University of Bath    Department of Psychology

Closing Date: Sunday, June 09, 2024

Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

The University of Bath is inviting applications for this PhD position due to commence in September 2024 under the supervision of Prof Danae Stanton Fraser to research embodiment in virtual environments. There will be opportunities during the PhD for secondment to our project partners in the creative industries. Past students have carried out secondments at Microsoft and BBC R&D for example. 

Supervisors: Prof Danaë Stanton Fraser, University of Bath, Christof Lutteroff, University of Bath, Prof Iain Gilchrist University of Bristol

This is an exciting opportunity to work alongside MyWorld a five-year research programme which brings together 30 partners from Bristol and Bath’s creative technologies sector and world-leading academic institutions, to create a unique cross-sector consortium.

Within MyWorld our team are focused on measuring and evaluating audience and user experiences. We are working over a range of experiences (TV, VR, AR, Live Theatre. The aim is to have real impact in providing the creative industries with an easy to access toolkit to support audience understanding.

The PhD will bridge three teams: the CREATE Lab in the department of Psychology at Bath exploring human computer interaction with a focus on virtual reality, The Bristol Vision Institute, an inter-disciplinary institute focused on vision in machines, humans and other animals and CAMERA in Computer Science at Bath looking at new forms of motion capture. PhD areas could include: how you identify behavioural characteristics that make avatars lifelike; what forms of rendering make the character engaging or what it means to inhabit another person’s avatar or understand the cognitive and social effects of using personalized avatars over time, although there is plenty of flexibility to come up with new research questions. The programme of research will involve carrying out user studies. There will be opportunities to carry out lab based studies and to work with our industry partners to carry out “in the wild” studies.

Your primary base, and PhD registration, will be in Bath however all studentships will have the opportunity to draw on the facilities and expertise across the two Universities.

Over the last few years the University of Bath has made substantial investments to infrastructure including multi-million pound state-of-the art facilities for the Psychology department. The department has a dedicated building, which consists of eleven labs (including an EEG lab; a cross modal lab; a VR facility and an HCI lab: the CREATE Lab where the PhD will be based).

You will have a background in Psychology, Cognitive Science or Human Computer Interaction. Experience in research methods is essential. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this work, applicants with a different scientific background but a strong interest in this field will also be considered. Some programming ability would be beneficial but is not essential. During the PhD you will be strongly encouraged to use 3D development environments such as Unity or Unreal together with a range of other technologies such as motion capture with training provided where required.

Non-UK applicants must meet our English language entry requirement.

Informal enquiries are encouraged and should be directed to Prof Danaë Stanton Fraser, [email protected] or Professor Iain Gilchrist, [email protected]

Formal applications should be submitted via the University of Bath’s online application form for a PhD in Psychology prior to the closing date of this advert.

When completing the application form:

In the Funding your studies section, select ‘University of Bath LURS’ as the studentship for which you are applying.
In the Your PhD project section, quote the project title of this project and the name of the lead supervisor in the appropriate boxes.
Ensure that you upload to your application (in addition to the required academic and English language documents): a personal statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining your motivation, skills, experiences related to the research area and your career plan.
Failure to complete these steps will cause delays in processing your application and may cause you to miss the deadline.

More information about applying for a PhD at Bath may be found on our website.

Interviews

Interviews are likely to be held in the week end of June or the start of July.

We value a diverse research environment and aim to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated and respected. We welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups.

If you have circumstances that you feel we should be aware of that have affected your educational attainment, then please feel free to tell us about it in your application form. The best way to do this is a short paragraph at the end of your personal statement.