1. Explore the challenges
Find a strategic challenge that connects your interests with citizen-centred AI. You do not need a finished PhD project before you start exploring.
View the challenges
UKRI-funded PhD programme · Northumbria University
Shape an AI future that works for citizens.
Join an interdisciplinary doctoral community exploring how AI can be designed, governed and used with people — not simply for them.
Start here
Could this PhD be for you?
You do not need to arrive as an AI specialist. We welcome applicants from technical, social scientific, design, humanities, legal and professional backgrounds who want to investigate AI in ways that centre citizens and communities.
This page brings the essential information, resources and stages together in one place.
- Fully funded Four years of UKRI stipend, tuition fees and research support
- Interdisciplinary AI, design, society, law and governance
- Newcastle-based Regular on-campus participation
- Full or part-time Part-time study available at 0.6 FTE
Your application journey
Where are we in the cycle?
Explore and prepare
Read the challenges, attend support events and begin developing your proposal.
Explore the challenges Read the challenges, attend support events and begin developing your proposal.
- Prepare
- Applications open
- Deadline
- Shortlisting
- Interviews
- Offers
- Cohort starts
Date override
How to apply
Prepare once. Submit with confidence.
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2. Develop your proposal
Use the required template and guidance. Explain the challenge, relevant literature, proposed approach, ethical and EDI implications, and alignment with the CDT.
Download the proposal template -
3. Gather your documents
- Two-page CV
- Research proposal
- EDI data and optional personal statement
- Degree certificates and transcripts
- English-language evidence, where required
Strategic challenges
Where could your research make a difference?
Challenges help applicants find intellectual connections; they are not narrow project briefs. A proposal may connect more than one challenge. New applicants apply against the Cohort 4 strategic challenges.
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Growing Up with AI
How we grow up.
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Health and Care
How we live.
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More-than-Human AI
How we relate to the wider world.
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Resilient Societies
How we respond to disruption.
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Safer Digital Futures
How we live together.
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The Future of Work
How we work.
Application support
Never applied for a PhD before?
That should not prevent you from applying. Use our templates, watch the information webinar, attend a pre-application workshop, and contact us if guidance is unclear.
See the following sections for resources to support your application.
Pre-application workshops and webinar
To support prospective applicants in preparing their research proposals, we run a series of Pre-Application workshops and a Webinar each year to provide an overview of the recruitment process and what we are looking for in research proposals.
–In person: Pre-application workshop- –Online: Pre-application workshop
- –Online webinar
If you are interested, sign up to attend (there are limited spaces available):
Resources for the pre-application workshops:
Resources to support your application
Research Proposals must use the following template:
If your proposal is incomplete or submitted without the provided template, your application may be automatically rejected. Please adhere to the word counts detailed in each section of the template. Research proposals should outline novel research projects that align with our strategic challenges.
Prospective applicants may request to receive feedback on their research proposal prior to submission. Feedback will not be provided for proposals that are incomplete or not in the template provided. To request feedback, please contact us with your proposal (using the provided template). The deadline to request feedback on your research proposal is , and we will not provide feedback to proposals sent past this date.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
We collect Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) data to inform the inclusivity of our recruitment process. You are asked to provide EDI data using the provided template. The form will ask for age, gender, ethnicity etc.
If you identify with a societal group less represented within Computer Science and/or Higher Education Research (e.g. Women, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME), Disabled, LGBTQIA+, first-generation student, a student from a low-income household, carer, etc.), you have the option to complete a Personal statement as part of the template provided.
Personal statements should be approximately 250 words in length and should (i) outline your learning and career journey, including any career/learning breaks taken, (ii) reflect on systemic barriers that may have impacted your learning and career journey- highlighting how you navigated those barriers.
EDI data shared through the application will only be made visible to our specialist EDI panel and not with the panel responsible for shortlisting applicants for interviews. The EDI specialist panel will use their expertise and/or lived experience in issues related to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to make recommendations regarding factors that the academic shortlisting panel should take into account.
If your application is successful and you join our student body, we are required to report EDI characteristics of our students to our funders UKRI.
Details when you need them
Questions applicants ask
Am I eligible to apply?
Applicants normally have a 2:1 degree or better (or an equivalent GPA, with a preference for first-class honours), a Masters (preferably Merit or above), or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement, plus an appropriate IELTS score if required. You cannot apply if you already hold a PhD or are currently engaged in doctoral study.
Do I need prior AI expertise?
No. Foundational AI training is part of the CDT and each researcher receives a personalised training plan. You do not need a first degree in Computer Science.
What makes a strong research proposal?
A strong proposal describes and justifies the AI-and-society challenge it addresses, its proposed methods, a brief review of the state of the art, any ethical and EDI implications, and how it aligns with citizen-centred AI and one or more of our strategic challenges. Use the template and keep to its word counts - incomplete proposals, or those not using the template, may be rejected.
How will my application be assessed?
An academic panel shortlists applicants for interview. EDI data is only seen by a separate specialist EDI panel, who make recommendations on factors the shortlisting panel should take into account.
What happens at interview?
Interviews take place online. You will be given two academic papers to discuss with the panel, and asked to reflect on your proposed research in light of the feedback given at shortlisting.
After interviews are completed, we will contact successful candidates and make formal offers to join the CCAI CDT. Offers must be accepted or rejected by the advised deadline.
Can I study part-time?
Yes, at 0.6 FTE (around 22 hours a week), completing the programme over 6.5 years instead of 4. Say that you would like to study part-time in your proposal or personal statement. All researchers are based at the Newcastle campus - we do not offer remote or distance study.
Can international applicants apply?
Yes - studentships are open to UK and international (including EU) applicants as per UKRI guidelines, but there are a limited number of international awards each year. Please check your eligibility before applying.