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University of Southampton

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PhD in Privacy-aware Radar-centric British Sign Language Recognition and Translation for Healthcare Communication University of Southampton in United Kingdom

Degree Level

PhD

Field of study

Computer Science

Funding

Full funding available

Deadline

Sep 30, 2026

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Country

United Kingdom

University

University of Southampton

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Keywords

Computer Science
Biomedical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Human-computer Interaction
Health Communication
Computer Vision
Assistive Technology
Robotics
Sign Language
Linguistics
Machine learning

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About this position

PhD opportunity at the University of Southampton in Privacy-aware radar-centric British Sign Language recognition and translation for healthcare communication.

This project sits in the Digital Health and Biomedical Engineering group and is part of the EPSRC-funded RADAR-SIGN-BRIDGE project. The research explores how British Sign Language (BSL) users can interact with healthcare and smart devices with greater privacy, choice, and independence. The core technical focus is on radar sensing, multimodal AI, machine learning, computer vision, human-computer interaction, and linguistics, with an emphasis on privacy-aware recognition and translation without relying on cameras, speech, or wearable sensors.

You will develop AI methods that combine radar signals with privacy-aware information such as skeletal keypoints, contextual prompts, and language models. The project targets bounded healthcare and smart-device scenarios such as appointment check-in, requesting communication support, symptom-category reporting, and medication reminders. The aim is to complement qualified interpreters, not replace them, while improving accessibility and user control for Deaf and signing communities.

The project offers access to radar sensing facilities, computing resources, interdisciplinary supervision, and training in radar signal processing, multimodal AI, responsible innovation, and assistive technology. Collaboration with language technology experts and Deaf community stakeholders is also part of the research environment.

Eligibility: a UK 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent is required. An English language qualification is needed if applicable.

Funding: competition-funded PhD with opportunities for UK and international students. Funding may include fee waivers, tuition coverage at UK level, and a living stipend for top-ranked applicants, with rolling award decisions.

How to apply: submit an application via the University of Southampton postgraduate research portal. Select Research, 2026/27, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, choose full-time or part-time, search for PhD Computer Science (7089), and add the supervisor name in section 2. Include a research proposal, CV, two academic references, and transcripts/certificates.

Deadline: 2026-09-30.

Funding details

Full funding including tuition fees and living expenses is available for this position. The scholarship covers all educational costs and provides a monthly stipend.

How to apply

Please submit your application including a cover letter, CV, academic transcripts, and contact information for two references. Applications should be sent via the online portal before the deadline.

More information can be found here

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