PhD Studentship: Emerging Technologies, Digital Surveillance and Stalking Understanding Perpetrator Behaviour, Victim Impact, and System Responses

The Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (Centre-UB) is inviting applications for a Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner, The Home Office to start in October 2026.

Stalking and technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) are national concerns, with one in seven adults and one in five women reporting lifetime stalking experiences. Reviews by the Gender & IoT project, DSIT, and Ofcom show that everyday consumer technologies, including IoT devices (e.g., smart cameras, speakers, etc), wearables, GPS trackers, and AI-based tools including deepfake generators are increasingly weaponised for coercive control, surveillance, impersonation and harassment. Despite this, the National Audit Office (2025) concludes that government efforts have not produced demonstrable improvements in outcomes for women and girls, and that significant evidence gaps remain. There is currently no UK-wide taxonomy of emerging-tech stalking, no reliable population-level measurement of prevalence, and no empirical models identifying which technologies, behaviours or combinations are associated with risk of serious harm or escalation. Practice responses, including police cyberstalking guidance, Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs), platform safety measures and specialist tech-abuse services, are fragmented and rarely evaluated.

This PhD aims to map emerging technological harms and the behaviours that sustain them, estimate prevalence, model risk trajectories, and identify system-level interventions relevant to the Online Safety Act, the VAWG Strategy and the Domestic Abuse Plan.

Research Questions:

1. How are emerging technologies, such as IoT devices, GPS trackers, AI-generated media, and platform-based tools, used to conduct digital surveillance, harassment, and coercive control?
2. What patterns, combinations, and trajectories of emerging-tech stalking behaviour can be identified, how do practitioners make sense of these patterns in real operational contexts?
3. What is the prevalence and impact of emerging-tech-enabled stalking in the UK?
4. Which technology-enabled behaviours are associated with elevated risk of escalation, harm, or transitions to physical abuse?
5. What system-level responses offer the greatest potential for harm reduction?

We are looking for a highly talented and dedicated PhD student with a 1st class or 2:1 degree in the field of Forensic Psychology, Criminology, Social Policy, Computer Science/Mathematics. An MSc degree in a relevant area is desirable though not necessary. Previous experience with quantitative and qualitative data, particularly within a criminal justice context will be desirable, as well as a research focus which aligns with understanding behaviour and policy development.

To be considered for this PhD, please follow the instructions, click the 'Apply' button above. 

Application deadline: February 17 2026

Interviews for this studentship are expected to take place on March 13 2026.

Centre-UB studentships cover tuition fees, a maintenance stipend, support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Due to funding stipulations set by UKRI, we are able to recruit up to 30% of international applicants to the cohort each year. Due to Home Office security clearance requirements, applicants will need to have resided in the UK for the last 5-years. You can find further details at https://www.centre-ub.org/studentships/call-for-applicants/

Informal enquiries about the project prior to application can be directed to Dr Anthony Murphy (A.D.Murphy@bham.ac.uk).

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