Research stories

Doctoral researcher stories

Want a first-hand look at what it's like to be a doctoral researcher? Our Digital Stories are filmed and narrated by our PhD students from a number of different disciplines, all providing amazing insight into their research journey.

Emily Sharp

Emily Sharp is a PhD researcher based in the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences (HELS) in the School of Education. 

Emily talks about her research, in which she is looking at voice in teaching, specifically the risk factors for voice problems in teachers in England.

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Arts, Design and Media
Rawan Sharaf Khatib

Rawan Sharaf Khatib is a PhD student based in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media.

For her research, she is looking at Palestinian visual art and its politics.  

See more of our research in the School of Art


Tamadher Alfahal

Tamadher Alfahal is a PhD student based in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media.

For her research, she is looking at Islamic art and design and its changing relationship with spirituality and faith. 

More about research in Art and Design


Marta Perez

Marta Perez is a PhD student based in the School of Architecture and Design, and she talks about her design innovation research.

She describes her exciting work with many high profile industry partners including BskyB and Procter & Gamble.

More about research in the School of Architecture


Anastasia Nikologianni

Anastasia Nikologianni is a PhD student funded by Climate-KIC, based in the School of Architecture and Design.

She describes her fascinating research journey which has included research trips to the Netherlands and Barcelona.

More about research in the School of Architecture


Vincent Obia

After completing his Bachelors and Masters in Lagos - Nigeria, Vincent took the plunge and made the move to Birmingham to study a PHD in Media. Vincent transitioned to his next level of study with ease as he was always pro-active and had fantastic support from his tutors.

Vincent's story

Business, Law and Social Sciences
Sundas Hussain

Sundas Hussain's research involves working with Ashram Moseley Accord Housing Association, to look at the viability of entrepreneurship for the women there.

Sundas is developing a framework for housing associations to undertake entrepreneurship as a means towards employment.   

See more of our research in Business


Alice Storey

Alice Storey is a Midlands 3 Cities funded student in the School of Law.

Alice talks about her research into the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review mechanism and the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.  

See more of our research in the School of Law

Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
Sivagayinee Ganeshamoorthy

Sivagayinee Ganeshamoorthy is a PhD student based in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (CEBE).

Siva talks about her research journey and her research in Building Information Modelling (BIM).

More about research in built environment


Thomas Wagner

Thomas is researching the processes of sharing cyber threat intelligence.

In his PhD Thomas is looking at automating the sharing of cyber threat intelligence to enhance situational awareness and harden security systems.  

More about research in cyber security


Asma Patel

Asma Patel is a PhD student based in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.

For her research, she is looking at location-based security and privacy on smartphone apps.  

More about research in cyber security

Health, Education and Life Sciences
Rebecca Snape

Becky Snape is a PhD student in the School of Education.

Becky's research looks at creative writing in Key Stage Four, exploring English teachers’ creative writing pedagogies, including how they shape teaching practice.  

See more of our research in the School of Education


Kirsty Devaney

Kirsty is a PhD student in the School of Education. She is also a composer and workshop leader.

Her research is investigating how the assessment of composing in UK secondary school examinations is impacting the teaching and learning of composing within schools.  

See more of our research in the School of Education


Victoria Birmingham

Victoria Birmingham is a PhD candidate in the School of Education.

Victoria's research is exploring different approaches to assessment without levels in schools, comparing them with assessment for Key Stage 1 and 2 SATs.  

See more of our research in the School of Education


Eddie Hulbert

Eddie Hulbert is a PhD student in the School of Education.

Eddie's research is on Family Learning Birmingham, an initiative which aims to provide guidance for parents or carers who are either unemployed, on benefits or have very few qualifications by providing a way for families to learn together. 

See more of our research in the School of Education

Shannon Ludgate

PhD student Shannon Ludgate of the School of Education talks about her research on children's use of touchscreen technology. 

Shannon describes her research and what she hopes to achieve during the course of her PhD.

Find out more about our research in this faculty:
Centre for the Study of Practice and Culture in Education (CSPACE)
Centre for Health, Social Care and Related Research (CHSCaRR)

If you are a current PhD student at Birmingham City University and would like to tell your story contact the Research Office.