Interactive Systems Research Group (ISRG)

• Professor David Brown (professor in interactive systems for social inclusion)
• Professor Philip Breedon (professor of smart technologies)
• Dr. Jun He (associate professor)
• Dr. Pratik Vyas (research-informed senior lecturer of information technology in user experience and data visualisation)
• Dr. M. Arifur Rahman (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Doratha Vinkemeier (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Tawfik Al-Hadhrami (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Jordan Bird (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Pedro Machado (senior lecturer in computer science)
• Dr. Amir Pourabdollah (senior lecturer)
• James Lewis (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Thomas Hughes-Roberts (senior lecturer in computer science)
• Dr. Ayse Ulgen (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Philip Woodall (senior lecturer)
• Dr. Salisu Yahaya (lecturer)

• Dr. Mufti Mahmud (associate professor of cognitive computing). Professor in the Information and Computer Science Department at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia.

• Matthew Harris (academic associate)
• Sean Haddick (academic associate)
• Dan Buxton (academic associate)

• Dr. Andy Burton (Research Fellow)
• Nick Shopland (Research Fellow)
• Akarsh K. Nair (Research Fellow)
• Dr. Yuan Shen (Independent Research Fellow)
• Farbod Zoriassatine (Research Fellow)

Matthew Harris

• Supervisors: Prof David Brown, Dr. Pratik Vyas, Mr. James Lewis
• Title: The Use of Virtual Reality in Assessing Cognitive Decline in Those with Intellectual Disabilities
• Expected graduation year: 2026
• Summary: This research involves co-designing a Virtual Reality platform that aims to assess cognitive decline in those with intellectual disabilities using Virtual Reality. Those with ID tend to experience cognitive decline earlier which is why we're targeting this group. Both neuropsychological and neurophysiological approaches to assessing cognitive decline have their limitations in this group, so this research aims to combine the two (VR spatial navigation task performance scores and EEG data) using a feature fusion machine learning approach.

Daniel J. Buxton

• Supervisors: Prof David Brown, Dr Mufti Mahmud, Dr Jordan Bird, Dr Thomas Hughes-Roberts
• Proposed title: A novel Computational method of autistic trait detection
• Expected graduation year: 2030
• Summary: Given that I was diagnosed with autism in adulthood, the project aims to improve this for others. I will undertake a multi-modal approach to autistic trait identification for young adults, aged 18-30. I will use various modalities, including neurophysiological measures and behavioural analysis, while addressing data scarcity and imbalance challenges. ORCID: 0000-0002-8729-3736

Sean Haddick

• Supervisor: Prof David Brown, …
• Proposed title: Developing Social-Emotional Reciprocity between Persons with ASD and their Caregivers
• Expected graduation year: 2028
• Summary:  Sean Haddick is an Academic Associate, studying Human-Computer Interaction at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. Currently, they are working on a VR intervention for caregivers of children with ASD, Facial Expression Emotion Recognition training for ASD children, and teaching Games Based Learning techniques and Accessible Design methodologies in client-based project work.

Safa Hamdare

• Supervisors: Dr Omprakash Kaiwartya, Prof David Brown, Dr Pratik Vyas
• Proposed Title: Cyber security for Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Energy network
• Expected graduation year: 2025
• Summary: The aim of this project is to create a framework for a secure EV charging service that can be used by both public charging station infrastructure and private charging stations in homes. Research Objectives include: design and development of an EV Charging Management and Security (EVCMS) framework; deployment of EVCMS framework as a centralized cloud service for small scale charging network and as a distributed fog/edge service for large scale charging network including home charging points; and testing, validation, and generation of experimental benchmarking performance data for EVCMS to ensure safety against potential EV charging security threats.

Rahma Hammedi

• Supervisors: Dr Omprakash Kaiwartya, Dr Mufti Mahmud, Prof David Brown
• Proposed title: Privacy preserving Scheme for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
• Expected graduation year: 2027
• Summary: Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) use Vehicle-to-Everything communication to enhance connectivity and self-driving capabilities, leading to a significant amount of data being transmitted. However, this opens potential privacy vulnerabilities for hackers to access the in-vehicle network. Thus, maintaining drivers' trust through robust privacy preservation measures is indispensable. Our aim is to thoroughly analyse current privacy-preserving solutions in CAVs and develop an efficient solution that addresses previous limitations, offering enhanced features in terms of latency, coverage, and computation.

Teena Rai

• Supervisors: Dr Jun He, Dr Mufti Mahmud, Prof David Brown
• Proposed title: Explainable Machine Learning to select high risk patients for lung cancer screening
• Expected graduation year: 2026
• Summary: My PhD focuses on using explainable machine learning to build risk prediction models for lung cancer using UK primary care data. I work on building ensemble models and provide post hoc explanations to explain the decisions made by the models. My main aim is to improve the performance and explainability of the ensemble models compared to the traditional logistic regression models.

Mukunda Somisetti

• Supervisors: Prof David Brown, Dr Nadja Heym, Prof Alexander Sumich
• Proposed title: Development of protocol for co-creation of a user-friendly Virtual Reality App to support people with Borderline Personality Disorder
• Expected graduation year: 2029
• Summary: I will be developing a protocol for a VR App to support individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). A Project advisory group will be formed with NHS BPD service providers and potential end users of the App to discuss the possibilities for developing the App content. There will be a pilot testing stage towards the project end to understand the impact on BPD symptoms and feasibility of the App implementation.

Zakia Batool Turabee

• Supervisors: Prof David Brown, Dr Mufti Mahmud, Dr Andreas Oikonomou
• Proposed title: Neuroadaptive HCI for students with Autism
• Expected graduation year: 2026
• Summary: My study focuses on the early identification of behavioural changes in children with autism when they start to feel overwhelmed. By detecting these changes, I aim to enable the timely implementation of evidence-based well-being interventions to mitigate their impact.

Fuyu Zhang

• Supervisors: Dr Jun He (Director of Studies), Prof David Brown (Co-Supervisor), Dr Mahmud Mufti (Co-Supervisor)
• Proposed title: Explainable Graph Neural Networks for Lung Cancer Risk Prediction based on Electronic Health Records
• Expected graduation year: 2028
• Summary: This project aims to design an explainable Graph Neural Network (GNN) model for predicting lung cancer risk based on the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). By integrating advanced GNN techniques and ensuring model interpretability, we seek to enhance the accuracy and clinical usability of lung cancer predictions, ultimately improving clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

AIMS:

• to Launch the East Midlands as the leading hub for RehabTech excellence,
• Build mechanisms to connect the EM’s 459 MedTech SMEs with the region’s world-class researchers, networks, and facilities,
• Ensure the EM dominates the design, development, and delivery of pioneering RehabTech that will transform health outcomes and inequalities.

OBJECTIVES:

• To Create mechanisms for engagement between businesses, academics, NHS, and patients/the public through our state-of-the-art facilities,
• To Capture and harness the breadth of UK R&I talent through the Collaboration Fund.

Example activities include secondments, demonstration days, sandpit events, problem fora, and marketing. See NTU Press report.

Funded by the British Council of Bangladesh, this project was tasked with the enhancement and growth of an Inclusive Education Toolkit for use in the Bangladesh context. The original toolkit was developed in the DiversAsia project for use by Higher Education (HE) staff, to enable students with disabilities to enjoy the same access to HE as their peers, including access to free and open-source digital training materials. The Inclusive Education Toolkit comprised guidelines, checklists and leading-edge practices, an accessibility checker tool and an AI powered Tool to understand student engagement. It was based on NTU’s world leading inclusion research, teaching practices and standards relevant to, and embedded in, the Bangladesh (BD) context.

In July and December 2025, and in April 2026, workshops were held in Bangladesh and India to further enhance the awareness of Inclusivity and Accessibility in Higher Education professionals in Asia. Previously created materials have been enhanced, and new materials have been created with additional guidance on Generative AI and Race and Gender Equality. A new site has been created to host these materials which is undergoing constant development with materials from NTU and from collaborating institutions.  Find out more at Accessible Academy.

By running these multiple face-to-face and online ' Generative AI Workshops for Inclusive Higher Education’, we have significantly extended existing collaborations between the NTU and a range of HE and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutions in BD. Through these institutional partnerships, we will continue to work together to increase the role of “AI for Good” to tackle barriers to accessing the HE and TVET sectors for students experiencing learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia, ADHD), sensory and physical impairments, those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and women students in Bangladesh.  Successful implementation and recognised impact through 2025/26 has secured further funding for 2026/27 from NTU Impact Accelerator funding, as well as an invitation to apply for further British Council funding.

UKHAIC will promote cross-sectoral collaboration, increase co-creation of research and clarity of ideas and technologies through the transfer of people. This will create both stronger relationships between universities and other sectors, and innovative solutions to support real world outcomes, improving human health in the real world. UKHAIC offers numerous opportunities, including cross-sector networking, access to funding, and free training for members. It serves as a gateway to our partners’ and collaborators’ knowledge transfer networks. Find out more at UK Healthy Ageing Innovation Consortium.

Inclusive use of Artificial Intelligence in Education in Vietnam: AI Powered Inclusive Education Digital Transformation in Rural and Urban Schools. Funded by the British Council [2024 – 2026].

Events:

• Teacher Training on AI in Education - delivered to over 200 High School Teachers from Northern, Central, and South Vietnam. July 23rd and July 20th, 2025.
• Guest Lecture - "Generative AI in Education" delivered to High School Teachers from North, Central, and South Vietnam. Available in English and Vietnamese - delivered by Dr. Jordan Bird (Nottingham Trent University, UK) and translated by Dr. Đỗ Thùy Linh (Vietnam National University, Hanoi).

Press coverage:

• Vietnam News Agency: "Expanding access to education through the application of AI in teaching in Vietnam" (translated from Vietnamese).
• BaoTinTuc, Vietnam News Agency: "Four universities in Vietnam launch the latest AI application project in teaching" (translated from Vietnamese).

Access to appropriate ICT-based solutions provides perhaps the only chance for students with a range of physical, sensory, communication and cognitive disabilities of participating in society and realising their full potential. A 2015 Deloitte and Ipsos MORI study prepared for the European Commission highlighted the need to integrate inclusive, personalised ICT solutions into learning environments for children.

Research by NTU’s Interactive Systems Research Group has improved the inclusion of students with learning disabilities and autism in special and inclusive classrooms via approaches to designing accessible and adaptive learning technologies, which improve and enhance their engagement in learning. Find out more on the project website.

This project jointly conducted by Nottingham Trent University (NTU), UK and Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, India involved the 'co-designing of smart curriculum and personalised method of delivery on Industry 4.0' so that the problem of student's industry 4.0 readiness can be explored and addressed as the aim of this research. Value added course (VAC) is a micro credit module run by VIT independently of the various degrees offered by the institution which has been recognised as an appropriate driver for addressing this issue. Find out more on the project website.

Re:inclusion - Research Reimagined

Using technology to support neurodivergent students in classrooms - Researchers David Brown and Mufti Mahmud from NTU’s Computer Science and Informatics Research Centre have improved the inclusion of students with neurodivergent conditions in special, inclusive classrooms. Incorporating multimodal affect recognition, serious games, location-based services, digital game-making, and robotics and accessibility, their research has focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to understand how engaged learners are, and how to employ novel ICT interventions for pupils in the greatest need.

NICER Group

Nottingham International Consortium for Educational Research. The ISRG collaborate closely with NICER, who are a group of people with intellectual disabilities, and people who work closely with them, who are passionate about making sure that they are actively involved as equal partners in research which involves improving the lives of - and opportunities for - people with intellectual disabilities. The group includes current pupils from the Oak Field School, and former students, as well as staff from both Oak Field School and other similar schools such as the Nottingham Hope Academy, who meet on a regular basis with researchers and educationalists to help to inform and guide research work.