Research Fellow in Human-Computer Interaction

Closing date: 9am on 20th May. 

We are seeking to recruit a Research Fellow with expertise in human-computer interaction (HCI) and an interest in Digital Civics to work at Northumbria University as part of our ongoing research (UKRI funded Centre for Digital Citizens; and Horizon2020 funded DCitizens) in this domain. We are particularly interested to hear from candidates with an interest in online harms, and misinformation and digital exclusion. 

Our research seeks to design, build and understand demonstrators of reimagined and speculative citizen-centred data-driven technologies. We collaborate on this work with a wide range of partners, including Ofcom, BBC Research & Development, FutureGov, Google, Mozilla Foundation, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and many local authorities, healthcare providers, and small to medium-sized businesses and charities. There is also scope to work with other university partners, including Newcastle and Edinburgh, in the UK and with international partners, including Siegen, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, and the University of Lisbon.

The work across these projects is varied and individual portfolios of work can be driven by the appointed Fellow. We are particularly interested in applicants with backgrounds in: interactive technology for digital civics, user-centred approaches to trust and privacy, citizen-led approaches to responsible AI, critical uses of social media and big data, digital democracy and political participation, online harms, and misinformation and digital exclusion. 

Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, appointed Research Fellows will be expected to contribute to a range of activities, including (depending on skillsets): interaction design and design fictions, user-centered and participatory design exercises, design of events such as design sprints and hackathons, software application development and evaluation, qualitative and quantitative data analysis as well as liaison with stakeholders and partners. 

Appointed Fellow will be based in the Northumbria Social Computing (NorSC) Group in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, but are expected to collaborate across disciplinary areas at the University, including with PaCT Lab in Psychology and Co-Create in Design, as well as with researchers at our partnering institutions.

These positions are fixed term for 18 months.

Further information about the requirements of the role is available in the person specification. 

To apply for this vacancy please click 'Apply Now'.  Your application should include a cover letter and a CV. 

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Shaun Lawson (shaun.lawson@northumbria.ac.uk) and Kyle Montague (kyle.montague@northumbria.ac.uk) 

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