[ecrea] AHRC funded PhD studentship at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with BBC Scotland: “Children with Learning Disabilities as Digital Audiences”

*_AHRC funded PhD studentship at the University of Glasgow in 
collaboration with BBC Scotland:_*

*_“Children with Learning Disabilities as Digital Audiences”_*

*Applications are invited for a full PhD studentship in Film and 
Television Studies at the University of Glasgow to work in collaboration 
with the Children’s Department at BBC Scotland. The aim of the project 
is **to explore the provision and design of digital media by the BBC for 
older children with learning disabilities.**This exciting opportunity 
will require the researcher to divide his or her time between the 
University of Glasgow and the Children’s Department within BBC Scotland 
(situated in the Pacific Quay in Glasgow). **The student will have 
unique access to the Children's Department, working amongst BBC staff to 
capture a sense of the existing provision of digital content for 
children with learning disabilities and the ways in which BBC Scotland 
engage with this audience. The project will then continue through a 
small scale qualitative study that will capture how, why and when 
digital media is used, interpreted and enjoyed by members of this 
specific audience. The student will then return to the BBC with their 
research findings and work alongside colleagues to develop a 'pitch' for 
the design or redesign of digital content that will allow the BBC to 
respond directly to the needs and desires of their targeted audience.*

The specific question this project poses is how we might re-imagine 
content for differently-abled audiences that is appropriate to both 
their cognitive abilities and their personal/social needs and desires.

A supervisory team from across both institutions will oversee this work 
and full research training (including audience research skills if 
required) will be offered. The team will include Dr. Amy Holdsworth and 
Professor Karen Lury from the University of Glasgow and Ms. Sara Harkins 
(Head of Children’s BBC Scotland) with relevant support from 
professional colleagues within BBC Scotland.

The studentship is funded for three years to commence in October 2016 
and covers tuition fees at the Home/EU rate. Home students and EU 
students who have lived in the UK for 3 years prior to the award will 
also receive a maintenance bursary (stipend) of approx. £14,296 for 
16-17 plus an additional £550 travel allowance. In addition, the student 
is eligible to receive up to £1,000 a year from the BBC to support 
travel or other expenses directly related to the doctoral research, and 
will be given use of a desk and computer at the University of Glasgow 
and appropriate access and resources at the BBC. All AHRC Collaborative 
PhD students automatically become part of the UK-wide Collaborative 
Doctoral Partnership development scheme which will provide training in a 
range of skills needed for research within museums, archives, galleries 
and heritage organisations.

*Informal enquiries are welcome*.

Please write to Dr. Amy Holdsworth ((Amy.Holdsworth /at/ glasgow.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(Amy.Holdsworth /at/ glasgow.ac.uk)> ) in the first instance.

*Candidates ideally should have:*

• A good 2.1 Honours (or B.A.) degree in a relevant Arts or Social 
Science discipline.
• A Masters degree in a related discipline *or* appropriate professional 
experience within children’s media, digital media, audience development, 
working with children and young people with disabilities.

• A good understanding of contemporary Children’s Television, digital 
media and issues and debates within disability studies

• An interest in, or first-hand knowledge of, audience research.
• Applicants should be able to demonstrate strong research capabilities 
and be fluent in spoken and written English.

*Applications should include:*
• A statement of no more than 1,000 words indicating what skills and 
experience you have that will be relevant for the project.
• A current CV
• Degree transcripts (this may be an interim transcript if you are still 
studying)
• An example of writing – e.g. academic essay, professional report - up 
to 3000 words in length
• 2 academic/professional references (these may be sent directly from 
your referees if they would prefer)

*Applications to be sent to (Jeanette.Berrie /at/ glasgow.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(Jeanette.Berrie /at/ glasgow.ac.uk)> (Research Administrator, School 
of Culture and Creative Arts, University of Glasgow) with the subject 
line BBC CDA.*

**

*Closing Date: Wednesday 15th June 2016*

***Interviewees will be notified by Thursday 23^rd June and interviews 
will take place at the University of Glasgow on Friday 1^st July 2016.*

**

***The Project:*

Through initial audience development work, colleagues at BBC Scotland 
have already observed the ways in which digital content designed for a 
young (‘pre-school’) audience is being used by older children with 
learning disabilities. They have recognized that while these young 
people may have less sophisticated ‘operational’ abilities their desire 
and interest in age appropriate content is not necessarily affected. In 
simple terms, games or interactive challenges aimed at 4-7year olds may 
represent an appropriate operational challenge (how to work the game, 
how to move about and between different parts of the page) but are 
inappropriate in terms of content (older children and young people are 
more likely to respond positively to content such as /WolfBlood /rather 
than /In the/ /Night Garden /or ‘Mr. Tumble’). The project will 
therefore focus on this particular issue and ask how we might re-imagine 
content for differently-abled audiences that is appropriate to their 
cognitive abilities and their personal/social needs and desires.

*Aims and objectives.*

**

The aims and objectives of this collaborative project are designed to 
both reflect upon /and /develop the BBC’s relationship with its 
differently abled child audience.//

*/Aims/*

1. To explore the provision of content for children with learning 
disabilities: Initial stages of the research will explore the existing 
provision of digital content for children with learning disabilities and 
the ways in the children’s department at BBC Scotland engage with this 
audience (through audience development initiatives, for example). This 
initial ‘snapshot’ accompanied by critical investigation of academic 
literature on children, disability and media will form a building block 
for the student to design and implement a qualitative audience study.

2. To conduct a small-scale qualitative audience study of children with 
learning disabilities as digital audiences/users: Utilizing the 
appropriate methodologies (see below) the student will capture how, why 
and when digital media is used, interpreted and enjoyed by children with 
learning disabilities. This fieldwork will importantly also offer the 
child the opportunity to reflect upon and discuss their use of digital 
media (e.g. their preferences, desires, likes and dislikes).

*/Objectives/*

3. The student will disseminate research findings through traditional 
academic outputs and through partnership with the BBC: One of the 
principle objectives of the project is for the research to have an 
avenue of dissemination within the BBC to allow the institution to 
reflect upon and develop their own practices and forms of audience 
engagement. The links with BBC Scotland and its contacts present 
opportunities for the research to be accessed by other stakeholder 
communities and organisations (such as ‘for Scotland’s Disabled 
Children’ (fSDC)).

4. To implement research findings through the production of a BBC 
‘pitch’: Through the student’s involvement at BBC Scotland he or she 
will utilise their research on this specific child audience in the 
development, design or redesign of games, applications or website 
provision for this audience.

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