Research Fellow in Human-Computer Interaction

Job description

Research Fellow in Human-Computer Interaction for Digital Citizens

We are seeking to recruit a Research Fellow with expertise in human-computer interaction (HCI) and an interest in Digital Civics to work at Northumbria University as part of our ongoing research ( UKRI funded Centre for Digital Citizens ; and Horizon2020 funded DCitizens ) in this domain. We are particularly interested to hear from candidates with an interest in online harms, and misinformation and digital exclusion.

Our research seeks to design, build and understand demonstrators of reimagined and speculative citizen-centred data-driven technologies. We collaborate on this work with a wide range of partners, including Ofcom, BBC Research & Development, FutureGov, Google, Mozilla Foundation, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and many local authorities, healthcare providers, and small to medium-sized businesses and charities. There is also scope to work with other university partners, including Newcastle and Edinburgh, in the UK and with international partners, including Siegen, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, and the University of Lisbon.

The work across these projects is varied and individual portfolios of work can be driven by the appointed Fellow. We are particularly interested in applicants with backgrounds in: interactive technology for digital civics, user-centred approaches to trust and privacy, citizen-led approaches to responsible AI, critical uses of social media and big data, digital democracy and political participation, online harms, and misinformation and digital exclusion.

Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, appointed Research Fellows will be expected to contribute to a range of activities, including (depending on skillsets): interaction design and design fictions, user-centered and participatory design exercises, design of events such as design sprints and hackathons, software application development and evaluation, qualitative and quantitative data analysis as well as liaison with stakeholders and partners.

Appointed Fellow will be based in the Northumbria Social Computing (NorSC) Group in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, but are expected to collaborate across disciplinary areas at the University, including with PaCT Lab in Psychology and Co-Create in Design, as well as with researchers at our partnering institutions.

These positions are fixed term for 18 months.

Further information about the requirements of the role is available in the person specification .

To apply for this vacancy please click 'Apply Now'. Your application should include a cover letter and a CV.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Shaun Lawson ( [email protected] ) and Kyle Montague ( [email protected] )

ABOUT US

At Northumbria, we embrace tomorrow. We pursue new thinking, forge new partnerships, create, and exchange new knowledge, and find new solutions. Our inspirational academics, partners and students work together to tackle tomorrow's challenges head on. We are ready for the future whatever it may hold.

Awarded the title of University of the Year in the 2022 Times Higher Education Awards, Northumbria University is a research-intensive modern university with a global reputation for academic excellence.

Northumbria recorded the biggest rise of any UK university for research power in the Research Excellence Framework for the second time in 2021 and is now ranked top 25 for this measure.

One of the largest universities in the UK with over 37,000 students from 137 countries, filled with world-leading research, award-winning partnerships, and students at the heart of an outstanding experience, Northumbria is a new kind of excellent university. Discover more about us .

Northumbria University is a great place to work. We empower our exceptional people to achieve shared ambitions and promote a positive work life balance. To say thank you, we offer a wide range of benefits including excellent pension schemes, flexible working, a generous holiday entitlement, continued commitment to your learning and development and more .

We are an on-campus organisation where colleagues work regular patterns of hours and on campus, with some flexibility on the timing of their hours and the location of their work in discussion with their manager.

Northumbria University is committed to creating an inclusive culture where we take pride in, and value, the diversity of our staff. We encourage and welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds a bronze Athena Swan award in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality, we are a Disability Confident Employer, a member of the Race Equality Charter and are participating in the Stonewall Diversity Champion Programme. We also hold the HR Excellence in Research award for implementing the concordat supporting the career Development of Researchers and are members of the Euraxess initiative to deliver information and support to professional researchers.

The University has implemented a range of flexible working arrangements, and we are happy to explore candidate requirements as part of the recruitment process.We are seeking to recruit several Research Fellows with expertise in human-computer interaction (HCI) and an interest in Digital Civics to work at Northumbria University as part of our ongoing research (UKRI funded Centre for Digital Citizens; and Horizon2020 funded DCitizens) in this domain.