Digit studentship on AI/human interaction.

Source: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/fees-funding/phd-funding/view/1947-AI-selecting-or-evaluating-humans-Professional-and-ethical-tensions-in-the-use-of-AI-in-organisations-ESRC-Centre-for-Digital-Futures-at-Work-PhD-Studentship Parent: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/fees-funding/phd-funding/browse

AI selecting or evaluating humans. Professional and ethical tensions in the use of AI in organisations. (ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work PhD Studentship) (2026)

Digit is offering a studentship, with a stipend and UK/International fees covered, starting in late September 2026 on AI/human interaction in organizational settings. The ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work (Digit) aims to advance our understanding of how digital technologies are reshaping work. This studentship is part of the Management Integrated PhD programme at the University of Sussex Business School. The successful applicant will have access to the instruction and support of the Business School’s PhD training programme and to supervision by experts in the field.

What you get

The successful candidate will recieve:

Full UK tuition fees only for up to four years.
A stipend equivalent to UKRI doctoral stipend, £21,383 (2026/27) per annum for up to four years.

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

AI selecting or evaluating humans. Professional and ethical tensions in the use of AI in organisations.

Supervisors at Sussex: Prof Dimitra Petrakaki and Dr Zahira Jaser.

Digital transformation has positioned artificial intelligence as a vehicle for organisational efficiency across sectors such as healthcare, recruitment, and talent management. Organizations worldwide are increasingly adopting AI systems to select and evaluate humans, with promises of objectivity, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making. These AI interventions aim to fundamentally alter how professionals (clinicians, nurses, hiring managers, HR practitioners, team leaders) within organisations make decisions and interact with workers, prospective employees, clients and even patients. There are different ways in which AI can support organisational processes, including automating selection decisions, substantially changing how professionals evaluate and assess humans at work, and introducing algorithmic evaluation systems that significantly alter their work. In addition, some of these AI solutions intend to intrude into professionals' work practices, through, for instance, algorithmic nudges or automated decision prompts, altering how professionals make decisions. Yet organisations are not always ready to adopt and use these AI solutions, given practical, ethical and governance questions. Work pressures amongst professionals, post-digital transformation fatigue, low morale and low enthusiasm, ethical uncertainty and poor governance create resistance to adopt AI technologies. AI implementation, such as algorithmic management, might even be perceived as a means of controlling their autonomy at work and their decision-making. Ideas that bias can lead to discriminatory selection and evaluation are also becoming more widespread and influencing perceptions of AI use. Conflictual situations whereby technological efficiency and ethics and governance collide are part of this new digital work terrain, but often not explored in depth.

This PhD project will focus on identifying and mapping the sociological and/or social-psychological challenges surrounding the adoption of AI for human selection and evaluation. It can explore, amongst others, professionals' perceptions of the AI, and capture the factors (e.g., lack of AI literacy, limited/lack of ethical understanding, impact of AI on wellbeing, inadequate governance, perception of AI bias etc.) that speed up, deter and delay technological adoption and use. The research is expected to adopt a series of methodologies, broadly aligned with an interpretivist, social constructionist perspective.

The research student will be part of the Digit Doctoral Network and will benefit from support from the Business School’s early-career researcher networks. They will receive research training as part of the first-year programme of the Management Integrated PhD degree and will be integrated into the Mid- and early-Career Researchers Forum of Digit.

Eligibility

Minimum of a 2.1 undergraduate honours degree.
A Master’s degree ideally in a relevant subject area, with ideally at least a merit mark (60%), or equivalent professional experience.
Proof of proficiency in English language to meet the university’s entry requirements.
We require a 2.1 undergraduate honours degree, or equivalent, and a Master’s degree in a relevant subject area such as work and employee relations, value chains and economic geography, political economy or agri-food studies.

Number of scholarships available

One.

Deadline

15 May 2026 23:59

How to apply

Please submit by email to Professor Dimitra Petrakaki and Dr Zahira Jaser at d.petrakaki@sussex.ac.uk and z.jaser@sussex.ac.uk as one pdf file an application including:

A statement of interest that outlines why you would like to be considered for this studentship project and what you would like to research (maximum 1 page)
A CV (2-3 pages)
Degree transcripts and certificates
A piece of written work (e.g. an essay or project from your undergraduate or master’s degree)
Names and contact details for two academic referees

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview on a rolling basis. The successful candidate will then need to apply for the PhD programme at the University of Sussex.

Contact us

For any enquiries about the PhD studentship research proposal, please contact Professor Dimitra Petrakaki (d.petrakaki@sussex.ac.uk) or Dr Zahira Jaser (z.jaser@sussex.ac.uk )

For questions relating to the application process, contact business-researchstudents@sussex.ac.uk.

Timetable

Application Deadline: 15 May 2026

Interview and Decision: June 2026

Start: Late September 2026

Availability

At level(s):\ PG (research)

Application deadline:\ 15 May 2026 23:59 (GMT)

Countries

The award is available to people from these specific countries:

Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British National (Overseas) Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Channel Islands not otherwise specified Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus (European Union) Cyprus (Non-European Union) Cyprus not otherwise specified Czech Republic Czechoslovakia not otherwise specified Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Europe not otherwise specified Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guam (USA) Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China) [Hong Kong] Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Northern Ireland Northern Mariana Islands Norway Not Known Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Island Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Isls. Saint Barthelemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Anguilla Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French Part) Saint Tome (Sao Tome) and Principe Saint Vincent and Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Scotland Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch Part) Slovak Republic Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Stateless Sudan Suriname Swaziland (Eswatini) Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics not otherwise specified United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Kingdom, not otherwise specified United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (British) Wales Western Sahara Yemen Yugoslavia not otherwise specified Zambia Zimbabwe