New PhD Opportunity – closing date extended to 6th April

A new opportunity to join the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) group and undertake research in Human Computer Interaction and Spatial Data Quality for Online Civic Engagement.

Duration: 3 years

Funding: The scholarship covers UCL registration fees and provides a stipend of £17,045 per annum tax free. Travel expenses and research equipment will also be provided to the successful candidate

Funding Body: EU funding Horizon 2020 and UCL

Vacancy Information: Applications are invited for one PhD studentship which forms part of, and will be contextualised by, the European Union H2020 funded project, WeGovNow! This project will focus on the use of digital technologies for effectively supporting civic society, whereby citizens are partners as opposed to customers in the delivery of public services. By integrating a set of innovative technologies from different European partners in Germany, Italy, and Greece to create citizen engagement platform, the project explores the use of digital tools for citizen reporting, e-participation, and communication between the citizen and local government. Building on previous research and technology development, the project will include programme of innovation in technology and services delivery.

For more information you can refer here

Studentship Description: Central to the We GovNow project is the philosophy of User-Centred Design (UCD), which is pivotal to the ethos and practices of the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) Group at UCL (see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excites). ExCiteS has significant expertise and experience in Human Computer Interaction and spatial data quality, which will be two main aspects that this PhD will focus. In specific, this PhD will investigate how geospatial technologies (i.e. interface and visualisation, communication aspects of spatial data quality) for online citizen engagement should be designed and developed to address and improve accessibility and users’ trust concerns. Together with the suitable candidate, we will define the detailed scope of the project, although there are specific tasks that are needed – such as usability and accessibility evaluation of the different websites and systems that will be used in the project.

For more information about ExCiteS and our work  see our website

Primary PhD supervisor will be Dr Artemis Skarlatidou and secondary supervisors will be Dr Claire Ellul and Prof. Muki Haklay.

Person Specification: The applicants should possess a good honours degree (1st Class or 2:1 minimum) in a relevant discipline such as Geography, Computer Science, Psychology. The ideal candidate should also hold an MSc in Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, Human Factors, or Geographical Information Science and must have proven experience and skills in Human Computer Interaction. The ideal candidate should have excellent verbal and written communication skills, should be able to work as part of a team and should be flexible to participate and contribute to other ExCiteS projects. An interest in public engagement e-government practices and experience in conducting user studies and working with users and community groups would be an asset.

Eligibility: Applications are invited from UK and EU members.

Start Date: The post start date is as soon as possible, and no later than June 2016

Application Procedure: Applicants should send a covering letter, personal statement of the interest in the project, and CV to a.skarlatidou@ucl.ac.uk  and c.ellul@ucl.ac.uk by 6th of April 2016 the latest.

Closing Date: 6 April 2016