The Institute for Informatics and Digital Innovation (IIDI) is currently advertising four funded PhD places to start in October 2014. The full advertisement can be found at jobs.ac.uk and on the Edinburgh Napier University vacancies web site. The closing date for applications is 31st May 2014, with interviews expected to take place on 19th June 2014.
Tomorrow I’m presenting a workshop on using social media for impact at the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) 2014 Final Year Conference (hash tag #esrcphd). This takes place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), and is hosted by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.
Over Easter I read The Circle by Dave Eggers. I wouldn’t normally blog about my recreational reading, but there is such a strong overlap between the themes of the novel and my research and teaching interests that I have decided to post my review here.
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The tale’s main setting is the Silicon Valley campus of a tech company in the not too distant future. The Circle has already gobbled up several other familiar enterprises and, as such, may be conceived as a fictional amalgamation of companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter. Its earnest workforce is involved in numerous innovative projects to make the world a “better” place where communities are safe, and a genuine democracy works for the good of all. Circle technologists work on a bewilderingly wide range of innovations that include, for example, systems to eradicate criminal dangers such as child abduction and to guard against political corruption.
The Research Councils UK Digital Economy (DE) theme supports research to realise the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural experiences, future society, and the economy.
Over the past couple of years I have enjoyed spending time with staff from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) on work associated with the DE theme. This all started two years ago when I was invited to join the 12-person panel that conducted the 2012 impact review of the DE Theme investment. Soon afterwards I became involved in an additional stream of DE research undertaken under the banner of “digital personhood”: I helped identify the scope of the investment; served as a mentor at the sandpit meeting where project ideas were germinated; and recently participated at the first digital personhood network meeting. I have also been involved in reviewing grant proposals and panel work for the DE theme.
8 members of the Centre for Social Informatics tweeted the talk – including Frances Ryan, Christine Irving, Leo Appleton & Jan Auernhammer pictured here
It’s rare that all the members of the Centre for Social Informatics (CSI) manage to gather together at the same place at the same time. However, we almost managed it last Thursday when we attended the inaugural professorial lecture of our CSI colleague Dr Alistair Duff. Apart from one PhD student and one researcher (who was at a conference in Finland presenting two papers, including one that I co-authored), there was a full turn-out of the academic staff, researchers, and research students of CSI at the event, all eager to hear what Alistair had to say about The information society and its challenges. Two PhD students made special journeys to attend the event from afar: Leo Appleton caught the train up from Liverpool and Nicole Van Deursen flew in from Spain.
Hazel Hall 