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
- Placements
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.