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Research Students

A hand holding a post-it note from an excerise that says Teaching HCI in Innovative ways.

We are fortunate enough to have a vibrant community of research students who work on a variety of topics from designing for older adults, to player experience, to number entry error. Students work together in shared offices, where they can draw from the depth and experiences of their peers, as well as building lasting friendships and collaborations after graduation.


We have home students from the UK who are funded through a variety of programmes including departmental EPSRC scholarships, the Centre for Doctoral Training on Large Scale Information Technology Systems (LSCITs) and the Centre for Doctoral Training on Intelligent Games and Games Intelligence (IGGI).


We are proud to have a diverse group of research students from all over the world, with research students joining us from: India, Brazil, Chile, China, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

PhD Students

  • Saja Althubaiti
    • Topic: Usability of Password Creation Systems
    • Supervisor: Helen Petrie
  • Anna Bramwell-Dicks
    • Topic: Music while you work: The effect of music on transcription typing performance and experience
    • Supervisor: Helen Petrie
  • Maneerut Chatrangsan
    • Topic: Tablet Interactions with Older Adults
    • Supervisor: Helen Petrie
  • Ili Md Mahtar
    • Topic: Accessibility for People with Dyslexia
    • Supervisor: Helen Petrie
  • Burak Merdenyan
    • Topic: Individual Differences in Password Behaviour
    • Supervisor: Helen Petrie
  • Nadhratunnaim Nasarudin
    • Topic: Usability of Interactive Development Tools
    • Supervisor: Christopher Power; Richard Paige
  • Leonardo Sandval Guzman
    • Topic: User Experience in E-Government Websites
    • Supervisor: Helen Petrie

IGGI PhD Students

  • Jennifer Beeston
    • Topic: Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Games
    • Supervisor: Paul Cairns; Christopher Power
  • Claire Boardman
    • Topic: Community Engagement with Digital Heritage
    • Supervisor: Gareth Beale, Helen Petrie
  • Joe Cutting
    • Topic: Psychophysical Measurement of Player Engagement
    • Supervisor: Paul Cairns
  • Rory Davidson
    • Topic: Identity in Digital Games
    • Supervisor: Paul Cairns

LSCITS EngD Students

  • Sam Simpson
    • Topic: Exploring digital assistance in delivering DBT for Borderline Personality Disorder.
    • Supervisor: Paul Cairns
    • Industrial Sponsor:The Retreat York

Alumni PhD Students

  • Andreas Savva (2018)
    • Thesis: Understanding accessibility problems of blind users on the web
  • David Swallow (2018)
    • Thesis:Understanding and Supporting Web Developers: Working Practices and Resources for the Creation of Accessible Websites
  • Jo Pugh (2018)
    • Thesis: Information journeys in digital archives
  • Zaidatol Haslinda Abdullah Sani (2017)
    • Thesis: Using Technology to Address the Problems of Malnutrition and Dehydration in Older Adults
  • Fatma Layas (2017)
    • Thesis:Crowdsourcing for socially responsible projects: the motivation of the crowd to participate in a project to support blind and partially sighted students
  • Alena Denisova (2017)
    • Thesis: Adaptive Technologies in Digital Games: The Influence of Perception of Adaptivity on Immersion
  • David Zendle (2016)
    • Thesis: Priming and negative priming in violent video games (Best Thesis Prize)
  • Arabella Clarke (2015)
    • Thesis: Using socio-technical thinking to explore the implementation of Electronic Patient Records into NHS secondary care organisations.
  • Cagla Senelar (2015)
    • Thesis: Influences of Learning Style and Culture on Interactive Technology Design
  • Frank Soboczenski (2014)
    • Thesis: The Effect of Interface Elements on Transcription Tasks to Reduce Number-Entry Errors
  • Matthew Hudson (2014)
    • Thesis: Social Presence in Team-Based Digital Games
  • A. Imran Nordin (2014)
    • Thesis: Immersion And Players' Time Perception in Digital Games
  • Sorachai Kamollimsakul (2014)
    • Thesis: Web Design Guidelines for Older Adults in the UK and Thailand.
  • Lucy Buykx (2013)
    • Thesis: Interactive recipe instructions: supporting cooks with better designs
  • Andre Freire (2013)
    • Thesis: Measurement and characterisation of accessibility problems encountered by people with disabilities on the web
  • Mohd Kamal Othman (2013)
    • Thesis: User Experiences with Technology in Museums
  • Giuseppe Montano (2011)
    • Thesis: Dynamic Reconfiguration of Safety-Critical Systems: Automation and Human Involvement
  • Richard Ribeiro (2011)
    • Thesis: Recurrent Communities of Practice (RCoPs)and Transient Core Members (TCMs): Temporal Behaviour of Co-located and On-line Communities of Practice
  • Rania Hodhod (2010)
    • Thesis: Interactive Narrative for Adaptive Educational Games