[Commlist] PhD studentship @ Sheffield: Trust and inequalities in the context of data-driven media

PhD studentship: Trust and inequalities in the context of data-driven 
media (part of the Designing For All 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2022-03-phd-research-fund-public-service-digital-equality-designing-for-all>**cohort)

Deadline: 11 May 2022

Applications should be submitted to the University of Sheffield 
Postgraduate Online Application system 
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply 
<https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply>.

The University of Sheffield and BBC R&D are offering a 4-year full-time 
EPSRC/BBC-funded PhD studentship, to start in October 2022. The 
successful applicant will research the challenge of delivering equitable 
provision of future media in the context of growing digital inequalities.

Data-centric technologies, including AI, are at the centre of the BBC 
technology and innovation plan and will transform audiences’ experiences 
in the future. However, not everyone has equal access, or the same 
capability to engage and to benefit, and people who are excluded are 
often already experiencing social, cultural and economic 
marginalisation. As part of the BBC’s commitment to universality, this 
PhD will contribute to understanding digital inclusion in a data-driven 
society, through empirical research into underserved audiences’ 
experiences of and trust in data-driven media and what good data uses 
look like for them.

The student will be supervised by Professor Helen Kennedy 
((h.kennedy /at/ sheffield.ac.uk) <mailto:(h.kennedy /at/ sheffield.ac.uk)>) at the 
University of Sheffield and Dr Rhianne Jones ((Rhia.Jones /at/ bbc.co.uk) 
<mailto:(Rhia.Jones /at/ bbc.co.uk)>) from BBC R&D (with bases in Salford’s 
Media City and Central London).

The studentship is part of a wider multidisciplinary cohort of four 
industrial PhD projects: /Designing for All/. The student will have the 
opportunity to conduct research at the BBC, and to collaborate with the 
other students in the cohort. Information about the /Designing For All/ 
programme can be found in this BBC R&D blogpost 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2022-03-phd-research-fund-public-service-digital-equality-designing-for-all>. 
**

**

*The Person*

This is a multidisciplinary research challenge, and we are keen to 
receive applications from people from Sociology, Media & Communications, 
HCI, Information Studies, Politics or related disciplines or with 
relevant professional experience, and with interests in one or more of 
the following:

●digital media; social and digital inequalities; digital inclusion; 
data-driven technologies; value-sensitive design; responsive innovation; 
public service media

●qualitative methods; co-production; participatory design; deliberative 
inquiry; speculative design; prototyping.

The successful applicant should have a first class or high upper second 
class honours degree and preferably a Masters qualification or 
comparable professional experience.

A key aim of this cohort-based studentship is to develop future research 
leaders, with experience of working in multidisciplinary teams and 
across academic and industry contexts. Candidates should expect to learn 
new, cross-disciplinary skills, including those related to empirical 
research design, data science/analysis and cutting-edge technology.

*How to Apply*

Applications should be submitted to the University of Sheffield 
Postgraduate Online Application system 
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply 
<https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply>.

Applications should be accompanied by

 1. A CV, certified copies of degree certificates and transcripts,
    details of two referees and proof of eligibility (e.g. a copy of
    your passport/ residence permit)
 2. A personal statement of no more than two pages describing: a) your
    research interests, a central question for this project and an
    indicative methodology; b) your experience to date that makes you
    suitable for this studentship, and what you would learn through this
    opportunity; and c) the impact you hope to make through working with
    us on this project.

Applicants applying for more than one of the ‘/Designing for All’ 
/studentships should indicate this in their personal statement. For 
queries about the application process, please contact 
(scs-pgr /at/ sheffield.ac.uk) <mailto:(scs-pgr /at/ sheffield.ac.uk)>. Interviews 
will take place in May 2022.


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