PhD studentship - Develop sophisticated digital timelines of cultural data within an academic-industrial partnership

I have funding to support a PhD student to work on state-of-the-art timelines...

A PhD studentship is available at the Royal College of Art in London, funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The funding includes the fees and a living allowance. This is a collaboration with industry, based at System Simulation, a research-led software engineering company in central London with a distinguished record of working with museums and other cultural organisations. The studentship provides a strong base on which to develop an industrial or academic career.

The aim of the research is to reveal new knowledge by visualising diverse large datasets in rich interactive timelines, other chronographic formats and related graphical displays. Our principal aim will be public understanding of historical and other data - making complex patterns visible to the lay viewer at a glance - though the visualisation tools will be adaptable to advanced use by researchers, curators, historians, and others.

The right applicant will have a strong desire to combine in-depth study and practical development. Their experience will include the design and development of interactive software. A software engineer may be the ideal candidate, but others with significant development experience are welcome to apply. They will be enthusiastic (and preferably knowledgeable) about visualisation and visual analytics, and have some understanding of working with large datasets. They will be committed to evaluation as well as making, since it is essential that the products of the research are usable and likeable as well as functioning to a high technical standard. See the documents online for further details.

   http://www.rca.ac.uk/Default.aspx?ContentID=161457&GroupID=161452
            (scroll down to "EPSRC-funded PhD Studentship")

Closing date 28 February 2012.  Studentship to begin as soon as possible after 23 April 2012.

To discuss academic / industrial aspects of the studentship, email stephen.boyd-davis@rca.ac.uk

To discuss administrative / financial aspects, email suzanne.strong@rca.ac.uk

An indication of past work by the academic director of this research can be seen here: http://rca.academia.edu/StephenBoydDavis/Papers

You may also be interested in other funded research opportunities listed at the same URL, including The AHRC Knowledge Exchange Hub: Innovation and Knowledge Exchange in Digital Public Space.