Projects and Areas of Research

Marginalised queer people’s use of dating apps

This project explores marginalised queer people’s experiences of dating apps in light of contemporary debates around gender and LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, etc.) sexuality identities, and sex and body positivity. The work brings together expertise in social science research (media studies, gender studies, linguistics) and sexual health research to study, and provide interventions for, issues faced by marginalised queer people. 

A Very British Education: British Game Designers and the Influence of Schooling on Game Design

This project draws together the analysis of British games (both analogue and digital) and British education through a close study of select modern (post-1970) games, the evolving curriculum in UK schools, and interviews with British game designers about their experiences in education.

Reimagining Music Education: using improvisation to explore new paradigms for learning and teaching

The PhD will generate new knowledge on the educational benefits of improvisation alongside insights into innovative teaching practices which take a holistic view of individual and collective student experiences. The PhD will offer concrete models for educational practices that serve to support decolonising, deterritorialising and community-driven strategies.

Disability and Access in Conservatoire Education: Barriers, Pathways and Potential for Innovation

This BCU Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Award investigates the challenges that disabled musicians face in terms of accessing and progressing through higher music education. It will significantly enhance current practice and move towards a system-wide understanding of how higher musical education can be reimagined to provide more equitable offers for all.

Forming Futures: exploring historic and contemporary forms of state science fiction and anticipation through creative practice

How do government, corporate and third-sector institutions articulate visions of environmental futures? Using visual forms such as photography, drawings, diagrams and models, this project invites a creative researcher to focus on ‘everyday’ anticipatory practices and generate artworks that destabilize enduring categories of dystopia, utopia, pasts, presents and futures.

InSTORE: Close Encounters in Retail Space. Exploring how art and design experiment with physical computing interfaces can provoke meaningful, inclusive encounters between communities and retail space

InSTORE explores how creative art and design practice with ‘physical computing’ interface technology can examine and re-imagine community experiences of retail space in the West Midlands. By making new artwork with communities, InSTORE will explore aspects of the political, social and aesthetic dimensions of retail space. Retail space is designed for profit, but it also embodies an expression of exchange as social interaction, factors which drive our desire to re-animate retail space in spite of decline. 

Media Diversity in the UK: Persistent Inequalities and Emerging Agendas

The student will undertake research on a media platform (e.g., press, broadcasting, digital) and will explore the selected platform’s equity, diversity and inclusion agenda and its related practices, outputs, and future planning. Conclusions drawn from the project will tackle questions about ongoing inequalities and emerging trends in the UK’s media sector. The outcomes of this project will inform research on this and related topics, as well as present action-points and recommendations for media diversity professionals and policymakers. 

The Making of Arts, Culture and Place at the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa and Birmingham

This PhD project is an opportunity to work in partnership with the organisers of and artist contributors to the Serendipty Arts Festival (SAF) in Goa and Birmingham. 

REVEAL: Robust Endoscopic Vision-language foundation model for surgical video understanding

Through this research, we aim to make AI solutions in surgery more accessible and practical, benefiting both medical professionals and patients.

Improvements in cognition of women in (peri)menopause through regular engagement in physical activity

Through co-production involving focus groups, the study aims to uncover the barriers and enablers related to exercise participation in perimenopausal women.

Real Rights in a Virtual World: An Analysis of Users’ Rights in the Metaverse- cultural and psych perspectives

The metaverse is an increasingly popular concept as companies vie to build what they hope will become the next iteration of online socialisation. However, the concept of virtualizing our social interactions and creating a purely digital space for these interactions to take place raises a myriad of legal questions. This project looks to answer these questions.

Gaming, Community and Support: Exploring the potential therapeutic benefits of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) and the impact of these on neurodiverse adults

This PhD will examine the potential therapeutic impact D&D gaming experiences, and involvement in the wider D&D community might have on neurodiverse (ND) individuals.

The ‘Race’ for Digital Equilibrium - Developing community-based digital media education for Black young people

This research focuses on the impact of digital media on young African and African Caribbean people by taking a community-based approach.

An Open-source Digital Framework for Integrated Simulation via Machine Learning to Achieve Sustainable Building Safety Design in Fire

This research project aims at bridging the gap between fire engineers and structural engineers via developing a numerical tool using C++.

Investigating the impact of Blockchain technology on the Relational Database infrastructure to improve key business operations such as Supply Chain Management and Logistics

The aim of this research is to explore how the emergence of physical data “append only” technology can deliver the real-world enterprise requirements of logical insert, logical update, and logical data deletion.

Green Video Streaming: Intelligent Climate-Friendly Video Delivery System

The project focuses on the analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation of an energy-efficient video streaming system while maintaining an acceptable Quality of Experience (QoE).

Investigating the Use of Digital Cultural Heritage in Changing Perceptions

Have you ever been fascinated by the changing styles of police uniforms over the years? This project dives deep into this intriguing evolution. Titled "Investigating the Use of Digital Cultural Heritage in Changing Perceptions," we're bringing history to your fingertips in conjunction with the West Midlands Police Museum, but in a modern twist!

Integrated decentralized and centralised approach for low carbon water management

The proposal aims to explore integrated decentralised approaches and centralised approaches with the advances of sensing, IOT, 5G, edge computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an innovate solution for the management of water systems, achieving the net-zero target in the water sector.

British South Asian Endometriosis Experiences and Psycho-social Wellbeing: A Participatory and Arts-based Mixed-methods Study

This project will generate the needed evidence for creating culturally sensitive endo supports and information for those from British South Asian communities, leading to improved care and treatment.

An Investigation of the Molecular and Neuropsychological Pathways Involved in Weight Gain in Women Following Vaping Cessation

The project aims to not only offer an in depth understanding of the health implications of vape use and vape cessation but also to develop comprehensive smoking and vaping cessation methodologies combining biological, physiological and neuropsychology findings.

Musical Pathways: An Investigation into the Musical Journeys of Children with a Disability

This PhD aims to address the issues of inclusivity and equality in music education, as outlined in the National Plan for Music Education. Despite the goal of providing equal opportunities for all pupils, many children and young people still face barriers to accessing high-quality music education. 

The Exploration of Patient-prisoners, Radiographers, and Operating Department Practitioners, Lived Experiences of Receiving and Providing Care in an Acute Hospital

The role and experiences of doctors and nurses caring for patient-prisoners in hospital has been begun to be explored, however, this work does not include the wider team within healthcare such as radiographers and operating department practitioners. This study aims to address.

Building Relationships to Improve Discharge Guidance for Non-English Speaking Families of Children With Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)

This study will explore of the understanding of CHD in Black and Asian communities within the Midlands and the experience of families caring for a child with CHD at home. It will identify the current provision of discharge information and support by healthcare professionals, and the barriers and facilitators to care, informing the development of culturally tailored interventions to reduce health inequalities.

Exploring health, wellbeing, and physical activity inequalities across the West Midlands, promoting opportunities to inclusively engage the wider community

Following the development of a BCU Communities National Centre of Excellence in Sport, Health, Education and Physical Activity (SHEPA). This PhD study will explore the inequalities and opportunities for SHEPA across the West Midlands, with a focus on targeting underrepresented groups to access SHEPA through staged interventions. This study will also form part of an impact case study of the National Centre of Excellence.