Verifiable, Privacy‑Preserving Decision Accountability for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV)

About the Project

As Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) deployments grow, society needs trustworthy, auditable vehicle decisions and coordination, especially at intersections, merging/convoying, and emergency manoeuvres, without exposing sensitive data (routes, identities, internal logic). This project investigates how to enable verifiable decision accountability and inter‑vehicle trust while preserving privacy and vendor IP.

Core research questions

• How can vehicles demonstrate compliance with safety/coordination policies without revealing internal sensor data or proprietary logic?
• What lightweight assurance mechanisms allow peers or auditors to verify claims about decisions and software integrity?
• How should these mechanisms integrate with real‑time constraints at the edge and multi‑vendor ecosystems?
• What threat models matter most (spoofing, replay, collusion), and how do we bound information leakage while keeping systems usable?

Academic qualifications

First degree (minimum 2:1 classification) in:

Computer Science OR

Cybersecurity / Information Security OR

Electrical / Electronic / Computer Engineering OR

Data Science / Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning OR

Robotics / Autonomous Systems

English language requirement

IELTS score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 6.0 in each of the four components). Other, equivalent qualifications will be accepted. Full details of the University’s policy are available online.

Essential attributes:

• Strong programming skills (e.g., C++/Rust/Go/Python) and an interest in policy/standards are valued
• Backgrounds in systems security, autonomous systems, applied cryptography / verification, distributed systems, or real‑time/edge computing

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

• Completed application form
• CV
• 2 academic references, using the Postgraduate Educational Reference Form (download)
• Research project outline of 2 pages (list of references excluded). The outline may provide details about
  1. Background and motivation of the project. The motivation, explaining the importance of the project, should be supported also by relevant literature. You can also discuss the applications you expect for the project results.
  2. Research questions or objectives.
  3. Methodology: types of data to be used, approach to data collection, and data analysis methods.
  4. List of references.
• The outline must be created solely by the applicant. Supervisors can only offer general discussions about the project idea without providing any additional support.
• Statement no longer than 1 page describing your motivations and fit with the project.
• Evidence of proficiency in English (if appropriate)

To be considered, the application must use

• the advertised title as project title

For informal enquiries about this PhD project, please contact N.Moradpoor@napier.ac.uk

PhD Start Date: October 2026

Funding Notes

International applicants should note that visa application costs and the NHS health surcharge are additional costs to be taken into consideration, and successful applicants will need to cover these expenses themselves.