June 3, 2017

PhD Studentship Available At VR Lab, Bristol

From the mailbox, via Dr. Thom Giddens @ThomGiddens

Collaborative PhD Studentship - Authoring Augmented Public Space: Design for Experiential Placemaking

Applications are open for a three-year full-time Doctoral studentship, fully funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council/National Productivity Investment Fund (AHRC/NPIF), to undertake practice-led research into creative forms that consider new forms of engagement with public space in light of new immersive experiences.

Technologies for the Creative Industries, specifically technologies of immersion like augmented and virtual reality, will reshape the ways in which we experience increasingly hybrid physical and digital spaces. Fundamental to these technologies are well-designed immersive and interactive experiences that put the human at the centre of the experience. This practice-based studentship, working alongside the research team in Bristol’s newly launched VR Lab, will explore a set of speculative experience design experiments that consider how public spaces will become more playful and engaging through the use of technologies of immersion.

Combining theories of design, human-computer interaction, emerging & transformative digital technologies and immersion and presence, with speculative prompts and design provocations from industry collaborator and mentor Arup Global Research, you'll explore and develop near future experiences of the Augmented City. Design research topics will investigate creative approaches to storytelling and performance, considering playful and playable experiences with enchanted public spaces that might exist at the intersection of the physical and digital world.

   Possible research areas include:  
  • Immersive Technologies, including Augmented and Virtual Reality
  • Speculative Futures and Design Fiction
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Experience Design for Immersive Experiences
  • Architecture and Urban Design
Joining an interdisciplinary Design Futures Lab cohort of 12 collaborative PhD students, you will be part of an innovative and cutting-edge group of researchers dedicated to reshaping industrial technologies and processes through embedded practice-based research.

The DCRC has a strong track record of successful PhD completions and offers access to an exciting creative and intellectual community, and students researching emerging creative practices. The Centre, based in the Pervasive Media Studio is home to the i-Docs research group and symposium and the Ambient Literature project. We expect research students to take a full and active role in the Research Centre and to take part in regular workshops, conferences and seminars. The studentship commences October 2017.

Applicants will be expected to attend an interview in Bristol on either July 10 or 11 and demonstrate:
  • imaginative and viable preliminary ideas for research into this subject area
  • an appreciation of the nature of PhD study and of both independent and collaborative research
  • evidence that you have, or can develop, the skills required to start the proposed research
For an informal discussion about the studentship contact jennifer.stein@uwe.ac.uk

Deadline for applications is 17:00 on Monday June 19.

Further information regarding eligibility and the application process visit: http://3d3research.co.uk/information/npif-studentships-general-information-live

The NPIF studentships comprise tuition fees at Home/EU rates and, for UK award holders, a maintenance award (£14,553 per year) tenable for a minimum period of 3 academic years. EU students are welcome to apply, but are eligible for tuition fees only. We also welcome applications for part-time studentships; these comprise tuition fees and a pro-rata maintenance award for a 5-year period.


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