PhD in A Related Field

The Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (Centre-UB) is inviting applications for a Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner VisionMetric Ltd (Vision Metric - Fast, Accurate, Cost Effective) to start in October 2026./nCCTV footage is a predominant and crucial source of evidence in policing, with an estimated 21 million cameras operating in the UK. Yet more than 80% of real-world footage is too poor in quality to support reliable person identification. This severely limits investigative success and leaves offenders unidentified./nGenerative AI–based super-resolution (SR) technologies—such as VisionMetric’s iREVEAL—promise transformative gains by enhancing low-quality facial images. However, there is little scientific evidence on whether these tools improve human accuracy, how they affect machine recognition, and whether they introduce demographic biases./nThis interdisciplinary PhD will investigate how generative AI–based super-resolution (SR) technologies influence human and machine-based facial identification. The PhD will combine behavioural experiments, machine learning, and explainable-AI methods to answer questions listed in the advert./nThe student will work closely with VisionMetric, which is a leading SME supplying facial software to police forces in over 30 countries. Two placements at VisionMetric will provide hands-on experience with AI development pipelines and product development./nCentre-UB studentships cover tuition fees, a maintenance stipend, support for research training, as well as research activity support grants.