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Applications are invited for a fully-funded three year PhD to commence in October 2026. 

The PhD will be based in the Faculty of Science and Health within the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Science, and will be supervised by Dr Renan Saraiva, Dr Ana Gheorghiu and Professor Lorraine Hope.

Candidates applying for this project may be eligible to compete for one of a small number of bursaries available. Successful applicants will receive a bursary to cover tuition fees for three years and a stipend in line with the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26).Bursary recipients will also receive a £1,500 p.a. for project costs/consumables.

Costs for student visa and immigration health surcharge are not covered by this bursary. For further guidance and advice visit our international and EU students ‘Visa FAQs’ page.

Please note, these funded PhDs are only open to new students who do not hold a previous doctoral level qualification.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging into the field of eyewitness testimony, presenting some opportunities but also significant concerns for the criminal justice system. 

This project aims to tackle a comprehensive review of AI applications in eyewitness research and practice, focusing on two key areas: AI-generated fillers for lineup procedures and AI-driven chatbots for witness interviewing. Early studies suggest AI-assisted procedures may not introduce substantial bias and improve identification accuracy, but systematic investigation of these tools in applied forensic contexts is limited. For instance, Kleider-Offutt et al. (2024) compared facial recognition systems to human eyewitnesses but did not investigate lineups combining real and AI-generated faces or the perceptual consequences of such mixtures. Bell et al. (2024) highlighted the logistical and ethical advantages of AI-generated fillers but did not assess whether their use influences identification accuracy, confidence, or bias. Meanwhile, Greenspan and Bergold (2025) showed that AI-generated faces are often indistinguishable from real ones, yet their sample lacked target diversity. This project aims to build on prior work in applied cognition, investigative psychology, and AI ethics to explore if AI can support the collection of eyewitness evidence.

Entry requirements

How to apply

If you have any project-specific questions please contact Dr Renan Saraiva (renan.saraiva@port.ac.uk), quoting the project code.

When you are ready to apply, please use our . Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV.  Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.

Please also include a research proposal of 1,000 words outlining the main features of your proposed research design – including how it meets the stated objectives, the challenges this project may present, and how the work will build on or challenge existing research in the above field.

If you want to be considered for this funded PhD opportunity you must quote project code PSH50660126 when applying. Please note that email applications are not accepted.