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The Open University
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Two Fully Funded PhD Opportunities in AI, Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics at The Open University The Open University in United Kingdom
Degree Level
PhD
Field of study
Computer Science
Funding
The PhD opportunities are fully funded, with a fee waiver available. No stipend amount or additional financial details are stated.
Deadline
Jan 18, 2027
Country
United Kingdom
University
The Open University
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About this position
The Open University’s School of Computing and Communications is offering two PhD research opportunities at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital forensics, supervised by Adrian Winckles.
The first project, Forging the Evidence, investigates whether generative AI can create unique, fair and consistently difficult digital forensics case scenarios for university students, police first responders and continuing professional development cohorts. The research will explore forensic validity, difficulty calibration and measurable learning gains. It builds on DiskForge, an existing proof of concept designed to generate storage-device forensic scenarios with machine-readable ground truth and marking schemes.
The second project, Adaptive Threat Detection at the Edge, focuses on autonomous data capture for small-footprint devices used in industrial control systems, intelligent homes, medical devices and smart infrastructure. The research will examine thin, adaptive capture agents that learn locally which telemetry is valuable, record more densely during anomalous activity and produce sparse summaries at other times. The project connects edge computing with network security, energy-efficient monitoring, anomaly detection and evidence provenance for constrained Internet of Things environments.
Together, the projects offer research opportunities spanning machine learning, digital forensics education, adaptive threat detection, IoT security and cybersecurity for connected and operational technology systems within The Open University’s computing and communications research environment.
Funding details
The PhD opportunities are fully funded, with a fee waiver available. No stipend amount or additional financial details are stated.
What's required
Applicants need a good first degree at 2:1 or above, or equivalent, in computer science, cybersecurity, digital forensics or a related discipline, together with programming competence in Python. Prior experience with digital forensics tooling or machine learning is welcome but not essential, as training will be provided in research methods, tooling and study design.
How to apply
Review the relevant project advert and apply through the linked application page. Applicants can contact Adrian Winckles at [email protected] for queries.
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Prepare your application
Review drafts and confirm requirements with the university.
Make your next move.
Prepare your application
Review drafts and confirm requirements with the university.