Can social robots influence children’s prosocial behaviour in the classroom?

 Applications are invited for a fully-funded three year PhD to commence in October 2025. 

The PhD will be based in the Faculty of Science and Health within the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Science, and will be supervised by Dr Eszter Somogyi, Dr Leanne Proops and Dr Conway (external supervisor at the University of Southampton).

Candidates applying for this project may be eligible to compete for one of a small number of bursaries available. Successful applicants will receive a bursary to cover tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for three years and a stipend in line with the UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2025/26). Bursary recipients will also receive a contribution of £1,500 per year towards consumables, conference, project or training costs.

Costs for student visa and immigration health surcharge are not covered by this bursary. For further guidance and advice visit our international and EU students ‘Visa FAQs’ page.

The work on this project could involve:

• Data collection with 7-9 year-old children in schools in the UK
• Travel to Japan for cross-cultural data collection
• Use of social robots (such as the humanoid NAO or the zoomorphic Miro-E robot)

Project description

This interdisciplinary project focuses on the potential for social robots to be used in primary school settings to teach young children prosocial behaviours; namely, sharing and helping. Prosociality is important as it is associated with social and emotional competence throughout childhood (e.g., peer acceptance, empathy, self-confidence, and emotion-regulation skills). The project will not only relate relate to Psychology (specifically prosociality, compassion, empathy, and cognition), but also to other disciplines, namely Education (investigating school-based interventions and academic grades), AI technology, Social policy (relating to government initiatives to promote well-being in education) and Sociology (observing overall effects of technology within institutions, namely schools). 

Evidence shows humans are biologically hardwired to project intent and life onto any movement appearing autonomous, whether the article is ‘alive’ or not. New research shows that robots who model strong prosocial behaviour appear able to elicit this same behaviour among children in the short term. However, to date, there has been no systematic, longitudinal or cross-cultural study about the effectiveness of social robots on children’s prosocial behaviour. 

Thus, the aims of this study are threefold. We will investigate the mechanisms underlying human-robot interaction on children’s sharing behaviour as well as the role of attitude and culture on willingness to help a human/animal-like robot in need within a classroom setting. Gaps in previous research will also be explored, such as the role of robot appearance and emotional design on this relationship. Finally, we aim to conduct an ecologically valid, longitudinal examination of the effects of robot presence on class prosociality and sociometry, using rich qualitative data from pre-and-post intervention. You will work with children aged 6 to 9 years old from schools across the United Kingdom and potentially Japan using a mixed-method design. 

General admissions criteria

You’ll need a good first degree from an internationally recognised university (minimum upper second class or equivalent, depending on your chosen course) or a Master’s degree in an appropriate subject. In exceptional cases, we may consider equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0.

How to Apply

Please note that email applications are not accepted. If you have any project-specific questions please contact Dr Eszter Somogyi (eszter.somogyi@port.ac.uk), quoting the project code.

When you are ready to apply, please use the online application form of the respective project on our PhD scholarship website. Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV.  Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.

If you want to be considered for this funded PhD opportunity you must quote project code PSH50170125 when applying.

Explore more funded opportunities via our South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) programme.