Lancaster University psychologist Dr Sophie Nightingale has been awarded a £1.75M UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

UKRI’s flagship Future Leaders Fellowships allow universities and businesses to develop their most talented early career researchers and innovators.

She said: "I'm delighted to have the opportunity to lead a research programme specifically dedicated to developing an interdisciplinary team whose aim is to address the complex challenges posed to ordinary people by deepfake technology. I would like to thank UKRI for their support."

Within her research, Dr Nightingale frequently combines methodological techniques from experimental psychology and computer science to address topical issues, such as identity fraud, online harm, forensic identification, and artificial intelligence.

“In this Fellowship, I will examine how psychological science can help find ways to detect deepfakes and protect ordinary people from the harms that deepfake technologies present. More specifically, my work will focus on the growing problem of non-consensual deepfake pornography which disproportionality affects women and girls. Through my Fellowship I will work with partners including the police, the public, government, and technology experts to co-design and develop an innovative forensically assured verification system to detect non-consensual deepfake pornography. This system will mitigate the harmful impact of deepfake technology when used for committing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

In addition to the real-world applications, her findings will provide an interdisciplinary grounding for theoretical, methodological, and evidence-based research into improving protections from harmful uses of deepfake technology.

UKRI Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said: “UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships provide researchers and innovators with long-term support and training to develop ambitious, transformative ideas. The programme supports the research and innovation leaders of the future to transcend disciplinary and sector boundaries, bridging the gap between academia and business. The fellows demonstrate how these awards continue to drive excellence, and to shorten the distance from discovery to prosperity and public good.”

Dr Nightingale previously completed her PhD at the University of Warwick and postdoctoral research at the University of Berkeley, California.