The University of Birmingham's Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (Centre-UB) is offering a fully funded PhD studentship in partnership with Promat, the UK's leading provider of police lineup software. This interdisciplinary doctoral project aims to revolutionise eyewitness identification procedures by integrating cognitive psychology, immersive technology, and artificial intelligence.

Despite significant advances in psychological science, police lineup methods have remained largely unchanged for over a century, relying on static photographs and failing to replicate real-world conditions such as poor lighting, variable viewpoints, and disguises. This PhD project will develop and test innovative lineup procedures that allow witnesses to adjust lighting, toggle disguise features, and control viewing angles, creating environments that better match their memory of the event. The research will assess whether these adaptive, memory-congruent lineups improve identification accuracy compared to traditional methods and will analyse how witnesses explore faces under these conditions.

A key innovation is the use of behavioural data—eye movements, exploration patterns, and verbal reports—combined with AI to build computational models predicting identification reliability. The student will learn to design interpretable, legally robust AI systems, including attention-based deep learning and reinforcement learning models that adapt lineup presentation in real time based on witness behaviour. This work will be conducted in close collaboration with Promat, providing the student with hands-on experience in operational police systems and direct pathways to research deployment in policing practice.

Supervision will be provided jointly by experts in Psychology and Computer Science, ensuring strong interdisciplinary support and bridging academic research with industry innovation. The studentship covers tuition fees, a maintenance stipend, research training, and activity support grants. Up to 30% of the cohort may be international students, in line with UKRI funding stipulations.

Applicants should have a 1st class or 2:1 degree in Psychology, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Neuroscience, Data Science, or a related field. An MSc is desirable but not essential. Experience in coding (Python, R, Matlab), behavioural experimentation, statistics, or machine learning is advantageous, though full training will be provided. Candidates with interests in human perception, AI ethics, or forensic science are encouraged to apply.

To apply, follow the instructions at the Centre-UB application process page and review the call for applicants. The deadline for applications is February 17, 2026, with interviews expected on March 20, 2026. Informal enquiries can be directed to Professor Heather Flowe at [email protected].