Funded PhD opportunity with my colleague* Dr Susan Oman <https://sheffield.ac.uk/spir/people/academic/susan-oman> *at the University of Sheffield. We are looking for projects at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary enquiry into AI and inequalities. Deadline: 14 Nov 2025 Online interviews: end Nov/early Dec 2025 Start: February 2026 Your doctoral research project will be designed by you to respond to the issues of difference and power in a time of “responsible AI.” Your application should reflect your existing knowledge and interest in the area, and identify clearly what you perceive to be a research need or gap. Clear proposals using interdisciplinary, innovative and critical methods, methodologies and lenses are particularly encouraged. Your proposal must demonstrate how the PhD project is grounded in contemporary debates around AI ethics and responsible AI, and crucially how social justice is at its heart. The project will be hosted across the Centre for Machine Intelligence <https://sheffield.ac.uk/machine-intelligence> and the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations <https://sheffield.ac.uk/spir>. Example interpretations of this brief include, but are not restricted to: 1 - analysis of the inclusion of marginalised populations in research with the public 2 - discourse analysis of representations of responsibility in relation to AI 3 - feminist, anti-racist and/or decolonising approaches to responsible AI 4 - historical, interpretive or policy analyses 5 - philosophical or cultural studies approaches to shared understanding and / or meaning-making across responsible AI stakeholders 6 - social network analysis of research leadership and investment in people’s responses to AI technologies *https://lnkd.in/eQT7g9UX* <https://lnkd.in/eQT7g9UX> *Funding note: *the funding would cover a standard Home tuition fee and a tax-free stipend at the standard UK Research Council rate (currently £20,780 for the 2025/26 academic year) for 3.5 years. If you were applying as an International Student (you can find details via the UK Council for International Student Affairs regarding eligibility for Home Student fee status <https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/>) then you would be required to make up the difference either via a separate funder or self-funded. You can find details on PhD tuition fees at Sheffield here <https://sheffield.ac.uk/new-students/tuition-fees/fees-lookup> - as the information indicates, please keep in mind that the fees are subject to change throughout the period of the programme. Best wishes Helen -- Professor Helen Kennedy FBA FAcSS Professor of Digital Society, University of Sheffield, @hmtk, @hmtk@scholar.social, she/her Director of: ESRC Digital Good Network <https://digitalgood.net/> (@digitalgoodnet) + Living With Data <https://livingwithdata.org/> (@Living_WithData) + Public Voices in AI <https://digitalgood.net/dg-research/public-voices-in-ai/> *Recent publications:* Kennedy, H., Aiello, G., Annabell, T. & Anderson, C.W. (2025) Generic visuals in the news as public images: Activating emotions, experiences and identities. *European Journal of Cultural Studies*. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241310675 Kennedy, H., Ditchfield, H., Oman, S., Bates, J., Perea, I. M., Fratczak, M., & Taylor, M. (2024). How people connect fairness and equity when they talk about data uses. *Big Data & Society*, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241303162 Ditchfield, H., Oman, S., Kennedy, H., Frątczak, M., Bates, J., Taylor, M., & Medina-Perea, I. (2024). 'What ifs: The role of imagining in people’s reflections on data uses', *Convergence*. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565241300898 The Digital Good Network (2024) 'What do we mean when we talk about a good digital society?' in British Academy (ed) *What are the Possibilities of a Good Digital Society? * http://doi.org/10.5871/digital-society/9780856726934.001 <http://doi.org/10.5871/digital-society/9780856726934.001>