PhD Studentship: Enhancing our Understanding of Digital Traces

Applications are invited for a 3.5 year PhD studentship in the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST), based in Psychology at Lancaster University.  The studentship will be supervised by Dr David Ellis [Lancaster] and Dr Lukasz Piwek [Bath], and will begin in October 2016.

The studentship will explore how digital footprints from wearable and mobile technologies can be used to infer details about their user. The PhD will (1) explore how data from wearable devices (e.g., movement, location and sleep quality) can predict other psychologically relevant traits (e.g., personality, mood); (2) aim to build a series of computational models that can accurately identify changes in an individual’s everyday behaviour; and (3) consider how, in conjunction with other physiological measures (e.g., heart rate), this data could predict more complex psychological states (e.g., depression).

You will join a group of academic, postdoc and PhD researchers interested in social cognition and the opportunities afforded by digital data sources. As part of that group, you will be expected to contribute to meetings, present findings at academic conferences, and publish findings in academic journals. You will also be a member of the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) and be encouraged to engage with relevant stakeholders in the UK’s security and intelligence agencies, helping them understand the research and its relevance to their practice and policy.

This award provides annual funding to cover UK/EU tuition fees and an ESRC equivalent maintenance grant (currently £14,296). All of the studentships will receive their own research support budgets (e.g., for training and to pay participants) and have access to an associated travel budget, which should be used to attend national and international conferences. Students who would be required to pay international tuition fees are eligible to apply, but they must make appropriate arrangements to cover the difference between the overseas and UK tuition fee.

You should be motivated, ambitious, and able to demonstrate an interest in the PhD area for which you are applying. You should hold, or expect to gain, at least an Upper 2.1 honours degree, or its equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Having or expecting to gain a Masters qualification and/or having other research experience will be an advantage.

To apply, please email a CV, transcript of marks, 2 academic references, and a 750 word statement of interest to phds@crestresearch.ac.uk, using the Subject ‘Digital Traces PhD’ After the deadline, applications will be reviewed and shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview, before award decisions are made. If you wish to discuss the studentship informally or if you have any questions about the position, please contact David Ellis (d.a.ellis@lancaster.ac.uk).