PhD Study : Reviving the Past: Animating Memories through AR and (or) VR Technologies

Summary

Memory, in a crucial way, constructs and shapes our identities as an individual, a community, and a culture. It is a narrative of the past, happening in the present, created and shaped by the way of remembering and forgetting. Traditional cinema has a long history dealing with memories. In the post-cinema era, animation, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have begun to show new narrative and aesthetic potentials for representing and sharing memories.

This PhD project invites candidates to explore the possibilities of using animation with AR/VR technologies for remembering and sharing memories, which define and redefine who we are. Those memories can be personal, individual, collective, cultural, transcultural, transgenerational, or transnational.

Potential candidates are expected to examine the practical, narrative, and aesthetic engagement of animation and VR/AR with memory in various contexts. For example, how to use locations, animated spaces, objects, characters, and the sensory illusions created by AR/VR technologies as interfaces for connecting, triggering and delivering memory? How does the viewers’ behaviour, movement and participation transform and rewrite the memories?

As PhD research, this project should contain or build up strong theoretical framework and contribute to the theoretical construction in the relevant fields. Practical elements and experimentations are highly encouraged to consider as addition to the methodology or potentially a part of the outputs. The approaches can be varied from cinematic, interactive, documentary, immersive exhibitory to multidisciplinary.

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• A comprehensive and articulate personal statement
• Research proposal of 2000 words detailing aims, objectives, milestones and methodology of the project

Desirable Criteria

If the University receives a large number of applicants for the project, the following desirable criteria may be applied to shortlist applicants for interview.

• For VCRS Awards, Masters at 75%
• Completion of Masters at a level equivalent to commendation or distinction at Ulster
• Practice-based research experience and/or dissemination
• Experience using research methods or other approaches relevant to the subject domain
• Work experience relevant to the proposed project

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Vice Chancellors Research Studentship (VCRS)

The following scholarship options are available to applicants worldwide:

• Full Award: (full-time tuition fees + £19,000 (tbc))
• Part Award: (full-time tuition fees + £9,500)
• Fees Only Award: (full-time tuition fees)

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living