Each 4-year PhD studentship is conducted in close collaboration with a partner organisation. The studentships are with a range of partner organisations (including public, private, or third sector partners) with interest and expertise in human behaviour. The studentships reflect the three pillar themes of Centre-UB (digital harms and goods, environmental change and sustainability, and promoting equity in physical and mental wellbeing), as well as our cross-cutting theme of systems thinking. Often, their research crosses discipline boundaries as well as falling under several of our themes.
Our current PhD studentships starting in 2024 and 2025 are listed below. Please follow the link for more information about each project:
| Studentship title | PhD student | Partner | Supervisors | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluating the Impact of the Domestic Abuse Suicide Safeguarding Toolkit | Eleanor Watson | Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner | Prof. James Rockey and Prof. Heather Flowe | Business |
| Starting School Study: Smartphones and Adolescent Risk and Resilient Factors for Wellbeing When Transitioning School | Jacquelynn Ennis | Forward Thinking Birmingham, The Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust | Dr. Victoria Goodyear and Prof. Miranda Pallan | Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences |
| Increasing physical activity levels among frail older adults: studying optimal implementation and mechanisms through which benefits occur | Alexandra Munns | St Andrews Healthcare | Dr. Katrien Segaert and Prof. Samuel Lucas | Psychology |
| Understanding risk and resilience factors for mental health and neurodiversity with BERRI in children and adolescents | Matthew Hutchinson | BERRI | Prof. Peter Tino and Prof. Stephane De Brito | Computer Sciences |
| Developing digital tools to improve screening for autism: Identifying diagnostic markers based on facial and bodily movements | Rachel Field | Helios | Prof. Jennifer Cook and Dr. Connor Keiting | Psychology |
| Shaping Protective Behaviour: Optimising the Communication of Climate Change Health Statistics | Oscar Garcia Cervantes | Office for National Statistics | Dr. Allan Hernandez and Prof. Michalis Drouvelis | Business |
| Bio-behavioural and perceptual approaches to enhancing deepfake analysis | Timothy Murphy | National Police Chief’s Council | Prof. Jennifer Cook and Dr. Helio Cuve | Psychology |
| Using physical exercise to improve the welfare of content moderators | Liang-Yu Chen | Moonshot CVE | Prof. Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Dr. Fazeelat Duran | Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences |
| Multi-modal travel in shared spaces – improving cooperation, safety, and traveller confidence | Sanoji Nipunika | Transport for the West Midlands | Dr. Dilum Dissanayake and Dr. Lei Zhang | Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| A data analytics approach to identifying doping risk indicators – development of a doping suspect prioritisation tool | Bethany Mullarkey | Anti-Doping UK | Prof. Ian Boardley and Dr. Rowland Seymour | Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences |
| Understanding the behaviour of analysts working with online violent extremist content | Barbara Vinagre Mota | Tech Against Terrorism | Prof. Jessica Woodhams and Dr. Fazeelat Duran | Psychology |
| Embedding behavioural science insights into Early Intervention and Prevention across service areas (adult social care, children and families and housing), to explore ways of supporting citizens before they present to the council during crisis | Ruth Goold | Birmingham City Council | Prof. Catherine Needham and Prof. Jessica Pykett | Social Policy and Society |
| An exploration of the support and safety nets in place for families with children experiencing food insecurity | Eleanor Ansell | Birmingham City Council | Prof. Miranda Pallan and Dr. Marie Murphy | Applied Health Research |
| How does ‘trust’ influence partnership synergy within Participatory Research in the voluntary and community sector? | Clare Harewood | Birmingham Voluntary Service Council | Prof. Jessica Pykett and Dr. Gerald Jordan | Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| Musical Groove – Exploring the brain and body interactions that produce musical movement in health and disease | George Arthur | Parkinsons UK | Dr. Maria Witek and Dr. Ned Jenkinson | Music |
| Pro-environmental behaviour change and the role of zoos | Andrea Rizzardi Orlandi | Twycross Zoo | Prof. Sarah Beck and Prof. Peter Kraftl | Psychology |
| Neurodiversity in parent-child relationships in the early years: Researching the diversity of the parent-infant system, and developing guidance | John Williams | The National Children’s Bureau | Prof. Andrew Bremner and Dr. Andrew Surtees | Psychology |
| Advancing precision digital therapeutics for brain health and wellbeing | Charley Roberts | MindMaze | Dr. Katja Kornysheva and Dr. David Punt | Psychology |
| Virtual Reality (VR) interventions to address youth gang involvement | Daisy Askew | Virtual Decisions | Dr. Stephanie Burnett Heyes, Dr. James Hodgkinson and Dr. Kate Woodcock | Psychology |
| Neuroinclusion in Themed Entertainment Attractions: Making Themed Leisure Accessible and Inclusive for Neurodivergent People | Hayley Green | Katapult; Drayton Manor | Dr. Cathy Manning, Prof. Peter Kraftl and Prof. Sophie Hadfield-Hill | Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| Co-designing a digital behavioural intervention to improve indoor environmental quality and asthma management | Zakyieh Mohammadi | The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | Prof. Alice Turner, Dr. Marco Bardos and Dr. Suzanne Bartington | Applied Health Sciences |
| Understanding pro-environmental decision making: an agent-based modelling approach | Veronika Wendler | The James Hutton Institute | Dr. Lei Zhang and Prof. Caroline Moraes | Psychology |
| Transdiagnostic Neurodiversity and Wellbeing: Understanding Differences at Diagnosis and Outcomes Post-diagnosis | Saskia Howe de la Torre | ProblemShared | Dr. Andrew Surtees, Prof. Ian Apperly and Dr. Rory Devine | Psychology |
| Enhancing Well-being through Earth Heritage Engagement: A Participatory Study at the Jurassic Coast | Ho-Chung Tam | Dorset Council | Dr. Faye Sayer, Prof. Kirsty Edgar and Dr. Richard Sayer | History |
| Digital Health Engagement in Care (DHEC): Investigating health behaviours through digital health services | Julia Ballavenuto | Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Dr. Marco Bardos and Prof. Peymané Adab | Applied Health Sciences |
| Alternative Anchor Institutions Within Food Systems: Health, Wellbeing and Behavioural Change | Melat Mekonnen | The Birmingham Wholesale Market | Dr. Laura Kudrna and Prof. John Bryson | Applied Health Sciences |
| Longitudinal determinants of mental wellbeing amongst people with intellectual disabilities: risk, protective and compensatory factors | Sara Waters Sobral | The Challenging Behaviour Foundation | Dr. Paul Thompson, Prof. Kylie Gray and Prof. Peter Langdon | Health Services Management Centre |
| An Empirical and Experimental Investigation of Waste Crime Deterrence | Nachammai Lakshmanan | Environment Agency | Prof. Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Allan Beltran | Economics |
| The impact of Clean Air Zones on behaviour shifts towards sustainable transport: a Birmingham City Case Study | Alistair Parr | Birmingham City Council | Prof. Yuli Shan, Prof. Zongbo Shi and Dr. Suzanne Bartington | Geography, Earth and Environmental Science |
| The role of individual differences, social and environmental factors in reading behaviour in adolescence and adulthood | Melanie Dillon | National Literacy Trust | Prof. Helen Beardmore and Dr. Sanne van der Kleij | Education |
Information:
You can find out more about the Centre-UB PhD studentships already funded by visiting our Current Projects page.