About the Project
Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD position with the “Decisions” Cluster of the Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life. The successful applicant will work with Professor Nehal Bhuta at Edinburgh Law School, but will also be integrated into the research environment and wider PhD and postdoctoral cohort of the Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life, which is based at Durham University.
The Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life (CAL) is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of algorithmic life, pursuing one of the most urgent questions for contemporary society: how do we wish to live with and alongside algorithmic technologies? Our researchers are examining the novel paradigms of knowledge, perception, and action that emerge with contemporary algorithmic technologies. They are exploring how ideas and concepts of what it means to be human transform and adapt in collaboration with the different life-worlds of algorithms. The CAL is conceived as a centre for fundamental research and not a series of projects; as such, it provides the facilitating scholarly infrastructure and questions that guide the research but is adaptive and responsive to changing landscapes and emerging challenges.
The Decisions cluster within CAL, led by Professor Nehal Bhuta, examines how algorithmic life is changing the character of decisions through the hybrid knowledges of humans and algorithms. From the critical decisions in military and security domains to those in welfare and public administration, algorithmic life advances automated and machine decisions into human life. The work within this cluster will develop novel algorithmic life approaches to decision, and to ideas of accountable, responsible, or ethical decision. The decisions Cluster will provide unique opportunities for PhDs and fellows to access and influence the newly emerging interdisciplinary networks on automation and decision in high-risk domains such as AI-enabled means of warfare.
Candidate profile
The successful applicant will have:
- Excellent grades in both undergraduate and postgraduate taught degrees (at least one of which must be in law).
- A background, or clear demonstrable interest, in the ways that AI and algorithmic technologies shape and may be shaped by law, legal decision-making, the production of norms and normativity, and the life of law in national, international or global domains.
- Proficiency in English (both oral and written). For candidates whose first language is not English, we require an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with at least 7.0 in the writing component and 6.5 in each of the other components (or other acceptable English language qualification at the equivalent standard).
- We are particularly eager to hear from applicants with ambitions to develop their disciplinary expertise through interdisciplinary collaboration across the social sciences, humanities, and sciences. For example, you might be a computer scientist working on machine learning and law, with interests in how legal reasoning is developing technically and socially; or you may be a sociologist whose work on algorithmic social systems opens up theoretical questions of legal concepts; or you may be a legal theorist or socio-legal scholar interested in how legal concepts or legal practices are changing through interaction with algorithmic and AI technologies. Any field of law is of potential interest.
- These interdisciplinary PhD studentships offer exciting opportunities to study as part of a larger scholarly community in The Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life, whilst providing excellent opportunities for to develop your career through specialist training, and engagement with our partners in academia, industry, and the charitable and arts sectors. The duration of study (3.5 years) will be dependent on the necessary training period required for the PhD project and on any periods on placement or collaborative work.
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
Application Information
Applicants should apply via the University’s admissions portal (EUCLID) and select the PhD Law programme. Apply here. In the ‘proposed supervisor’ part of the EUCLID application, please enter ‘Professor Nehal Bhuta’.
Applications should be submitted by 5pm on 30 September 2026. Interviews will take place (online) in late October. The successful applicant will be expected to start the PhD in January 2027 or September 2027.
Applicants must submit:
- All degree transcripts and certificates (and certified translations if applicable).
- Evidence of English Language capability (where applicable).
- A short research proposal (max 2 pages) outlining your approach to the proposed research project (focus on identifying research questions for your proposed thesis and explaining why these questions matter).
- A full CV and cover letter describing your background, suitability for the PhD, and research interests (max 2 pages).
- Two recent references (note that it is your responsibility to ensure that reference letters are received before the deadline).
Please note that the proposal, CV, and cover letter should be uploaded as a single, combined document within the application portal.
Only complete applications (i.e. those that are not missing the above documentation) will progress forward to the academic selectors for further consideration.
Funding Notes
This scholarship will pay tuition fees at UK Home Fee rates and provide an annual stipend in line with UKRI rates (approximately £21,805 per annum). The stipend will be paid in equal monthly instalments for 3.5 years, subject to satisfactory progress. Additional research funding will also be available to support training and development. The scholarship is only available to students eligible for Home fee status (candidates from the UK, Republic of Ireland and EU-EEA with Pre-settled status).
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