
Updated with new deadline: midday 30th April 2020
We are currently advertising a fully-funded PhD place within the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University for an October 2020 start date. Continue reading

Updated with new deadline: midday 30th April 2020
We are currently advertising a fully-funded PhD place within the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University for an October 2020 start date. Continue reading
On Thursday 27th February my Centre for Social Informatics colleagues Peter Cruickshank and Dr Frances Ryan are hosting a free workshop at the Edinburgh Napier University Merchiston campus as part of the Digital identity security information practices of citizens (DISIPRAC) project. Continue reading
Yesterday, on 15th January 2020, the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University held its annual New Year research conference. The format of the event included sessions on REF2021 led by Professor Ben Paechter and Professor Emma Hart, good practice in PhD supervision led by Professor Ahmed Al-Dubai, data management plans led by Dr Lindsay Ramage, research culture led by Dr Frances Ryan, and a series of short presentations on on-going research projects within the School. There were also good opportunities for networking in the breaks. Continue reading

At the Social Informatics ‘All centre’ meeting, L to R: John, Peter, Lyndsey, Katherine, Rachel, Marina, Laura, Hazel, Leo, Ella, David H, David B, Frances, Colin, Wegene, and Bruce
Every six months the staff and research students from the Social Informatics group at Edinburgh Napier University gather for an ‘All centre’ celebration of their recent achievements. The December 2019 gathering took place on Wednesday 18th December, with 19 participants. The format of the meeting allowed for a maximum 5 minute update from each person. Continue reading

Build, manage, and evaluate: information practices and personal reputations on social media platforms, has just been published in the December 2019 issue of Information Research. I co-authored this paper with Dr Frances Ryan, Peter Cruickshank, and Alistair Lawson. Its content draws on some of the findings from Frances’ doctoral study on the use of online information in the management of personal reputation. Continue reading
Thanks to a minor staffing difficulty at a small Edinburgh HE college, exactly 30 years ago today, on 11th December 1989, I started my career as an academic.
One month earlier, on 9th November (the day that the Berlin Wall came down) I was interviewed for, and then offered, a temporary Lecturer post in the Department of Communication and Information Studies (CIS) at Queen Margaret College (now Queen Margaret University). The main purpose of this role was to undertake the teaching duties of Senior Lecturer Jim Herring (James E Herring) for two academic terms. Jim no longer had the capacity to teach ‘his’ classes because he had recently stepped up as Acting Head of Department of CIS while Head of Department Scott Allan was covering a vacant College Vice Principal post. Continue reading
Last month Dr Bruce Ryan and I hosted the second of four Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) funded Research Impact Value and Library and Information Science (RIVAL) network meetings. This event took place on Thursday 7th November 2019 at St Cecilia’s Hall in central Edinburgh.
It was an excellent day that prompted great feedback on the programme content on the day: ‘exciting’, ‘fantastic’, ‘fascinating’. Continue reading
Today Dr Bruce Ryan and I are hosting the second of the four Royal Society of Edinburgh funded Research Impact Value and Library and Information Science (RIVAL) network events. The members of the RIVAL network are meeting in central Edinburgh at St Cecilia’s Hall from 10:00 onwards to discuss the impact and value of library and information science research and – in particular – the ways to maximise this in practice. Continue reading
We have a newly updated Centre for Social Informatics flyer for autumn 2019. Please follow the link to read about the work of our group, including details of research expertise, funders, recent PhD completions, and recent publications. The flyer includes profiles of the academic and research staff within our group: Continue reading
Congratulations to our Centre for Social Informatics colleague Dr Alicja Pawluczuk! Alicja was one of nine School of Computing PhD graduands at the Edinburgh Napier University graduation ceremony at the Usher Hall yesterday afternoon.
Alicja’s PhD is entitled Youth digital culture co-creation: measuring social impact in Scotland. The purpose of the research was to develop knowledge of social impact evaluation of youth digital projects in Scotland. Dr Gemma Webster was Alicja’s Director of Studies, her second supervisor was Dr Colin Smith, and I was her third supervisor. For further information about the specifics of the research questions, outcomes, theoretical contributions, and recommendations from the work, please see Alicja’s #digiIMPACT page on her web site at www.alicjapawluczuk.com.
Following the graduation ceremony, several of Alicja’s colleagues and fellow PhD students joined her at Café Grande in Bruntsfield to toast her success. Continue reading