Living in a Digital World

This project will develop a multi-layered security framework that leverages advanced machine learning algorithms with the state-of-the-art cryptographic algorithms, and adaptive threat detection systems to enhance the overall grid security.

A wealth of community heritage assets are hidden; they belong to individuals, to families, tucked away in attics or cupboards and their wider cultural value is often not fully appreciated.

The aim of this project is to is to develop robust defence mechanisms against adversarial attacks on image vision systems in autonomous vehicles. This involves creating and implementing algorithms that can detect and mitigate adversarial alterations in real-time, ensuring the AI systems accurately classify objects and maintain safe driving behaviours.

This research aims to advance in energy system modelling to support scalable, resilient hydrogen infrastructure in Scotland by developing predictive analytics, enhanced scenario planning, and optimisation capabilities tailored to hydrogen production, storage, and grid integration requirements.

This research explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be applied to software vulnerability mitigation while ensuring compliance with data privacy laws and ethical standards. The study focuses on building AI-driven security techniques that are technically robust, resistant to adversarial attacks and compliant with legal frameworks like GDPR to preserve end users’ security.

This research project will pioneer AI-enhanced aerodynamic strategies to control and recover wakes in floating offshore wind farms. Combining high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics with physics informed neural networks, the project aims to reduce wake losses, boost array efficiency, and deliver innovative design solutions for sustainable, high-performance offshore wind energy systems.

This research investigates the restorative benefits of natural environments by comparing real-world nature experiences with simulated ones using immersive spaces and VR headsets. By analysing participants' psychological responses, it aims to identify key environmental features that promote calm and mental recovery, offering insights into the potential of virtual nature for enhancing well-being.

This research will investigate the impact of stratified atmospheric boundary layer on aerodynamics and power output of floating offshore wind farms. By integrating advanced numerical tools with hybrid machine learning models, the project will improve prediction of real atmospheric conditions, enabling smarter wind farm design and operation in complex environments.

This project will develop an AI enabled autonomous subsea robotic system for inspection and maintenance of subsea infrastructure.

Previous research into independent bookshops in Scotland has found that in relatively isolated communities, they provide more than a place to buy books; they can also be a gathering space, a place of safety and at times a hub for the local community (Laing 2020).

This research explores enhancing Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) using high-resolution LiDAR data from RGU and Scotland-wide surveys. It evaluates the impact of data resolution on usability and assesses how visualisation platforms-immersive displays, interactive theatres, and VR headsets- affect perception and interpretation of landscape features, aiming to improve LCA tools and applications.

Exploring barriers to Game Design, Production, and the industry with community-driven design research.

The analysis of designers’ engagement with digital tools is fascinating and complex, this project aims to help solve a few issues around the extension of the mind into the digital realm.

It is common with many university buildings that energy consumption is not monitored. There is a significant lack of framework and tools implemented to: identify where energy is being consumed, detect faults, or determine where energy saving measures could be implemented to greatest effect.

Charities are increasingly under scrutiny to demonstrate genuine public benefit, yet existing definitions and regulatory frameworks often lag behind modern expectations. This research aims to reconceptualise "public benefit" in charity law by investigating governance practices that enhance transparency and accountability, particularly around purposes like religion, social welfare and health.

This project will develop data-driven tools and techniques to control complex networks and interconnected systems where precise modelling of the dynamics, and their interconnection becomes challenging. This problem will be studied in the context of robotics, autonomous and multi-agent systems, power distribution and other complex networks.

In the context of Higher Education, digital competencies are increasingly recognised as a necessary skillset that students should continuously develop to navigate an evolving digital learning and professional landscape. However, the existence of digital divides in students creates significant challenges, even at the level of baseline digital literacy.

This research project explores the coupled aero-hydro-elastic behaviour of floating offshore wind turbines, focusing on dynamic interactions between wind, waves, and structural motion. Using state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics simulations and multi-physics modelling, the research will enhance understanding of motion-induced loads, stability, and reliability, informing robust designs for next-generation floating systems.

This research will investigate interactive Explainable AI (XAI) to enhance care robotics by improving multimodal disambiguation in triaging tasks. By exploring novel XAI methods for multimodal data in context-aware human-robot interactions, this study aims to advance responsive, trustworthy AI systems that effectively support patient needs in complex care environments.

Digital platforms like Instagram and TikTok are significant in shaping visual culture and are recognised as simulated physical spaces, which provide opportunities for connection, self-expression and reflective nostalgia. Qualitative research exploring how communities engage with nostalgia in digital spaces would provide valuable insights into how these platforms are used to shape identity.

This project proposes a gamified platform for university students to track and enhance employability skills, integrating skill visualization with RGU’s Akari system. Through interactive "skill trees," students proactively engage with skill-building, improve their employability, and showcase their competencies to employers, bridging gaps in skill recognition and articulation.

Many antimicrobial compounds effectively kill bacteria and fungi, but assessing their toxicity to humans is essential. Traditionally, this requires labour-intensive and ethically contentious tests on human cells and animals. This project will use machine learning to predict toxicity of drugs, reducing cost, time and animal use while accelerating drug development.

Sociological and critical psychological theorists such as Peter Berger and Kenneth Gergen have argued that living in a diverse society fundamentally alters our understanding of the world—dismantling taken-for-granted truths and prompting a more questioning and contingent worldview.

The project would focus on young men’s interactions with the manosphere: a coalition of online communities in which anti-feminist/ male hegemonic masculinities are constructed and affirmed via alpha and beta masculine identities.

This research aims to develop novel 4D printing techniques to fabricate self-assembling metal/polymer composites for aerospace and automotive applications, addressing critical challenges in efficient, adaptable, and sustainable manufacturing processes.

Over the past decade, Instagram has become increasingly significant as a visual social media platform that has revolutionised visual culture.

As offshore wind energy development expands, conflicts with other marine users and critical ecological areas important to the marine environment are becoming more frequent. This PhD aims to address these challenges by using Evolutionary-Computing inspired methods of offshore wind farm layout design that balance energy production with ecological and marine user needs.

This project explores the impact of generative AI on student and teacher practices, examining early adoption to identify effective use patterns that enhance student learning and support educators in integrating AI into pedagogy.