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We are pleased to announce a suite of funded projects for researchers tackling the critical areas of AI, Trust and Security.
Candidates for PhDs funded through this route will work as part of a new cross-cutting cluster with the Centre for Digital Trust and Society (CDTS) at The University of Manchester.
Projects available
Primary Supervisor
Project Description
This project will develop a framework for regulators to (i) validate AI-driven recommender systems in terms of inducing negative bias in a decision-making process and (ii) suggest algorithmic improvements in their design to improve trust of users. Recommender systems (RecSys) are widely used on online platforms for suggesting content to users, and whilst many approaches exist, they are often designed to maximise user engagement. For systems trained to optimise for long-term engagement, there is an incentive to manipulate user behaviour by shifting user preferences over time, such that users will be easier to satisfy.
Primary Supervisor
Project Description
This project seeks to address the complexities of digital crime within the rapidly expanding blockchain landscape. As blockchain adoption grows in finance, DeFi (Decentralized Finance), and digital assets, so do opportunities for illicit activities, including cryptocurrency theft, fraud, money laundering, and identity theft that exploit the technology’s pseudo-anonymity and decentralized nature. This project will examine how criminal tactics have adapted to advancements in blockchain, as well as the systemic challenges these crimes pose to regulation, enforcement, and public safety. By focusing on evolving tactics, motivations, and crime detection techniques, this project will produce insights that assist stakeholders (law enforcement, academia, and industry) in mitigating and preventing blockchain-based crimes.
Primary Supervisor
Prof João Magalhaes
Project description
From generative AI to social media platforms, digital services are increasingly reliant on algorithmic systems to define and control both objectionable and desirable speech. However, we are only beginning to understand and theorise this emerging, planetary form of political institution. Drawing on political philosophy and Science and Technology Studies (STS), and employing qualitative methods, this project will investigate how algorithmic speech governance embodies specific norms and logics of representation and legitimation. It will also examine the extent to which these technologies reinforce or challenge democratic principles such as plurality, recognition, and proper consent to power. In doing so, the project seeks to develop a new theory of freedom of expression for the age of AI. Candidates should have a strong background in the social sciences or humanities, including, but not limited to, fields such as political science, political philosophy, media and communications, cultural studies, or critical technology studies. Prior research experience in areas such as content moderation or platform/AI governance is particularly desirable.
Primary Supervisor
Dr Jennifer Cearns
Project description
This project aims to contribute to a deeper anthropological understanding of how AI is integrated into everyday life and its implications for human connection, identity, and society.
We encourage proposals focusing on non-Anglophone ethnographic field sites: proposals with a particular interest in emerging human-AI configurations in regions such as China, Korea, Japan, or India are especially welcome (but not essential).
The study could explore diverse relational contexts, including but not limited to:
- Romantic partnerships with AI companions
- Therapeutic engagements, such as mental health support or caregiving applications
- Friendship or social bonding through AI interlocutors
- Cultural or spiritual interactions with AI entities
Applicants are encouraged to take a grounded ethnographic approach, examining how cultural, social, and historical contexts shape human-AI relationships in their chosen field site. The project might address questions such as:
- How do individuals and communities conceptualize and experience relationships with AI?
- What socio-technical practices and imaginaries frame these interactions?
- How do global and local forces intersect in shaping AI design, use, and reception?
The successful candidate will join a vibrant academic community with access to excellent mentorship and resources for conducting fieldwork, analysis, and dissemination. They will benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing on anthropology, science and technology studies (STS), and AI ethics.
We welcome applications from candidates with a strong academic background in anthropology or a related disciplines. Proficiency in a relevant regional language is desirable but not essential. Applicants must demonstrate a clear research vision and an interest in contributing to contemporary debates about technology and society.
Primary Supervisor
Project description
This project will aim to optimise the use of AI and machine learning for the implementation of ‘covert situational integrity testing’ as a mechanism for assessing corporate and organisational compliance with legal rules and standards, the goal being to enhance corporate accountability. There are major challenges to holding corporations/organisations to account for non-compliance: low detection levels, incomplete understanding of the inner workings of organisations, and the modest power of current social scientific research methodologies. This project will explore the potential for methodological innovation through the use of automated, online, covert situational integrity testing, a variation of mystery shopping methodologies, to address some of these gaps, with a focus not on service quality or customer satisfaction but on compliance with regulatory and legal requirements, and as a data gathering tool on secretive and difficult to access areas of business operation. The applicant will need knowledge and understanding of AI, machine learning and deep learning, and ideally some social scientific understanding of the topic area and social research methods. The project will focus on assessing anti-money laundering compliance by financial institutions and unlawful tax minimisation. The project aims to generate an AI-based tool to implement covert situational integrity testing in order to provide a research mechanism through which robust and systematic observational data can be collected and scrutinised by independent, third-party assessors to understand levels of organisational/corporate compliance with legal rules and standards, and by doing so, identify critical vulnerabilities and strengths in the compliance responses of organisations and industries.
How to Apply
The application deadline is for these funded projects is tbc (announcement expected early 2025). Apply online for the named PhD programme as given in the project description.
Under Section 6 Research Details select ‘Yes’ to ‘Are you applying for an advertised project?’. Insert the project title as stated at the top of the project description. It is recommended when entering the name of the supervisor to simply enter this and not use the supervisor search function.
Please indicate in Section 9 Funding Sources your intention to apply for an AI Trust and Security award.
Please ensure all required supporting are included at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered. Your application must include the following:
- A copy of your Bachelor's academic transcript and certificate.
- A copy of your Master's academic transcript and certificate. If your Master's degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
- If you have completed more than one Bachelor's or Master's degree, please provide evidence for each. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation. If your weighted average mark or GPA is not included on these documents, please also include an official document from your university verifying this information.
- An academic CV, summarising your employment history, any publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
- Supporting statement of a maximum of 700 words indicating why you would like to undertake this studentship and explaining how your focus, experience, and skills link to the research outlined above
- Example of a piece of academic writing produced by you of up to 5,000 words (you may consider submitting two shorter pieces if these deal separately with conceptual and empirical analyses). This may be an academic essay or chapter(s) from a dissertation, in which case, an abstract or introduction outlining the context/aims/research questions of the study must also be included.
- You must nominate two academic referees (including one from your most recent institution). Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form. You may wish to contact your referees to request they submit your reference in a reasonable timeframe as this forms part of the review process;
- A PhD Proposal is not required.
Eligibility
Academic
You should meet the academic eligibility requirements for the programme named in the project description.
English Language:
All applicants must provide evidence of English language proficiency:
- IELTS test minimum score – 7.0 overall, 7.0 in writing.
- TOEFL (internet based) test minimum score – 100 overall, 25 in all sections.
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) UKVI/SELT or PTE Academic minimum score – 76 overall, 76 in writing.
- To demonstrate that you have taken an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a majority English speaking nation within the last 5 years.
- Other tests may be considered.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact the lead supervisor- contact details given in the project description.
Shortlisted candidates will be required to attend a formal interview either online or in-person.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Equality, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and are at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.
We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.
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