Open research associate position in game experience design for up to two years at the Digital Creativity Labs at the University of York.
The post-holder will work on AI-enabled game design tools and player experiences. The job ad is at http://bitly.com/gamexd-postdo
Don’t hesitate to contact with any questions at sebastian.deterding@york.ac.uk
Hours: of work Full-time
Contract status: Fixed term
Salary: £32,236 – £39,609 a year
Apply by: 07/03/2019
Job Reference: 7331
Seeking an outstanding early-stage researcher in human-computer interaction (HCI) and experience design, with a focus on games design processes and game experiences powered by artificial intelligence (AI). You will join the Digital Creativity Labs (DC Labs), working with experts across disciplines and external partners to improve people’s lives through impact-driven research in games and digital creativity.
The DC Labs (www.digitalcreativity.ac.uk) are a world centre of excellence for impact-driven research in games and interactive media, spanning four universities and over 80 partner organisations. They work hand in hand with the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (IGGI, www.iggi.org.uk) and the Creative Media Labs, a major UK Creative Industry Cluster investment to understand and exploit immersive and interactive technologies for storytelling. The post is based at the main DC Labs site at the University of York.
As a key team member within DC Labs, you will be involved in a range of interdisciplinary research projects, with a focus on AI-driven game creation tools and player experiences and how they afford desired experiences and behaviours. This is variously discussed as computational creativity, creativity support tools, intelligent user interfaces, procedural content generation, AI experience design, or games HCI. Your responsibilities will include designing, conducting, and collaborating on research projects, writing them up for publication in high-profile journals and engaging in their public dissemination, as well as producing cursory and systematic reviews on selected games topics.
Under the mentorship of Dr Sebastian Deterding and others, you will work with colleagues across disciplines and sites and co-create research and impact with users and external stakeholders. You will also have the opportunity to work with and supervise PhD students, engage the public, build your network with their international partners, participate in grant writing, and possibly teach in your specialty. This is a great opportunity for you to kickstart your career by building a portfolio of research, grant applications, supervision, and possibly teaching.
You will have a PhD in Computer Science (especially HCI), Game/Interaction/Digital Design, or equivalent, with a record of publications suitable to where you are in your career. You are familiar with current debates in games and user experience design, and you can design, conduct, analyse, and write up research studies. You should have experience in designing or rigorously studying computational systems that empower game creators or engage players. Ideally, you also have experience in programming and implementing AI techniques and interactive systems that use them.
You have an appetite for learning and working with colleagues from other disciplines in new areas of knowledge and practice outside your intellectual comfort zone. You have good communication skills, and ideally, experience delivering impact against practical deadlines and requirements outside academia. You take pride in the craftsmanship of good research and design.
This post is available on a fixed term basis for up to two years.