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. You can see the titles of each of the current PhD studentships below alongside the student, the partner organisation and the academic supervisors.
| Studentship title | PhD student | Partner | Supervisors | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluating the impact of the Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment Tool | Eleanor Watson | Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner | Prof. James Rockey and Prof. Heather Flowe | Birmingham Business School |
| 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | Birmingham Business School |
| Bio-behavioural and perceptual approaches to enhancing deepfake analysis | Timothy Murphy | National Police Chief’s Council | Prof. Jennifer Cook and Dr. Helio Cuve | School of 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | School of 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 | Institute of 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 | School of 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 | Department of Music |
| Pro-environmental behaviour change and the role of zoos | Andrea Rizzardi Orlandi | Twycross Zoo | Prof. Sarah Beck and Prof. Peter Kraftl | School of Psychology |
Information:
You can find out more about the Centre-UB PhD studentships already funded by visiting our Current Projects page.