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OXBRIDGE GATEWAY

Independent Research Partnership Opportunity - Cognitive Science / Psychology


Location: Remote
Duration: Flexible period of approximately 6–8 weeks

Application: Open​

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Research Partnership Title

 

The Cognitive Foundations of Personalised AI: Understanding the Individual Over Time

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Academic Level

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University student or above

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We welcome applications from students and postgraduate researchers studying or with a strong interest in:

  • Cognitive Science

  • Psychology

  • Cognitive Psychology

  • Developmental Psychology

  • Behavioural Science

  • Neuroscience

  • Human Development

  • Human-Computer Interaction

  • Artificial Intelligence

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​​​Indicative Commitment

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Approximately 4–6 hours per week, depending on the researcher's chosen methodology and academic commitments. The researcher determines how and when the research is undertaken, subject to mutually agreed research milestones.

 

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Nature of the Opportunity

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This is a voluntary, unpaid independent research partnership with Oxbridge Gateway.

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It is not an employment position, internship or paid work placement. The purpose is to provide a university-level researcher with an opportunity to investigate the cognitive and psychological foundations of AI systems that seek to understand and support individuals over time..

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The researcher retains academic independence and is encouraged to challenge the assumptions underlying the research.

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Research Context

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Today's AI systems are becoming increasingly capable of reasoning, tutoring, creating and communicating. However, most AI systems have only a limited and fragmented understanding of the individual interacting with them.


Oxbridge Gateway is exploring the concept of Personalised Intelligence: an evolving, user-centred representation of an individual that could help AI systems provide more appropriate support over time.

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This raises a fundamental question: 

What should an AI system understand about a person in order to provide genuinely personalised and developmentally useful support?

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The answer cannot simply be a personality profile. An individual changes over time. Some characteristics are relatively stable; others are temporary. Some information is explicitly stated by the individual, while other information may be inferred from behaviour. The research will explore how cognitive science and psychology can help distinguish and represent these different forms of information.

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Core Research Question

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What cognitive and psychological information should a persistent AI system represent about an individual, how should that information be interpreted, and how should the representation evolve over time?

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The researcher may refine this into a more focused research question.

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Potential Research Questions

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Understanding the Individual

  • What characteristics meaningfully distinguish one learner or individual from another?

  • Which characteristics are useful for personalising AI interaction?

  • Which characteristics are relatively stable and which are dynamic?

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Psychological Representation

How should an AI distinguish between:

  • preferences;

  • interests;

  • goals;

  • aspirations;

  • knowledge;

  • capabilities;

  • behaviours;

  • motivation;

  • confidence;

  • beliefs;

  • values;

  • temporary emotional states; and

  • longer-term psychological characteristics?

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Evidence & Inference

  • What is the difference between something a person states, something an AI observes, and something an AI infers?

  • How should uncertainty be represented?

  • How much evidence should be required before an AI changes its understanding of an individual?

  • How should contradictory evidence be handled?


Development Over Time

  • How should an individual's model evolve?

  • How should AI distinguish a temporary state from a persistent characteristic?

  • How might personalisation change during adolescence, university and early adulthood?

  • Could an AI's understanding of an individual itself influence that individual's behaviour or self-perception?

 

Human-AI Relationships

  • What psychological benefits might arise from persistent personalisation?

  • What are the risks of an AI maintaining inaccurate or outdated assumptions?

  • How can users maintain meaningful control over what AI remembers or infers?

  • How should psychological autonomy be protected?

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Suggested Conceptual Areas

 

The researcher may investigate whether a useful Personalised Intelligence Model should distinguish between:​

  • Self-Reported Information - What an individual explicitly tells the system.

  • Observed Experience - What the individual actually does or experiences.

  • Assessed Characteristics - Information derived from structured assessments.

  • Knowledge & Capability - What the individual appears to know or be able to do.

  • Goals & Aspirations - What the individual is currently trying to achieve.

  • Preferences & Interests - Patterns in what the individual tends to prefer or explore.

  • Context - The educational, cultural, geographic or situational environment.

  • Temporal State - Information that may be temporary or change over time.

  • Inference - Potential characteristics inferred from multiple observations.

  • Confidence & Provenance - How reliable the information is, where it came from and when it was last confirmed.​

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The researcher is not expected to accept this framework. A valuable outcome may be demonstrating that some of these categories should be combined, separated or represented differently.

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Suggested Methodology

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The project will primarily involve academic literature review and conceptual analysis.

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Potential approaches include:

  • cognitive-science literature review;

  • psychological theory review;

  • examination of individual-difference models;

  • review of personality and behavioural frameworks;

  • examination of motivation and self-determination research;

  • review of human-AI interaction literature;

  • analysis of user-modelling approaches;

  • comparison of approaches to persistent personalisation;

  • development of a conceptual framework; and

  • analysis of psychological risks and ethical considerations.

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Where appropriate and feasible, the researcher may conduct a small exploratory qualitative component, such as a limited number of interviews.

A large or statistically representative participant sample is not required.

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Indicative 6–8 Week Research Journey
 

Weeks 1–2 — Exploration

  • Refine the research question.

  • Identify relevant cognitive and psychological theories.

  • Conduct an initial literature review.

  • Identify important theoretical distinctions.

 

Weeks 3–4 — Evidence & Analysis

  • Examine how psychological and cognitive characteristics are represented.

  • Analyse stability versus change.

  • Investigate self-report, observation and inference.

  • Examine uncertainty and conflicting evidence.

 

Weeks 5–6 — Framework Development

  • Develop a conceptual model.

  • Critically assess alternative approaches.

  • Consider psychological implications of persistent AI personalisation.

  • Identify potential safeguards.

 

Weeks 7–8 — Research Output

  • Complete the research analysis.

  • Prepare the final research report.

  • Present the proposed framework.

  • Identify limitations and future research opportunities.

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Expected Research Output

 

The principal output will normally be an independent research report covering:

  • Research question

  • Literature review

  • Theoretical framework

  • Methodology

  • Analysis / findings

  • Proposed conceptual framework

  • Psychological implications

  • Ethical considerations

  • Limitations

  • Recommendations for future research

 

Where appropriate, the researcher may also develop a visual model illustrating how an AI system could represent and update its understanding of an individual.​

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What Oxbridge Gateway Provides

 

Oxbridge Gateway may provide:

  • background information on the Personalised Intelligence research concept;

  • relevant non-confidential research materials;

  • high-level information about the ASPIREdeck platform;

  • opportunities to discuss the research with members of the ASPIREdeck team;

  • feedback on research questions and methodology;

  • feedback on emerging findings; and

  • an applied environment in which psychological theory can be considered in the context of real-world AI systems.

 

Where appropriate, anonymised research materials may be made available, subject to privacy, consent, confidentiality and data-protection requirements.

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What the Partnership May Contribute to Oxbridge Gateway ASPIREdeck

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The research may help ASPIREdeck investigate:

  • what information about an individual is genuinely useful for personalisation;

  • how individual characteristics should be represented;

  • how stable and dynamic characteristics should be distinguished;

  • how self-reported and inferred information should differ;

  • how confidence and evidence should be represented;

  • how a Personalised Intelligence Model could evolve over time;

  • psychological risks associated with persistent AI personalisation;

  • principles for user control, autonomy and psychological safety; and

  • future research questions surrounding Personalised Intelligence.


The findings may contribute to ASPIREdeck's longer-term Personalised Intelligence Model research and architecture. The researcher is not being asked to build or maintain the production system.

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Potential Research Contribution


A particularly valuable outcome would be a framework addressing four fundamental questions:​

  • What should an AI know about a person?

  • How should it know it?

  • How confident should it be?

  • When and why should its understanding change?

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These questions sit at the intersection of cognitive science, psychology, human development and AI. The research should critically examine the potential benefits of persistent personalisation while recognising the risks of inaccurate inference, stereotyping, psychological dependency, outdated assumptions and excessive reduction of individuals to data profiles.

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Research Independence

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The researcher will retain intellectual and academic independence.

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Oxbridge Gateway may provide context, research questions and feedback, but will not require a predetermined conclusion. The researcher is encouraged to challenge:

  • proposed categories;

  • existing psychological frameworks;

  • assumptions about AI personalisation; and

  • the concept of Personalised Intelligence itself.

 

A finding that challenges ASPIREdeck's assumptions is considered a valuable research outcome.

 

 

Recognition & Potential Publication

 

Where the researcher's contribution is substantive, the research may subsequently be considered for:

  • collaborative research development;

  • conference presentation;

  • academic publication

  • research briefing or white paper

 

Any authorship, authorship order or publication will be considered separately according to applicable academic authorship standards and the actual intellectual contributions of the parties. Publication or authorship is not guaranteed.

 

 

What the Researcher Gains

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The partnership provides an opportunity to:

  • undertake independent research in an emerging interdisciplinary field;

  • explore the intersection of psychology, cognitive science and AI;

  • investigate a research question with potential relevance beyond education;

  • develop advanced academic research skills;

  • develop a substantive research output;

  • engage with an organisation exploring human-centred AI; and

  • potentially contribute to future scholarly research.

 

 

Voluntary Research Partnership

 

This opportunity is intended to be a voluntary independent research collaboration, not employment, an internship or a contract for the provision of services. Participation is voluntary. The researcher is not being recruited to perform operational, administrative or commercial duties for Oxbridge Gateway. The researcher determines how and when the research is undertaken, within the agreed research scope and milestones.

 

No salary, wage or employment benefits are provided.

 

The legal status of voluntary research arrangements can differ between jurisdictions. The parties should therefore ensure that the actual arrangement complies with the applicable law of the country or jurisdiction in which the researcher participates. Nothing in this description is intended to override mandatory employment, immigration, tax, safeguarding, research-ethics or other legal requirements.

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Ideal Candidate

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We are looking for a university student or postgraduate researcher who is:

  • intellectually curious;

  • interested in cognitive science, psychology and AI;

  • comfortable reading academic literature;

  • capable of independent critical analysis;

  • interested in human development and individual differences;

  • willing to challenge assumptions;

  • comfortable working across disciplines; and

  • able to communicate complex ideas clearly.

 

Previous experience with AI is helpful but not essential.

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Application Process


Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Early applications are encouraged.

Please submit:

  • Your CV

  • A short paragraph explaining your interest in AI and education.

 

Shortlisted candidates may be invited for a brief interview.

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Applications should be sent to:

HR@oxbridgegateway.com​

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