Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship in AI-Enabled Digital Accessibility (ADA) University of Surrey in United Kingdom

The Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship in AI-Enabled Digital Accessibility (ADA) at the University of Surrey offers an exciting opportunity for doctoral researchers to address the challenges of digital accessibility in a world increasingly reliant on digital media. Digital media is central to public information, news, government services, healthcare, finance, education, culture, entertainment, and social interaction. Ensuring accessibility for all is crucial, yet complex due to multimodal and language-based interactions that require all senses. Accessibility becomes even more challenging when a modality or language is not available or accessible to the user.

To bridge these gaps, various forms of translation are employed, such as converting speech into subtitles or sign language, simplifying standard text, or describing visual content verbally, as well as translating across languages. With the growing volume of digital content, human resources alone cannot meet accessibility needs. The ADA network empowers doctoral researchers to leverage artificial intelligence in digital accessibility, equipping graduates with skills to develop human-centric AI-enabled solutions that preserve accuracy, narrative coherence, and quality in digital content.

As a Leverhulme Doctoral Scholar, you will develop a project within ADA, working across disciplines including language, translation, media accessibility, design studies, engineering, computer science, cognitive science, and social science. You will deepen your understanding of accessibility as a core concept and explore diverse research methods, combining AI advancements with human expertise to deliver and implement personalized accessibility solutions. The ADA network provides supervision by interdisciplinary teams of world-leading academics, opportunities to interact with other researchers, and access to masterclasses, lectures, workshops, and other activities to build and consolidate your skills in this innovative field.

Supervision is provided by Professor Sabine Braun, Professor Philip Jackson, Dr Elena Davitti, Professor Constantin Orasan, and Professor Christine Hine. The Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey hosts this studentship. The position is fully funded for four years (48 months of full-time study), covering home or international tuition fees, maintenance at UKRI base levels, and £10,000 to support individual research and training needs. Funding is awarded in competition with multiple projects.

Entry is open to UK and international candidates. Applicants must meet the minimum entry requirements for the University of Surrey PhD programme. The ADA network seeks excellent and enthusiastic candidates interested in collaborating with other researchers and contributing to a rich research environment. The start date is October 2026, with possible later start dates by contacting Professor Sabine Braun after the deadline.

To apply, complete the online application form and email your research proposal (up to 1,000 words), motivation letter (up to 500 words), and CV (max 2 pages) to [email protected], using 'ADA expression of interest' and your name in the subject line. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online recruitment workshop in April/May 2025 to select balanced cohorts best suited for ADA PhD training and multidisciplinary teamwork. For enquiries, contact Professor Sabine Braun ([email protected]) or Aimee Savage ([email protected]).

This opportunity is ideal for candidates passionate about digital accessibility, AI, and interdisciplinary research, seeking to make a real-world impact through innovative solutions.