We are interested in the application of open research methods within autism research (Hobson et al, 2022; Poole et al 2025; Hobson et al 2026). We believe this is important to improve the evidence base so that research can better serve autistic people. Additionally, insights from meta-autism research may be well positioned to inform broader understandings about open research practice as: a) autism research is in a moment of revolutionary science with the neurodiversity paradigm challenging traditional ‘pathology paradigm’ approaches (Pellicano & den Houting, 2022), b) through priority setting exercises we know about what the autism communities preferences are for research (Roche et al, 2021).
PhD projects in this area will involve meta-research about replication in autism research. This will likely involve co-production with the autistic community, evidence synthesis and qualitative or mixed-method studies.
A suitable candidate for this project is likely to have a demonstrable interest in autism research and/or open research practices. We encourage neurodivergent candidates to apply - the supervisory team have extensive experience of working with neurodivergent students and work to make supervision inclusive.
Environment
The PhD candidate would be based in Sheffield Autism Research Lab: https://sharl.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/ which is a vibrant research group for applied neurodiversity research.
Funding Notes
We will support a candidate in applying for a suitable scholarship (for instance, the ESRC White Rose DTP). Externally sponsored students are also welcome to apply, but we will not accept self-funded students to this project.
References
- Hobson, H., Poole, D., Pearson, A., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2022). Opening up autism research: Bringing open research methods to our field. Autism, 26(5), 1011-1013.
- Hobson, H., Pearson, A., Linden, A., Manning, C., Sedgewick, F., Crane, L., & Poole, D. (2025). Open data in autism research: the views of autistic people and parents of autistic children. Collabra Psychology
- Isager, P. M., Van Aert, R., Bahník, Š., Brandt, M. J., DeSoto, K. A., Giner-Sorolla, R., ... & Lakens, D. (2023). Deciding what to replicate: A decision model for replication study selection under resource and knowledge constraints. Psychological Methods, 28(2), 438.
- Pellicano, E., & den Houting, J. (2022). Annual research review: Shifting from ‘normal science’to neurodiversity in autism science. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 63(4), 381-396.
- Poole, D., Linden, A., Sedgewick, F., Allchin, O., & Hobson, H. (2025). A systematic review of pre-registration in autism research journals. Autism, 29(6), 1390-1402.
- Roche, L., Adams, D., & Clark, M. (2021). Research priorities of the autism community: A systematic review of key stakeholder perspectives. Autism, 25(2), 336-348.
