Researcher using AI to understand mental health
I'm Mehmet Furkan Akpınar. Psychology meets Computer Science in the research pipelines I build.
Selected work
/ research statement
Co-designing AI with students who have ADHD
Co-designing a neuro-inclusive AI assistant to scaffold executive function and self-regulated learning for university students with ADHD.
- 01
Needs assessment
Participatory interviews with 15–20 students with ADHD.
- 02
Co-design
Iterative workshops in neuro-inclusive formats.
- 03
Prototype
A RAG teaching assistant linked to a personalised content feed.
- 04
Probe study
A 6–8 week deployment with ecological momentary assessment.
/ background
Two degrees, one question
MSc Computer Science · Birmingham City University
2023 – 2024
- Dissertation: Detecting Suicide Ideation on Social Media Using DistilBERT, fine-tuned on 232,074 labelled Reddit posts.
- Advanced training in NLP, machine learning and data-driven research methods.
BA Psychology · European University of Lefke
2018 – 2022
- Dissertation: the relationship between coronavirus anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms and collectivist coping styles (N = 106).
- Human behaviour, research design and statistical analysis.
/ about
Why both disciplines
I hold a BA in Psychology and an MSc in Computer Science, not by accident, but because I became convinced early on that the most interesting problems in mental health research sit exactly at the boundary between the two.
My work has focused on transformer-based NLP for mental health text classification, psycholinguistic analysis of suicidal language, and combining real-world health datasets to explore questions around access and inequality in NHS services.
My current research focus is AI tools for neurodivergent learners in higher education, specifically how conversational AI and personalised content systems can be designed with and for students with ADHD, rather than simply built for them. I bring both the computational skills to build these systems and the psychological grounding to understand the population they serve.
I am looking for funded PhD positions and research roles at the intersection of AI, applied psychology, and educational technology.
/ toolkit
What I work with
Let's talk.
Open to research positions and PhD opportunities.