change
- Understanding how physical, social and temporal factors influence pro-environmental behaviours
- Designing pro-environmental behaviour interventions based on social scientific evidence
Contact Name: Helen Miller-Bakewell
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
OSR provides independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the UK: we aim to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government.
OSR maintains the Code of Practice for Statistics, which sets the standards that producers of official statistics should commit to. OSR also reports publicly on system-wide issues, and on the way that statistics are being used in public debate, challenging publicly when expected standards are not met.
OSR has many areas of research interest. These are framed around our vision of statistics that serve the public good, and our focus on how statistics are produced, used and valued to achieve this vision.
Areas where an improved understanding of human behaviour, and hence behavioural research, would be useful include (but are not limited to!):
- Encouraging and enabling producers of statistics to work in ways that align with the Code.
- Understanding and encouraging the use of statistics and evidence in decision making.
- Understanding and preventing misuse of statistics and evidence.
- Communicating statistics in a way that drives behavioural change.
- Effective communication of uncertainty in statistics.
More information is given in our statement on Areas of Research Interest
Contact Name: Hannah State-Davey
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
Behavioural Analytics: This area of research would focus on evaluating Behavioural Analytic (BA) solutions for enhanced understanding of human characteristics and behaviour to understand the benefits and challenges associated with implementation of BA solutions; contribute to the advancement of BA research and developments by identifying areas for improvement; and exploring new applications of solutions and technology developed by QinetiQ. This will include supporting stakeholder engagement to prioritise use cases to solve defence and security operational challenges, collecting stakeholder feedback; and defining a roadmap for further development and integration of BA solutions.
Influence: This area of research would focus on an experimental programme of work to better understand the social (e.g. peer influence) and psychological factors (e.g. demographic factors) that affect individual-level susceptibility and resistance to online influence, such as disinformation. Specifically, the research would explore susceptibility / resistance to newer and subtler forms of influence such as via doctored images and deep fakes in comparison to more explicit methods (e.g. text-based messaging). There is also a need to identify effective counter-influence approaches to new forms of influence attempts, such as subsequent corrections provided. The objective is to identify measurable indicators of susceptibility / resilience to online influence attempts and effective counter-strategies to better understand how to support people in being more resilient to them.
Contact Name: Dr Georgie Gnan
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
At Youmi (https://www.youmisupport.com), our mission is to develop and evaluate an innovative approach to supporting the families, friends, and partners of individuals experiencing mental health difficulties. Our focus is on informal carers; those offering day-to-day support without professional training, helping them build practical skills to support their loved one’s mental health, while also prioritising their own wellbeing. We are creating a comprehensive, multicomponent digital support platform, powered by Machine Learning and Generative AI. The platform will provide clear, tailored, and actionable guidance based on the specific needs of each user. Central to our approach is research into how people can most effectively support someone experiencing common mental health problems such as depression or anxiety. This research will be co-designed and co-produced with both clinicians and individuals with lived experience – both of mental health problems and of supporting others. These contributors will be embedded in the research team and actively involved in the governance, delivery, and strategic direction of the Youmi programme. We are seeking partnerships to co-develop a PhD studentship or support a fellowship application. We are particularly interested in collaborating with researchers focused on understanding behaviour, social support, digital mental health, caregiving, co-production and applied AI. At Youmi, we are committed to cross-sector and cross-community collaboration, aiming to generate insights and solutions that are not only evidence-based but also truly practical in the real world.
Contact Name: Mariella Marzano
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
Our research interests include land manager behaviours, climate change, forest disturbance, plant health, wellbeing, wildlife management and applied environmental social science.
Contact Name: Peter Bailey
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
The Environment Agency is the main environmental regulator in England. We also are the lead agency for managing water and flooding. Business, household and individual behaviour are important for many of our work areas such as:
- business response to environmental regulation and encouraging good environmental performance
- individual and household preparedness for flood events and response to warnings
- individual and household water use water recreation such as boating, angling and swimming
The Environment Agency has a number of science and evidence teams in Head Office that would be interesting in partnering with a Behavioural Science Fellow with research interests in these areas. There are also opportunities to work with other GB environment and nature agencies and government departments as part of our environment social science networks.
Contact Name: Dr Carolyn Lovell
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
- Women in the CJS and Women who offend
- Nature and prevalence of online VAWG particularly emerging threats such as impact of generative AI
- Relationship between online and offline VAWG and extent of overlap with perpetrators/victims
- Whether digital evidence can mitigate some of the challenges of reliance on victim testimony in VAWG cases?
- Effectiveness of non-CJ interventions in reducing re-victimization in VAWG (particularly DA and stalking & harassment)
- Also please see our ARIs via: https://science.police.uk/site/assets/files/4138/npcc_policing_aris_report-1.pdf
Contact Name: Nicola York and Dr Tarsem Cooner
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow
The National Police Chiefs’ Council and Dr Tarsem Singh Cooner would like to offer the opportunity of conducting a fellowship under their mentorship to co-create 360-degree video-based training materials regarding attending domestic violence incidents to equip response officers, among other policing personnel, with the knowledge and skills to respond in a trauma-informed manner to female perpetrators of domestic abuse. The fellow would gain experience in researching and creating the scripts for such films to ensure they are realistic and impart the desired knowledge and skills, creating the films and accompanying materials, and evaluating responses to them. Dr Cooner has designed training materials including 360-degree films for social workers regarding child safeguarding scenarios and you can find out more about this here.
Contact name: Emma Claydon
Email: [email protected]
Behavioural researchers in DESNZ provide expertise in behavioural science to meet the policy, delivery and strategic needs of colleagues. This is achieved through promoting the understanding, use, and value of behavioural research in areas such as decarbonising homes, helping consumers adopt new technologies, and engaging with the public on the transition to net zero. Our approach to embedding behavioural insights in policy thinking includes:
- Independent research: commissioning primary and secondary analysis and bringing in expert thinking on behavioural challenges
- Advice and support: reviewing evidence in a systematic way, mapping behavioural journeys and barriers, running policy-solution workshops
- Central guidance: providing a library of resources, running upskilling seminars and training events.
Our areas of interest include:
Youth & Net Zero
This is a fairly open-ended call and we would be interested in receiving proposals that would be relevant under DESNZ’s remit. Potential work within a fellowship in this area could include: collating existing evidence on how young people (including children) perceive and interact with climate change, net zero, and pro-environmental decision-making (including green jobs) and/or how young people might, in turn, influence other generations; defining evidence gaps; ideating proposals on how we might fill any such gaps; forming behaviourally-informed policy recommendations; and running internal workshops to develop these.
Impact of Social Influence on Green Technology Adoption
To explore how social networks and peer influence may affect decisions to adopt green technologies. Research shows that social influence profoundly affects technology adoption, with compliance-based and identification-based effects playing crucial roles (Graf-Vlachy, Bhutz, and König, 2018; Moloney and Strengers, 2014).
Research questions could include:
- How do social and peer influence affect decisions to adopt green technologies?
- What role does social proof play in promoting green technology adoption?
- What opportunities does the role of social influence create for making effective policy around green technology adoption?
Contact Names: Elinor Lovering and Aspasia Papa
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
We are interested in hosting a Research Fellow at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to conduct impactful behavioural research work and play a critical role in embedding behavioural insight in the design and delivery of our work.
Through the partnership between leading academics at the University of Birmingham and MHCLG, the fellow will have the opportunity to facilitate knowledge exchange between government and academia, inform policy making and sector and government practices. They will co-design, shape and carry out high-profile behavioural research associated with the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report and construction product reform.
The objectives of this work are to:
- Identify specific behaviours driving poor actions across the Construction Products sector, for example, actions that go against safety or the public interest. This would build on existing systems mapping through a behaviour systems map, and select areas of focus to help improve culture within the sector.
- Determine what mechanisms would be most beneficial, supported by behavioural insights, to promote a culture change in the Construction Products sector towards a greater focus on safety.
- Identify how findings from this research can inform options, including non-legislative options, to improve culture and behaviours in a complex and large sector, as well as being involved in creating a legacy of safety following the system-wide failure that resulted in the Grenfell tragedy.
The fellow will have the opportunity to be involved in other high-profile research projects across our strategic themes, related to residents, buildings and the built environment sector. They will be part of a welcoming analytical community and work with multidisciplinary teams both in MHCLG and across government. They will also have access to development opportunities, tailored to their personal and career goals and aspirations, including in-house courses, civil service training, research seminars, mentoring and coaching by policy and analytical colleagues.
Contact Name: Moira Nicolson
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: prospective fellow
Topic area: Migration and Climate Change (please email Moira for more detail)
Contact Name: Bethany Smith
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: academic mentor or prospective fellow
The Home Office is interested in the below research topics under the Digital harms and goods theme:
A. Digital surveillance and honour’-based abuse – how technology (e.g., phone tracking, social media monitoring) is used to control victims and enforce compliance and what policy solutions can address this?
B. Digital surveillance: How are emerging technologies such as AI and connected devices used for stalking? This project could look at:
- Which emerging technologies are being used and how
- The prevalence of use of emerging technologies by stalking perpetrators
- Whether use of specific emerging technologies are indicative of risk
- Tackling the harmful use of emerging technologies for stalking
C. The feasibility of producing AI models to predict or assess the risk of stalking perpetrators and suggest methods for managing perpetrators based on risk.
Contact Name: Bethany Smith
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: academic mentor or prospective fellow
The Home Office is interested in the below research topics under the Systems Thinking theme:
A. The role of women as victims, witnesses and perpetrators of ‘honour’-based abuse – what role do women play and how can we reach them with interventions?
B. Female Genital Mutilation and the Opportunities and Limits of Criminalisation – exploring how to increase prosecutions alongside alternative justice models (e.g. restorative justice, community-led interventions) in addressing FGM.
C. How can we understand and influence adapting migrant motivations – from individual to community level – across borders, asylum, and enforcement settings, and what are the implications for policy development in the UK immigration system?
Contact Name: Victoria Coleman
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
About us:
The Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate in DBT is responsible for fostering competitive markets that maximise consumer welfare and business productivity. You would be working directly with our Analyst team, a multidisciplinary team made up of Economists and Social Researchers, who produce research and analysis that provides the basis for policy advice and project delivery. Behavioural insights help us understand how consumers and businesses behave and how people make decisions. We work closely with policy colleagues, and our research and analysis have direct policy impact. We use a variety of methods from surveys to online choice architecture reviews. We’d like to offer the opportunity for a student or fellow to work alongside us to carry out meaningful behavioural research in the consumer and competition behaviour and/or smart data space.
Topics of particular interest include:
- What is the level of consumer and competition law compliance and what drives it?
- How effective is current enforcement of consumer law and the way it is delivered?
- What reforms to consumer and competition protection would be appropriate for responding to Online Choice Architecture (OCA) seen online?
- What types of OCA are more harmful than others, what types of OCA should the government intervene in, and what type of regulation might work?
- How should behavioural models of how consumers – including vulnerable consumers – and businesses operate impact how competition and consumer laws are designed and enforced?
- What are the most important design features of a Smart Data scheme to ensure success? (Building on UK and international evidence)
Contact Name: Ben Hepworth
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
Across the justice system, staff make critical decisions daily within complex organisational structures shaped by policy, performance targets, and reporting requirements. Over time, well-intentioned reforms have layered systems with additional processes and metrics, creating environments where false assurance, process friction, and variable decision-making can inadvertently undermine effectiveness and trust. This fellowship would be suitable for anyone who wanted to explore how justice institutions can be redesigned to promote better decisions with less bureaucracy using behavioural techniques.
The fellow would have flexibility to shape the direction of the project in any of these areas:
- Data Feedback and Decision-Making: Building on work by Ben Goldacre in the NHS, this stream would examine how comparative data feedback (e.g., in magistrates’ courts or probation) can encourage reflection, learning, and greater consistency in professional judgement.
- Redesigning Assurance: Investigating the behavioural drivers of “false assurance” — the belief that more targets and reporting equate to more control — and testing interventions that build trust-based accountability and psychological safety instead.
- Streamlining processes: Conducting a behavioural process audit to identify and reduce unnecessary friction in key processes, following the NSW Government’s approach to simplifying systems and reducing human error.
Using behavioural diagnostics, experimental trials, and co-design methods, the research would generate practical insights for reform. Its overarching aim is to help the Ministry of Justice and HMPPS shift from control-heavy, compliance-oriented systems to ones that foster trust, learning, and effective human decision-making.
Contact Name: Evaluation and Research Team
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow and an academic mentor
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the UK’s national product regulator, within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). The primary purpose of OPSS is to protect people and places from product-related harm, enabling trade and growth by ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence. OPSS are proposing a project which could be used within the Studentship or Fellowship scheme.
Project outline: Psychological Harms Scoping
We would like to consider the potential for a project around measuring psychological harm in relation to connected devices, in particular automated functions within smart devices and adoption of these within the UK. OPSS has already explored the concept of psychological harm, which presents significant challenges around definition. However, we would like to explore the potential for this project, as there is an operational need to developing something pragmatic and useful to steer OPSS’s work.
There could be potential to link to a recent study around older adults and carers in assisted living and the potential resistance to having network devices in their home. This study highlighted psychological harms resulted from unmet expectations in smart devices. There may be potential for a project around developing a metric for psychological harm and the potential for behaviour change in this space. There is ongoing debate over whether psychological harm can be measured as an independent construct, or if it is too interlinked with other forms of harm (e.g., physical and financial harms). The project could investigate this question further. This project could link to the Centre-UB Research Theme around Digital Harms and Goods, linking to approaches within human-technology relationships.
Existing evidence base:
- Osman, M. (2025). Psychological harm: what is it and how does it apply to consumer products with internet connectivity?. Journal of Risk Research, 1-22. https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjrr20/28/2
- Nicholson, J., Skye Lukins, R., Coventry, L., Buil-Gil, D., Kuenzel, S., Blackwell, R., … & Tilley, D. (2025). ‘I need to be convinced that I need to become smart’: older adults views on consumer products with internet connectivity. Journal of Risk Research, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2025.2496232
Contact Name: Henriette Lang
Contact Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow
Curium and the Work Inclusivity Research Centre (Dr Daniel Wheatley) are partnering to seek a research fellow to explore how AI adoption is reshaping the behavioural dynamics of leadership within organisations. As AI continues to redefine roles, decision-making, and communication, there is a need to understand its implications for internal behavioural shifts within leaders, as well as the evolving interface between leaders and employees.
This fellowship will focus on the human components required to instil effective behaviours, and the impact of behavioural change when AI becomes embedded in the workplace. The research will focus on the future of leadership behaviours—how leaders will need to adapt when jobs, responsibilities, and relationships are transformed by AI.
The research will explore questions such as:
- What emotional and behavioural traits will leaders need to thrive in AI-enabled environments?
- How will trust, influence, and collaboration evolve between leaders and employees?
- What behavioural frameworks can support ethical and inclusive leadership in a future of AI?
- What is the impact on designing the organisational culture when behaviours are the fundamental basis for success?
We expect the research to adopt a mixed-method approach including:
- Interviews/case studies
- Observations
- Diary entries of leaders
While there is extensive research on the job market impacts and HR policy implications of AI adoption, there is little on the impact of AI on internal organisational dynamics. This research will look to address this gap, contributing to the overall UB mission through examining the human behavioural component of AI adoption. It will also support Curium’s practice in developing future propositions to support leaders through AI adoption. Curium offers extensive access to a diverse client base across industries, providing a rich environment for applied research and real-world insights. The Fellow will have the opportunity to engage with senior leaders, observe behavioural dynamics in action, and contribute to shaping leadership development strategies for the future.
To help facilitate links between potential fellows and partner organisations, our academics have submitted expressions of interest and these are included in the links below.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a prospective fellow
BACKGROUND: Birmingham Business School has developed a research project in collaboration with the Forestry Commission to understand how seldom-heard groups experience forests, and the potential for forest visits to foster wider behaviours that support wellbeing and care for the environment. The Forestry Commission seeks to better understand how their forestry sites are experienced by different groups to inform the design of forest infrastructure, site services and marketing communications. It is expected that the fellow would work in close collaboration with the Forestry Commission.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
- What kind of experiences are stimulated during visits to forests, and which forest features and activities trigger transformative nature connections?
- How do these connections persist after the visit, and in what ways do they influence behaviours (e.g. repeat visits, physical activity, social connections, pro-environmental actions)?
- How do experiences, behaviours and barriers differ for seldom-heard groups (e.g., low-income households, disabled people, ethnic minority communities, carers, refugees/asylum seekers, older adults, neurodivergent people)?
Fellows are expected to justify which seldom-heard groups are the most likely contenders to be the main foci for the research. There is a particular dearth of existing evidence in relation to neurodiversity, but important gaps remain for all seldom-heard groups.
METHODOLOGY: Fellows are invited to suggest and develop an appropriate methodology, which may include one or more of the following:
- Analysis of existing Forestry Commission survey, visitor and marketing data.
- Survey of forest users.
- Walking interviews with forest users.
- Engagement with seldom-heard community groups.
DISSEMINATION AND IMPACT: There is an expectation that the fellow will develop an Inclusive Forest Engagement Toolkit containing evidence-based prompts, with low-cost design tweaks and programme ideas that the Forestry Commission can rollout across its sites. The Forestry Commission will actively disseminate research findings and the toolkit across its sites, partners and networks.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
The Action Research Network (ARN) is a collaborative network of research practitioners that brings together educators across the UAE through a series of structured workshops, online resources, and professional networking opportunities, culminating in a conference to share best practice and knowledge generated to enhance education through research. The ARN has been ongoing since 2022 and to date and has supported nearly 500 educators across over 100 schools in the UAE, with recent expansion in India and Malaysia.
Action Research, as defined by McNiff (2017), is a process conducted by educators for educators. It allows practitioners to assess, reflect on, and improve their teaching approaches by designing and implementing interventions tailored to their specific classroom or school context. Literature consistently highlights the effectiveness of Action Research in promoting teacher agencies, professional growth, and improved student outcomes (Lambirth, et al., 2021). It is particularly powerful in complex, fast-changing environments like education, and in understanding culturally and contextually specific needs in education (Mertler, 2024) where localized and timely responses are critical.
The ARN contributes to innovations in educational methodologies to evaluate impact, particularly for communities of practice. Traditional mixed-methods research includes capturing surveys, interviews, social and traditional media impact tracking, and resource engagement indicators to analyse the value of intervention against the Wenger, Trayner, and De Laat’s (2011) framework for value creation in communities of practice. While these approaches assess impact of the intervention through self-report and individual engagement, Social Network Analysis allows for a comparative view of the value added by engaging with the network across wider Educational communities including the school the participant works in and across sustained periods of impact well past participation in the network. The Action Research Network is a joint effort with scholars in the UAE, UK, and with local and international Education partners, and we are always open to expanding impact, outreach and opportunities to engage globally. More information can be found here.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
My broad area of expertise is applied cognitive psychology, with a focus on forensic applications, such as police identification parades, supporting vulnerable victims or witnesses of crime to report their best evidence. I conduct vigorous basic science work to understand the underlying memory mechanisms, but also translate this in applied work to provide a knowledge-base to develop evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice. For example, I work closely with The National VIPER Bureau (on identity parades), and other police forces nationally. My research has been used for police training and included in White papers and policy recommendations.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
My research integrates assessment of patient perceptions and treatment preferences into the development of patient-centred interventions to improve outcomes for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Our case study for IMI-PREFER (http://www.imi-prefer.eu/) on preferences for preventive treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is being integrated into clinical trial design and directly informed international recommendations which are shaping regulatory policy at a global level. Ongoing studies using qualitative and quantitative choice-based techniques include assessment of patient and clinician preferences for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s disease and lupus nephritis, working closely with patient research partners as collaborators. I am academic lead for the University of Birmingham Rheumatology Research Patient Partnership (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/r2p2), supporting patient and public involvement across the research activities of the Rheumatology Research Group in the Department of Inflammation and Ageing.
Potential PhD studentships include, but are not limited to:
- Understanding patient and clinician preferences for treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis
- Assessment of patient preferences for risks and benefits of treatments for lupus nephritis
- Development of clinical decision support tools to facilitate shared decision making
- Impact of health literacy interventions on treatment decision making.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
I study how the human hand is controlled by the brain, nerves, and muscles. I mostly focus on very rapid reflex-like behaviours, and the sensory and movement contexts that affect these reflexes during behaviour. I record electrical responses from muscles and I stimulate nerves, muscles and the brain using electrical and magnetic stimulation. The work is mostly at the fundamental level of understanding the brain, but has potential application in sports, rehabilitation, ergonomics, psychology and robotics.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
My research interests span a wide range of topics in the intersections of analysis, applied probability, computational mathematics and evolutionary game theory. Most of my research are inspired from applications in statistical physics and biological/social/material sciences. My research often combines mathematical rigour and computer simulations.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
Agent-based models (ABMs) are powerful computational tools used to simulate and study complex systems in various fields such as social science, epidemiology, and economics. These models rely on individual agents and their interactions to capture emergent phenomena that cannot be understood through traditional analytical approaches. However, the effectiveness and validity of ABMs depend heavily on selecting appropriate model parameters as nonlinear inverse problems—a challenging task due to the high-dimensional, non-linear, and often stochastic nature of these models. I would support a fellow looking to develop efficient optimization algorithms for parameter selection in ABMs, via designing tailored sketching schemes for dimensionality reduction, and Learning-to-Optimize schemes, which leverage deep neural networks to learn the structure of the underlying optimization problem for numerical acceleration.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
I am an academic in Public Health at the University of Birmingham with expertise in health communication, digital health, social marketing, and behaviour change. My research focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating communication interventions that promote healthy behaviours and improve access to services, particularly among underserved and vulnerable populations. I am especially interested in the development and assessment of digital public health campaigns, including those using mobile apps, social media, chatbots, and AI-powered tools to engage communities in preventive health behaviours. My work often involves user-centred and participatory design, implementation science approaches, and mixed methods evaluations. I have applied these methods in projects on topics such as family planning, asthma management, patient portal use, and mental health—often in complex or resource-constrained settings such as the MENA region or within the UK’s public health system. I welcome collaborations with partner organisations, charities, local authorities, or fellows interested in digital health interventions, communication for behaviour change, or public engagement strategies. I am particularly keen to support PhD or fellowship applications focused on improving the design and impact of digital campaigns addressing topics such as vaccination uptake, air quality and respiratory health, NCD prevention, or health literacy.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
I am generally interested in the intersection of forensic and clinical psychology, with research expertise in sexual violence (including male-on-male sexual assault and offences in the context of chemsex), non-consensual intimate image sharing, and the prevalence, correlates, and impact of child abuse and neglect. My work frequently explores the social, psychological, and systemic factors influencing vulnerability, victimisation, and justice outcomes within these domains. I adopt a multi-method approach, employing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method designs to address complex research questions. Recent projects have included modelling the cumulative impact of adverse childhood experiences on health outcomes, examining attrition in sexual offence investigations, and exploring attitudes toward victims of sexual violence across diverse populations. I am particularly interested in how extra-legal and attitudinal factors shape investigative practices and legal outcomes, and in developing evidence-based interventions that reduce harm and improve service responses for victims and survivors. My research extends to the evaluation of policy and practice innovations in child protection, early childhood development, and violence prevention. I have led and co-led large-scale applied research initiatives in partnership with government bodies, law enforcement, and health authorities in the UK and internationally, with a strong focus on translating findings into practice and policy impact. Broadly, my work is grounded in developmental and social-ecological perspectives, seeking to understand how early adversity, mental health, and contextual factors interact to influence risk and resilience across the lifespan. By integrating rigorous research with applied partnerships, I aim to inform the design of effective interventions, support systems, and governance frameworks that enhance protection, promote wellbeing, and deliver justice for vulnerable individuals and communities.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
My research focuses on understanding how emerging technologies—such as big data analytics, social media, and artificial intelligence—shape organisations’ operations, innovation management, and sustainable supply chain management. I have extensive experience in mixed-method research, with publications using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, including surveys, case studies, secondary data analysis, analytical modelling, and lab-based experiments. My work often bridges theory and practice, engaging with industry partners to ensure real-world impact. More details on my profile and publications can be found on my webpage: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/business/zhan-yuanzhu.
Proposed Research Idea: I am interested in developing a PhD studentship or fellowship application that explores how AI-enabled decision-support systems can drive sustainable practices through influencing human behaviour in organisations and supply chains. While AI has the potential to optimise resource allocation and reduce environmental impact, its success depends on how managers and other decision-makers perceive, trust, and adopt these tools.
The project could address questions such as:
- How do behavioural biases and trust dynamics affect the adoption and effective use of AI in sustainability-focused decisions?
- Can AI-generated recommendations be designed to facilitate decision-makers toward more sustainable choices without compromising operational performance?
- How do transparency and explainability in AI outputs shape user engagement and sustainability outcomes?
The study aims to contribute to theory on technology adoption, behavioural operations, and sustainable supply chain management, while offering actionable policy and design guidelines for industry.
Email: [email protected]
I am interested in supporting studentship and fellowship applications on all topics related to language and literacy. In my own research I apply a wide range of methods to understand the processes and skills that underpin reading, spelling and writing. I am passionate about the use of evidence-informed practices in literacy education, and am experienced in delivery and evaluation of literacy programmes.
Email: [email protected]
Looking to partner with: a partner organisation and a prospective fellow
My works centres around understanding and supporting early child development. In particular, I focus on mechanisms of risk and resilience in the development of attention, emotion-regulation and thinking skills (sometimes known as executive functions) in the first 5 years of life. My interests include empowering parents and early years educators to support children’s development, which includes identifying and addressing structural, systemic and psychosocial barriers and facilitators to providing a rich and supportive learning environment, in home or group settings. I aim to embed co-design and collaboration through my work and take a neurodiversity- and culturally-affirming approach when considering diverse paths to flourishing.