Aberdeen Psychology PhD: Trust Calibration in Human–Automated Vehicle Interactions

Aberdeen Psychology PhD: Trust Calibration in Human–Automated Vehicle Interactions

Research Question and Applicant Fit

This Aberdeen Psychology doctorate uses VR, eye tracking and EEG to ask how vehicle behaviour and beliefs about automation change trust, risk perception and action. Social human–AI research and Stirling action-EEG expertise offer a distinctive combination. Chinese applicants can compete for four-year EASTBIO awards; successful international awardees receive an overseas-fee top-up waiver, and £22,437 for 2027/28 remains an estimated stipend. The application and both references are due 16 November 2026, 23:59 GMT, and only one EASTBIO project may be chosen. Current acceptance status has not been confirmed. Discuss available VR scenarios, equipment/supervision and a first-year baseline with Mei before applying. Neuro-vulnerability is the question under investigation, not an individual diagnosis or established safety deficit.

Research Problem and Doctoral Work

The doctorate asks whether people detect subtle differences between automated and human vehicle behaviour, and whether actual versus perceived vehicle agency changes trust, risk perception, attention and action. The advert's neuro-vulnerability framing is a hypothesis about mismatch between human prediction/response and machine behaviour; it is not an established diagnosis or evidence that all humans are inherently unable to interact safely with AVs. Trust calibration should mean reliance matched to demonstrated capability, not simply maximising favourable trust ratings.

Advertised work develops controlled immersive VR human–vehicle scenarios, initially characterising movement cues and responsiveness to road users, then testing actual/perceived human versus automated agency. Eye tracking measures visual attention and hazard monitoring; EEG examines correlates of anticipation, attention, cognitive workload and unexpected behaviour. Training spans social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, HMI, VR, EEG, eye tracking, and R/MATLAB computing. These are training opportunities, not a requirement to arrive proficient in every tool. EASTBIO 2027 application instructions.

The strongest analytical opportunity is separating physical movement from an automation label while retaining clear measures of perceived agency. A plausible first study could test whether a cue changes hazard attention independently of beliefs about the driver; later EEG work should distinguish prediction error, workload and movement/visual artifacts from a specific trust effect. These are reasoned design suggestions, not a published experimental protocol or sample-size promise. Candidate roles—driver, passenger or pedestrian—and which road situations form the thesis remain to be agreed.

VR permits controlled comparisons, but laboratory risk, embodiment and motion do not reproduce real consequences. Self-reported trust, eye position, reaction behaviour and EEG provide different evidence; correlation among them does not make EEG a direct trust meter or establish that a neural signal causes safer behaviour. Human-participant approvals, consent, cybersickness, accessibility and data privacy belong in feasibility planning. This is research, not individual neurological diagnosis or an intervention trial.

The CIEHF highly automated systems guidance places human factors in a system-level design/evaluation context. Findings could inform human-centred autonomy and hazard communication, but a VR result alone does not certify an AV or establish lower crash rates.

Career and Field Implications

Quantitative experiment design, multimodal data integration and human-factors reasoning connect to academic cognitive science, HMI/UX research and safety-related systems work. CIEHF describes multidisciplinary psychology/engineering/design teams, consultancy and experience-building pathways; professional competence or chartered status does not follow automatically from this degree, and verified project-specific placements/salary outcomes are unavailable. System-level human factors; Professional pathways.

School, Programme and Field Context

The University of Aberdeen, School of Psychology, is the host and degree-awarding institution. The supervisory collaboration includes Aberdeen Applied Health Sciences and University of Stirling Psychology; it does not establish a joint degree or require Stirling registration. The university's generic Psychology PhD covers experimental design, advanced analysis and transferable research skills. Its ordinary online application and 1–2 page proposal instructions do not override this advertised EASTBIO email/no-proposal route. Exact 2027 registration code and progression milestones are unpublished. Psychology doctoral context.

In REF 2021 Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, UoA4, Aberdeen's overall profile was 34% four-star, 60% three-star, 25.00 staff FTE. It is historical subject-unit evidence, not a world ranking or this AV team's individual performance. Do not substitute Applied Health Sciences metrics because one co-supervisor works there. Official relevant-subject assessment.

The award lasts four years, normally starting 1 October 2027. EASTBIO core cohort/methods/professional training is mainly in years 1–2, with research focus in 3–4; the 2026/27 calendar is illustrative rather than a fixed 2027/28 schedule. A 12-week non-academic PIPS outside the PhD project must finish before the end of year 3, planned by year 1. An additional-expenses application up to £500 is possible if the placement exceeds 50 miles from the host; it is not automatic and does not guarantee a job. Training structure; Placement requirements.

This project permits part-time study for Home/UK students only. Visa-requiring students must register full-time, and EASTBIO requires residence within commuting distance except fieldwork/placements. Cross-institution co-supervision does not imply remote-study permission.

Supervisor and Lab Assessment

Peidong Mei, Lecturer in Psychology, joined Aberdeen in 2024 after a Lancaster Psychology PhD in 2021, research at Exeter/Alan Turing on AI in air traffic control, and an Oxford visiting appointment. Her direction is social cognition and moral/social human–AI interaction; her page says she accepts PhDs (peidong.mei@abdn.ac.uk). These links support relevant experience, not guaranteed NATS/Turing employment or funded placements for the student. Mei current official profile.

Samuel Bennett is currently Mr, Teaching Fellow, Applied Health Sciences, and his Aberdeen profile explicitly accepts PhD supervision only as secondary. The project body also uses Mr, while some directory/contact labels use Dr; use the verified current role rather than awarding an unverified title. His official record includes behavioural/educational work and a robot-motion preprint; it does not establish clinical diagnostic authority. Contact Samuel.bennett@abdn.ac.uk and confirm the methods contribution and 2027 availability. Bennett verified role and supervision condition.

Dimitrios Kourtis, Senior Lecturer at Stirling, studies joint action, predictive representation, action observation and EEG (dimitrios.kourtis@stir.ac.uk). His engineering/biomedical-engineering and psychology background complements Mei's social-cognitive focus. Stirling's group lists three 64-channel EEG suites, a driving-simulator rig, mobile EEG/eye tracking and VR resources. These are Stirling resources, not evidence of allocated Aberdeen equipment, travel budget or daily access. Kourtis research; Location and scope of facilities.

Three recent supervisor primary studies are useful:

• Mei, Cannon, Everett, Liu and Awad, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 32:101545, 2 August 2025, compares trust/blame in air traffic control and driving using a 301-person convenience sample and 988-person nationally representative sample, and three automation roles/levels 0, 3, 5. People generally trusted humans more and blamed them less, with a Level 3 AI-trainee blame exception. It demonstrates context and role dependence of beliefs; it is survey evidence, not VR hazard detection, EEG or road-safety validation. Testing only three levels and vignette responses limits generalisation. 2025 trust and blame study Bibliography: Peidong Mei; Richard Cannon; Jim Everett; Peng Liu; Edmond Awad. Public trust and blame attribution in human-AI interactions: a comparison between air traffic control and vehicle driving. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 32:101545 (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.trip.2025.101545. Published byline Jim Everett; expanded institutional authority name Jim A.C. Everett refers to the same coauthor.
• Mustile, Kourtis and collaborators, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 18:1412307, 21 June 2024, compares actual walking, motor imagery and mental counting with mobile EEG. 24 healthy participants entered, 21 were analysed after three artifact exclusions, 20 of them female. Alpha/beta patterns partly overlap between imagery and execution, but imagery also recruits distinct resources. This demonstrates naturalistic EEG and artifact handling, not an AV-trust biomarker or proof that imagined and real hazards are equivalent. 2024 mobile-EEG study Bibliography: Magda Mustile; Dimitrios Kourtis; Martin G. Edwards; David I. Donaldson; Magdalena Ietswaart. Neural correlates of motor imagery and execution in real-world dynamic behavior: evidence for similarities and differences. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 18:1412307 (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1412307.

The scientific interpretation here is limited to the coauthor institutional abstract and author PDF; the bibliographic cross-check used indexed first-page metadata only.

• Mustile, Kourtis and collaborators, Neuropsychologia 175:108352, 2022, records 18 healthy participants observing a real person approach or move away. Alpha varies with distance; beta varies with distance and direction. It supports attention to movement geometry in action prediction. A human-agent observation result does not show identical coding of AVs or establish a fixed neurological vulnerability; the coauthor institutional abstract and author PDF were read 21 October. The 22 October check used indexed first-page metadata after current direct access failed. 2022 action-observation study Bibliography: Magda Mustile; Dimitrios Kourtis; Martin G. Edwards; David I. Donaldson; Magdalena Ietswaart. The neural response is heightened when watching a person approaching compared to walking away: Evidence for dynamic social neuroscience. Neuropsychologia 175:108352 (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108352.

Two advertised methodological precedents are independent teams, not these supervisors' publications. Xu et al 2022 uses simulated AV conditions and graph-based EEG analysis in 50 students aged 21–35; condition-dependent patterns do not identify a universally valid or individually diagnostic trust signal. Ehrlich et al 2023 finds anticipatory EEG during human–robot interaction and tests subtask-learning with a simulation—around 80% choice accuracy among four subtasks within 17 minutes—rather than demonstrating on-road safety. These provide method context without proving the proposed AV conclusions. Independent AV-EEG study; Independent HRI study and simulation boundary.

The advert cites Mei 2026, but a uniquely identifiable paper matching that reference was not verified; ask for its title/DOI rather than inventing a result. VR scenario readiness, hardware synchronisation, Aberdeen equipment access, participant recruitment, ethics, technical support, supervisor workloads and joint-meeting cadence are unpublished. EASTBIO's standard primary-supervisor rule allows at most three other PhD students in October 2027 and requires campus presence, with CASE exceptions; it is not a measured student count or guarantee of spare capacity. Programme supervision policy.

Funding, Application and Living Cost

EASTBIO instructions also make the anonymous Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) survey mandatory: copy its unique response ID onto the application form. The survey is open from 4 October to 17 November, but that does not extend the application and reference deadline of 16 November. References from the project supervisor(s) are not accepted. EASTBIO current application requirements

Chinese/international candidates may compete; the international share is capped at 30% of annual recruitment across the entire EASTBIO network, not a per-project quota or an individual award probability. The EASTBIO FAQ states that successful international awardees receive an overseas-fee top-up waiver. Eligibility does not secure an award. Obtain the Aberdeen four-year tuition/waiver wording and extension charges in the offer. Visa and IHS are excluded. Current fee-waiver and study conditions.

The project Funding Notes estimate £22,437 tax-free stipend for 2027/28; UKRI's stated minimum is £21,805 from October 2026, with £5,238 Home-fee support for 2026/27. The separate research/training grant is £5,000 per year in years 1–3, £1,500 in year 4, plus £230/year travel/conference allowance. It is not personal living income. Confirm how VR equipment/software, EEG consumables, participant reimbursement and Stirling travel fit those budgets. Current UKRI baseline.

Apply for one EASTBIO project across all institutions, after contacting the lead. Aberdeen requires a single email to smmsn-pgrenquiries@abdn.ac.uk, subject “EASTBIO Application – [Your Name]”, by 16 November 2026, 23:59 GMT, including the official application form, academic certificates/transcripts, and two template references, one possibly non-academic. Referees can send separately to that inbox, subject “EASTBIO Reference – [Your Name]”, by the same deadline. You must ensure both arrive; the host will not chase missing items. No research proposal or unsolicited extra documents; incomplete/extra-material applications are not considered. Non-English qualifications need original plus official English translation. Do not replace this deadline with another host's midday or late-reference policy. Current forms and single-project rule.

The supervisor normally nominates one candidate; shortlisting assesses academic/project and interdisciplinary programme fit. Interviews include a short previous-research presentation. Published 2027 dates are 18 January nomination, 22 February invitations, week beginning 8 March interviews, and week beginning 22 March decisions. This is not a guaranteed interview or exact award date. Selection process and timeline.

Aberdeen recommends £1,171/month, or £14,052 for 12 months, including rent. This is UKVI-aligned planning guidance, not average spending or 2027 prices. The estimated 2027 stipend and older budget cannot establish future savings. Use the formal award and real housing quote, then allow for visa/IHS, relocation, deposits, inflation and individual spending; do not add rent twice. Budget basis.

Actual 2026/27 accommodation examples are Adam Smith £111/week, Elphinstone shared £133/ensuite £191, with 40–50 week contracts and Wi-Fi included. At 50 weeks that is £5,550/£6,650/£9,550, with two weeks still to cover. Check postgraduate eligibility, utilities, deposit, summer coverage and 2027 availability; 40-week rooms are not automatically full-year housing. Current housing prices.

Applicant Fit and Preparation

The project requires a relevant UK 2:1 or international equivalent; a 2:2 may be considered with a Master's Distinction or Commendation, including an expected result. A Master's is not universally required. Psychology, cognitive neuroscience, human factors or an engineering/computing background supported by behavioural-research evidence can connect naturally to this work; this is an analytical preparation profile, not a new official degree list. R/MATLAB, VR, eye tracking and EEG are advertised training, not all mandatory pre-entry skills.

Aberdeen Psychology Postgraduate Standard English is IELTS 6.5 overall, Writing 6.0, Reading/Listening/Speaking 5.5, normally test certification within two years; valid One Skill Retake is accepted. Do not import the Higher reading threshold from a co-supervisor's medical-school affiliation. Confirm exact 2027 offer/waiver and Chinese-degree equivalence. EASTBIO permits application before taking an English test, with proof potentially needed before a formal offer. Correct host-school language policy.

Useful preparation is a clear experimental-design or analysis example distinguishing actual vehicle performance, beliefs, trust ratings and reliance behaviour. Explain repeated measures, power/data quality and competing interpretations of a neural effect. A reproducible small behavioural or signal-analysis project can evidence readiness, but should not be submitted as an unsolicited extra file. Basic coding and willingness to learn multimodal methods matter; interest confined to autonomous-driving algorithms without human-participant research would be a mismatch.

Next Actions and Questions to Verify

Before Applying

Discuss the exact research scope with Mei, including participant role, available VR scenarios and the difference between measurable trust calibration and the neuro-vulnerability hypothesis. Ask for the unresolved Mei 2026 reference and verify Bennett's secondary role. Choose one EASTBIO project, confirm Chinese equivalence/English, and prepare both template references and translated qualifications for 16 November 23:59 GMT.

At Interview

Ask what is already operational in Aberdeen, what requires Stirling access, and who supports VR programming, EEG/eye-tracker timing and artifact analysis. Discuss recruitment, ethics/cybersickness, manipulation checks, first-year baseline and a behavioural-only fallback if neurophysiology is delayed. Confirm supervisor capacity/joint meetings, travel/participant budgets, and how the non-academic internship fits testing.

Before Accepting

Obtain four-year full international tuition/waiver and final stipend terms, RTSG/travel access, extension/interruption rules and final registration. Confirm data privacy arrangements, equipment access, full-year housing and visa/IHS cash. The opportunity is strong for human-centred quantitative research; its main practical uncertainty is a supported multimodal experimental pipeline, and its conclusions must remain distinct from clinical diagnosis or demonstrated road-crash reduction.

Evidence and Sources

The cited study discussions preserve their stated scope: the 2022 action-observation interpretation draws on the coauthor institutional abstract and author PDF, with bibliographic cross-checking limited to indexed first-page metadata. The Mei 2026 reference remains unidentified, so no result is attributed to it. Check the FAQ and Psychology English requirements against current official guidance. Current project availability and individual 2027 conditions have not been confirmed.

Recruitment, school and training

• EASTBIO 2027 How to Apply and officially designated directory
• EASTBIO current applicant FAQ
• EASTBIO selection process 2027
• EASTBIO training overview
• EASTBIO PIPS guidance
• EASTBIO 2027 supervisor eligibility and timeline
• Aberdeen current postgraduate English requirements
• Aberdeen REF 2021 Psychology results
• Aberdeen School of Psychology postgraduate study

Supervisors, papers and facilities

• Peidong Mei current staff profile
• Samuel Bennett current Aberdeen institutional profile
• Dimitrios Kourtis current Stirling profile
• Mei et al 2025 public trust and blame primary paper
• Mustile Kourtis et al 2024 motor imagery/execution primary paper
• Mustile Kourtis et al 2022 real-person approach observation primary paper
• Xu et al 2022 independent AV EEG primary study
• Ehrlich et al 2023 independent HRI anticipatory EEG study
• Stirling Cognition in Complex Environments facilities

Funding, cost and careers

• UKRI current minimum support
• Aberdeen 2026/27 accommodation costs
• Aberdeen international living-cost guidance
• CIEHF highly automated systems guidance
• CIEHF professional career options