Head of Department 2021-

Professor Paul Cairns, MA(Oxon), DPhil(Oxon), FHEA is a Professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the Department of Computer Science. 

He has a strong track record in diverse research methods across domains of user experience, human error, statistics and mathematical modelling in HCI. He is particularly interested in the player experience of digital games. 

He co-edited the first book on Research Methods for HCI (CUP, 2008) and more recently published a book on Doing Better Statistics in HCI (CUP, 2019).

He has extensive research student training experience having successfully supervised 17 PhD students to completion, was co-I and developed the training programme for the EPSRC CDT in Intelligent Games and Games Intelligence.

Paul graduated with BA Honours in Mathematics, Oxford University in 1992.

He went on to achieve a DPhil in Mathematics from Oxford University in 1995 followed by his Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from Middlesex University in 2000.

Starting his career as a Senior Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction at UCL in 2005, he joined the University of York as a Senior Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction in 2007. Paul was promoted to Reader from 2012-2019.

He became a Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the University of York in 2019.  He was made Head of Department in 2021 and maintains this position today.