Fully Funded PhD Scholarship – Visualising the Past (Computer Science, Digital Heritage, History)

(http://www.swansea.ac.uk/scholarships/research/whoiseligible,57506,en.php)

Swansea University’s college of Arts and Humanities, in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science, is offering a fully-funded PhD studentship titled ‘Visualising the Past’

Closing Date: 31st May 2011

Candidates should have a background in Computer Science or a closely related discipline

Who is eligible:

Residency:
Due to funding restrictions, only UK/EU students are eligible to apply.

Academic Criteria:
Candidates must have a minimum of a good 2.1 honours degree in a relevant subject area  such as Computer Science or a closely related discipline.

Other experience / skills required:

• Evidence of strong programming skills particularly with regard to mobile platforms.
• Training or experience in developing systems using HCI techniques. 
• Understanding of issues relating to location-based mobile services. 
• A willingness to undertake basic research in modern history and digital heritage practice.

Further information:

This studentship represents an exciting opportunity to become involved with a project exploring the ways in which digital technologies can be used to represent, explain, and interpret the past.  The ‘Visualising the Past’ project focuses in particular on how the past (historical and archaeological) can be visualised through graphics, visualisations, animations, and the use of hand-held mobile technologies.

The PhD studentship will concentrate on how medieval Swansea and the internationally important eighteenth-century pottery and copper works can be reconstructed visually for public users through hand-held mobile technologies. The successful candidate will be supervised by Professor Huw Bowen from the College of Arts and Humanities and Professor Matt Jones from Computer Science. The PhD will benefit from developing alongside Professor Bowen’s project on Swansea’s global copper industry and Professor Jones’s ongoing work on the visual representation of historic artefacts.

This project opens up considerable knowledge transfer opportunities by facilitating collaborative research partnerships with local and national institutions (such as, locally, the Swansea Community Boat Trust and, nationally, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales) that are interested in developing and deploying augmented reality technology for the representation and interpretation of historic sites for the benefit of diverse public audiences. Crucially, the studentship will underpin the major collaborative project established between the City and County of Swansea and SU to undertake the heritage-led regeneration of the site of the former Hafod Copperworks.

This is a fully-funded University PhD Studentship, covering full UK/EU fees plus providing an annual stipend matching Research Council maintenance levels (approximately £13,590 to be confirmed in April 2011).

How to Apply:

Candidates should apply using the University’s standard Postgraduate Application Form

Please indicate on the form that you wish to be considered for the ‘Visualising the Past’ studentship.

Contact:

Professor Matt Jones (Computer Science)
Tel. 01792 295259
Email. [email protected]

Professor Huw Bowen (History and Classics)
Tel. 01792 602350
Email. [email protected]

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