ESRC DTP Collaborative Studentship: Understanding and Supporting Children’s Accounts of Domestic Abuse: Memory Accuracy, Suggestibility, and the Child’s Voice in Safeguarding Practice

The Midlands Graduate School is an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). One of 15 such partnerships in the UK, the Midlands Graduate School is a collaboration between the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham, Aston Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort and Nottingham Trent.

University of Birmingham as part of Midlands Graduate School is now inviting applications for an ESRC Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner Operation Encompass to commence in October 2026.

Project Description

Domestic abuse is a major safeguarding and criminal justice concern, and many children experience it within the home. Yet children’s voices are often under-represented in professional responses, despite their potential importance for understanding risk, improving safeguarding decisions, and ensuring children’s needs are recognised. A key challenge is how to reliably elicit and interpret children’s accounts in ways that maximise accuracy, minimise suggestibility, and meaningfully incorporate the child’s voice into decision-making.

This interdisciplinary PhD will address three connected research questions using a complementary multi-method approach:

1. To what extent are children more susceptible to misinformation than adults, once developmental differences in baseline memory accuracy are accounted for?
   A systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted.
2. How does interviewing technique influence the accuracy of children’s recall and their ability to monitor and communicate their own memory confidence?
   A controlled experiment testing memory accuracy and metacognitive indicators of memory certainty will be conducted.
3. How does Rapid Video Response (RVR) policing affect opportunities to hear, record, and respond to the child’s voice during domestic abuse responses?
   Qualitative interviews with police officers will be conducted.

This project is delivered in partnership with Operation Encompass, a national safeguarding initiative that ensures schools receive timely notification following police-attended domestic abuse incidents, enabling immediate support for children. The studentship includes structured placements with Operation Encompass and, potentially, police child-safeguarding teams, focused on evidence synthesis and policy translation around the “child’s voice” in safeguarding practice. There will also be opportunities to develop practitioner-facing recommendations and guidance materials.

Candidate profile

We welcome applications from candidates with an outstanding academic record. Candidates must have a strong academic background in Psychology or a related discipline or equivalent professional experience. A Master’s degree (with distinction/merit) is desirable though not essential. Applicants should have a strong interest in applied cognitive or developmental psychology, memory and suggestibility, and/or safeguarding.

Application Process

To be considered for this PhD, please complete the Collaborative Studentship application form available online via the 'Apply' button above. Applicants will be required to upload an anonymised CV, anonymised cover letter, and transcripts as part of the online application process.

Application deadline: 23^rd February 2026.

Interview date: 10^th March 2026.

Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP

Our ESRC studentships cover fees at the home rate, a maintenance stipend, and extensive support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Support is available to both home and international applicants. For further details, visit: www.mgsdtp.ac.uk/studentships/eligibility/.

Informal enquiries about the research or The School of Psychology, University of Birmingham prior to application can be directed to Dr Melissa Colloff (m.colloff@bham.ac.uk)

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