MyWorld PhD Studentship

Brief description

Through the UKRI Strength in Places funded research project, MyWorld, we are offering a fully-funded PhD studentship via Bath Spa University’s Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries (CCCI). The successful applicant will have their fees paid and receive a stipend to cover living expenses (where eligible). We offer funding on a full or part-time basis.

This studentship is available for a start date of March 2023. The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday 27 November 2022 and interviews for the role will take place on Tuesday 13 December, either in Bath or online.

Criteria

We're looking for a researcher with a background in how emerging forms of immersive screen-based storytelling are enhanced, augmented, and reshaped by new technologies. This role will suit a researcher with expertise across fictional or non-fiction/documentary forms of immersive storytelling, in particular, storytelling through the lens of technological advancement, including virtual, augmented and mixed reality, digital twins, and /or virtual production, investigating both opportunities and challenges presented by advances in the technologies that enable creative industries, and innovative storytelling specifically.

This PhD will contribute to the arts and humanities focus of MyWorld, a multi-university and multi-partner project led by the University of Bristol. You'll work alongside other MyWorld PhD and PDRA researchers and Co-Investigators who come from diverse fields including computer science, engineering, and psychology.

This studentship is open to both academic and practice-based or creative practice as research applicants. While MyWorld is still in its early stages, this PhD will be embedded in work package 1.4, Experimental Productions, and could, for instance, use productions that emerge from that work package as case studies. For example, the PhD candidate might explore the relationship between creative form and technology platform; they might look at audience experience or exhibition practices. Research themes emerging from MyWorld include immersive theatre and new forms of live streaming, immersive audio and spatial sound, the use of game engines in experimental productions, and text in immersive environments. Research questions and methodologies for the PhD will be devised in collaboration with the Bath Spa MyWorld team, in response to the emerging research agenda of MyWorld.

You will have a relevant MA, MSc or industry experience, i.e. 3-5 years in production, editorial, or creative, using emerging technology, in a relevant industry like games, immersive theatre, digital storytelling, etc.

About the opportunity

The Bath Spa MyWorld supervisory team is led by MyWorld Co-Investigator, Professor Kate Pullinger, with Dr Ruth Farrar, potentially with additional supervision from Prof Mandy Rose at UWE, Bristol or other MyWorld research partners.

You'll be based at The Studio in Palace Yard Mews, which is Bath Spa University’s town centre innovation hub. You’ll be part of the Narrative and Emerging Technology research group (NET) and your role will sit in the Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries (CCCI). Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our work.

The studentship consists of three elements:

• payment of tuition fees for UK applicants of £4500 per annum (indicative rate) for 2023 entry as set by UKRI (pro-rata for part-time study)
• a stipend of £17,668 per annum (indicative rate) for 2023 entry as set by UKRI (pro-rata for part-time study)
• training and supervision provided by Bath Spa University in collaboration with MyWorld partners.

There may be opportunities for industry placements with MyWorld partners.

International students are eligible to apply, but will need to fund the difference between UK and international student fees.

The MyWorld project

Launched in April 2021, MyWorld is a brand new five-year programme, the flagship for the UK’s creative technology sector, and is part of a UK-wide exploration into devolved research and development funding. Led by the University of Bristol, MyWorld will position the south west as an international trailblazer in screen-based media.

This £46m programme will bring together 30 partners from Bristol and Bath’s creative technologies sector and world-leading academic institutions, to create a unique cross-sector consortium. MyWorld will forge dynamic collaborations to progress technological innovation, deliver creative excellence, establish and operate state of the art facilities, offer skills training and drive inward investment, raising the region’s profile on the global stage. 

The programme involves a large number of collaborative partners, including the four universities in Bristol and Bath, alongside multiple creative industries partners and a complex delivery programme across multiple work packages.

How to apply

For more information, please go to the Application Requirements page which lists the supporting documentation you will need to upload as part of your application: these include a research proposal, degree certificates and transcripts, references, and a writing sample.

When you are ready to apply, please select ‘Scholarship’ from the drop down menu when you select from the funding options within the online application.

For advice on how to frame your research proposal or any other enquiries relating to this studentship, please contact Dr Ruth Farrar at r.farrar@bathspa.ac.uk.

Closing date: 27 November 2022, midnight.