Birkbeck College, University of London Greater London, England, United Kingdom
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Professor of Pervasive Computing at Birkbeck College, University of London
Revitalizing Conservation in the home: Integrating Embodied and Material Elements in Energy Technology Design
Principal Supervisor: Asimina Vasalou (Professor of Interaction Design, IOE – Culture, Communication & Media, UCL)
Co-Supervisor: George Roussos (Professor of Pervasive Computing, Birkbeck), & Andrea Gauthier (Lecturer in Education and Technology, IOE – Culture, Communication & Media, UCL)
Project Description
We invite PhD applications for a studentship based at the Crafting Sustainabilities Collective at the UCL Knowledge Lab and the Mobile Computing and the Internet of Things Lab at Birkbeck University of London. The studentship represents an exciting collaboration between the two groups, to advance their joint research interests in environmental sustainability.
The UKRI stipend rate for the studentship is £21,237 and Home fees are paid.
The studentship is focused on the development of a novel design paradigm for home heating technologies. In recent years, such technologies have become a lived reality for many households and are seen as a critical intervention in the pathway to Net Zero. The project is positioned within research in the social sciences showing how household occupants use a range of situated and creative ways to conserve energy evidencing the embodied knowledge and skills people apply to their everyday living. Motivated by the climate impacts young people face and thus the importance of involving them in future visions of energy, the focus will be on families with teenagers, a domain which has received less attention in the literature.
In its aim to contribute a new understanding on how to design future technology for energy conservation, contextualised to home heating, the project will pursue three research objectives:
1. Understand how families perform energy conservation in everyday life, the range of situated practices they use, and the negotiations that may arise intergenerationally.
2. Devise and evaluate toolkits comprising physical materials and digital sensors that allow families from a range of backgrounds to participate in the co-design of new physical energy conservation technologies for the home.
3. Develop functional prototypes of energy conservation technologies toward generating novel design principles for future technology and serving as proof-of-concepts.
In a design-oriented research programme involving 12-15 families with teenagers (aged 13-17), the methodology will include ethnography-inspired qualitative research in the home and participatory design with families. As part of the research, the project will engage with community centres in the Bloomsbury area and non-academic stakeholders engaging in energy conservation.
Candidate Specification
* A post-graduate degree in HCI, or a relevant discipline.
* Experience with physical computing and interaction design of tangible/material artefacts.
* Experience conducting qualitative user research.
* Preparedness to work during out-of-office hours to conduct field work.
* Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Desirables include:
* Knowledge of Sustainable HCI and/or social science research in home heating practices.
* Experience working with diverse populations and maintaining research engagement.
Before progressing further with an inquiry, applicants are asked to please ensure they meet the minimum requirements for a PhD (see general PhD page listed below). At this stage a formal application is not required.
If applicants meet the PhD requirements, they should present evidence against the above criteria in a cover letter, using the criteria as subheadings. A 2-page CV is also requested listing their academic qualifications and general experience.
Applicants are advised to email these materials in one attachment to Professor Vasalou [a.vasalou@ucl.ac.uk]. Interviews will take place shortly after the formal deadline. However, applicants will be contacted shortly after their application if they have been shortlisted.
Following the interviews, the successful candidate will be directed to apply using the link provided below.
Subject Areas/Keywords:
HCI, sustainability, physical computing, families
Key References
* Strengers, Y. (2011). Designing eco-feedback systems for everyday life. CHI 2011.
* Larsen, S. P. A. K., & Gram-Hanssen, K. (2020). When space heating becomes digitalized: Investigating competencies for controlling smart home technology in the energy-efficient home. Sustainability, 12(15), 6031.
* Vasalou, A., & Gauthier, A. (2023). The role of CCI in supporting children’s engagement with environmental sustainability at a time of climate crisis. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 100605.
* Angus, A., Lane, G. and Roussos, G., “Public Goods: Using Pervasive Computing to Inspire Grassroots Activism,” in IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 44-51, Apr.-June. 2014, doi: 10.1109/MPRV.2014.33.
* Vasalou, A., Gauthier, A., Serta, A. L., Beşevli, C., Turner, S., Payler, R., … & Beneito-Montagut, R. (2024). In pursuit of thermal comfort: An exploration of smart heating in everyday life. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 186, 103245.
Further details about the project may be obtained from:
Principal Supervisor: Asimina Vasalou – a.vasalou@ucl.ac.uk
Co-Supervisor: George Roussos – g.roussos@bbk.ac.uk
Further information about PhDs at CCM is available from:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/research-degrees/culture-communication-and-media-mphil-phd
If you have an offer following the formal interview, you can access the following page to apply:
https://evision.ucl.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=RRDEDUSCUL01&code2=0035
Closing date for applications is:
Friday 14th March 2025 at 23:59 (GMT)
Seniority Level
Internship
Employment Type
Full-time
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