University of Salford is accepting applications for a PhD
Studentship for a unique, industry-based collaborative program, the NWCDTP
Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA). The award will support PhD study commencing
October 2019. CDA Studentships can be held on a +3 basis and may be either full-time
or part-time.
A CDA Studentship provides an opportunity for a PhD student
to gain first-hand experience of work outside an academic environment, with the
student working on a doctoral project
supported by both academic supervisors and a supervisor from a non-HEI partner
organisation.
Our CDA non-HEI partner for this award is the Science and
Industry Museum (SIM) in Manchester ( https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/
), a member of the UK Science Museum
Group (SMG) ( https://group.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
).
The Studentship will be
awarded on the basis of the candidate’s application documents, curriculum
vitae, and an interview with the selection committee.
Successful
CDA Candidate Profile
The CDA program supports a practice-based PhD in the field
of interactive multi-modal information display designed for public settings.
Research activity will include design, implementation and assessment of
interactive information displays. While SIM is our non-HEI partner, this study
is not a traditional museology degree. The successful candidate is required to have
education and experience related to digital design, documentary multimedia,
ethnographic observation, and interactive technology. Preferred experience
includes interface and interaction design, game design, coding and scripting, data
analysis, digital user studies, and learning assessment methodologies. The
candidate will develop their research while participating as member of an
interdisciplinary team, based in the Studio for International Media and
Technology at U. Salford’s MediaCityUK campus, and will work closely with staff
from the Science and Industry Museum. The candidate will have access to tools
and expertise in the collaborative team, and will work in both the MediaCityUK
and SIM locations.
CDA Research
Theme: Play
The CDA Research Theme focusses on possible roles of play
in the design of science museum exhibitions. Exploration and play create
experiences that can enable discovery and enhance learning. The PhD research
question will be developed around the function of play for exhibition participants
and the related function of playability as a design criteria. The student will
identify design methodology and develop analysis to guide the curation of
digital interactive content, by using modes of play as a lens upon aesthetic
experience, technical functionality, and informal learning.
The candidate will have on-going regular access to engage
with and have feedback from SIM’s Learning group, Digital group, and Audience
group, as well as through SIM having access to SMG initiatives in digital
strategy. The research process will begin by engaging SIM to survey their
current public offer and analyse SIM plans for short-term new investment in
exhibition experiences. Research activities will include prototyping aimed to
influence the delivery of planned new public exhibitions. User experience observation
will be conducted both in laboratory at the university’s MediaCityUK campus,
and in situ at SIM.
Financial
Basis of the Studentship
An NWCDTP Studentship consists
of:
- Payment of academic fees, at the standard RCUK
rate
- Maintenance Stipend (£14777, in 2018/19)
- Access to a Research Training Support Grant
(RTSG) fund for reimbursement of research related expenses including conference
attendance and fieldwork expenses.
- Access to a Student Development Fund (SDF) for
supporting training specific to your research and not readily available at your
institution or the DTP subject to successful application
- Access to a Cohort Development Fund (CDF) to
support the wider cohort, in organising events such as conference, workshops, and
public engagements
- Opportunity to apply for additional funding
towards:
- Overseas Institutional Visits
APPLICATION
PROCESS
STEP ONE – EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Candidates will submit by email (1) an expression of
interest describing their interests and qualifications, (2) a curriculum vitae,
and (3) a single example of relevant original work. The work example may be
scholarly, technical, or creative. Applications should be submitted to
Professor Insook Choi at i.choi@salford.ac.uk. Materials should be submitted by the evening
of Monday 4 March 2019. Files
sent by email should be combined into a single .pdf file. If the work example
file size is greater than 10mb, please submit separately using a file exchange
service of your choice.
See below the Conditions of Residential Eligibility for
this award.
STEP TWO – INTERVIEW
A selection of finalists will be contacted for interview by
the committee. Candidates will be notified of their selection for interview by Friday 8 March. Interviews will
take place 11-13 March 2019.
Interviews will be conducted by online video conference, or in person at
University of Salford, MediaCityUK, Salford Quays, Greater Manchester. (Travel
for interview in person is at the candidate’s discretion. The university does
not reimburse candidate travel costs.)
STEP THREE – APPLICATION TO PHD PROGRAM
Candidates who have been contacted for Interview must apply for admission to the U Salford PhD
programme by Monday 15 March 2019.
The application is submitted to the School of Arts and Media for the pathway
Visual Arts: Arts and Design.
Applications to the University of Salford can be made at the following link: http://www.salford.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/applying/applying-for-research
NOTE: THE CAD CANDIDATE IS NOT
REQUIRED TO COMPETE THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL section of the application.
Conditions of Residential Eligibility
Candidates
for awards must have a relevant connection with the United Kingdom. A relevant
connection may be established if, at the start of the course:
- The student has been ordinarily resident in the
UK throughout the 3-year period preceding the date of application for an award,
and
- Has not been resident in the UK, during any
part of that 3-year period wholly or mainly for the purposes of full-time
education (EU students – see below) and
- Has
settled status in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971 (i.e.
is not subject to any restriction on the period for which he/she may
stay). Candidates who meet all three of
the above criteria may apply for a full award.
A
relevant connection may be established for an EU student if the student has
been resident in the UK throughout the 3-year period preceding the start of the
course, even if for purposes of full-time education. EU students in this
situation may apply for a full award. EU Students who have not been ordinarily
resident in the UK for the last three years may apply for a fees-only award.
Non-EU students who have not been ordinarily resident in the UK for the last
three years are not eligible to apply.
About the School of Arts and Media
The School of Arts and
Media at the University of Salford has an international reputation for
research, both theoretical and practice-based. The Cultural, Communication and
Media research group at Salford undertakes research in the conceptual, applied
and practice-based aspects of cultural, film and media studies and traditional
and new digital media. CCM research has been established formally at the
University of Salford since 2005. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, a
quarter of CCM research was judged to be world leading, with nearly two thirds
judged as internationally excellent or world leading.
Our media and cultural
studies research environment is based at the heart of MediaCityUK, Europe’s
second largest urban concentration of digital and media production industries. The
MediaCityUK campus is also home to the Studio for International Media and
Technology and Salford’s Digital & Creative Industry Collaboration Zone.
These initiatives provide an interdisciplinary team project environment that
spans from traditional and emerging media production to software engineering,
user experience and interaction design, and AI for media processing. The CDA
research will be based at and supported by the Studio and the D&C ICZ.
About
the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership
In 2018, the North West Consortium Doctoral Training
Partnership (NWCDTP) was awarded over £6 million by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council (AHRC) to train a new generation of skilled researchers as part
of DTP Phase 2.
The NWCDTP brings together the
Universities of Salford, Manchester, Keele, Lancaster, Liverpool, MMU, and the RNCM
which between them award NWC PhD studentships annually.
For general advice concerning the NWC studentship
competition, please contact PGR-SupportSAM@salford.ac.uk in the first instance.
