[Commlist] 3 Funded PhDs

3 Fully Funded PhD Scholarships in the School of Arts & Creative 
Industries at London South Bank University, involving Whitechapel and 
Tate Galleries, addressing AI, Music and Curating.

https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DEE206/phd-scholarships-the-school-of-arts-and-creative-industries 


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The School of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI), London South Bank 
University is delighted to offer three collaborative doctoral research 
scholarship opportunities commencing February 2024. Each scholarship is 
fully funded for three years (UKRI rates) and includes full course fees, 
an annual stipend (including an additional London allowance) and 
associated costs, such as training.

LSBU is a modern university with a mission to transform lives, 
communities, businesses and society through applied education and 
insight. We strive to influence the wider world and to positively impact 
on the society around us. LSBU’s PhD Scholarships are central to this 
vision.

LSBU is an inclusive and welcoming organisation, committed to 
eliminating discrimination based on age, race, religion/belief, sex, 
disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage/civil 
partnership, pregnancy/maternity, caring status, and social class. This 
means that we work pro-actively to eliminate individual, institutional, 
and systemic inequalities. We believe that it is not enough just to 
eliminate discrimination but that we must speak out and act against 
inequalities wherever and whenever they occur.

This scholarship is open to UK and international students but only home 
fees are covered. We offer three-year support for full time doctoral 
candidates to undertake collaborative research jointly led by ACI and 
industry partners.

The collaborative doctoral projects offers a collaborative supervisory 
team drawn from both London South Bank University and the partner 
organisation. The successful candidate will benefit from the research 
and practical resources of both partner institutions, becoming a full 
participant in the community of researchers at ACI and embedded in the 
organisational culture of the programme organisation. The rationale for 
collaborative doctoral projects includes the relationship building that 
brings long-term benefits for both partners, who gain access to 
resources and materials, knowledge and expertise to provide social, 
cultural and economic benefits to wider society.

Project 1: Tate Digital

Generative AI and the Art Museum: The Online Collection of British Art, 
Audiences and Visuality.

A partnership between Tate, The Centre for the Study of the Networked 
Image and The Royal College of Art.

The research seeks to understand and develop new knowledge of the ways 
in which users engage with visual images in network culture in the light 
of recent generative AI image software. It will do this through a 
specific focus upon online engagement with Tate in relationship to the 
collection of British Art and Tate’s exhibition and display programme. 
It aims to contribute to a greater knowledge and understanding of the 
circulation of the computational image and the reproduced work of art in 
supporting the development of Tate’s online user base. The studentship 
offers the opportunity to develop practice-based doctoral research with 
Tate Digital to develop new modes of co-curating with a diversity of 
audiences. With recent developments of machine vision employed in AI 
generative interfaces, such as Chat GTP-3, DALL-E-2, Craiyon and Bing, 
new opportunities arise to investigate the ways in which users 
collaborate with machine vision in the process of image making. This 
research aims to reverse engineer what is involved technically and 
culturally in producing AI composite images from prompts such as, ‘a 
still life in the style of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’ for example. The 
research will be of benefit to Tate Digital and Art Museum curators in 
thinking about audiences of the future and how the museum can engage 
with them.
Director of Studies: Prof Andrew Dewdney

Co-Supervisor: Prof Victoria Walsh (RCA)

Reference Number: ACI2401

Project 2: UK Music

Artificial Intelligence as a Creative Tool in Music and Games

How can AI be understood within creative practices such as music 
production, sound design, game development and interactive sound? To 
what extent are the affordances of creative AI tools reconfiguring the 
process of music making?  Research in this field can focus on novel ways 
in which AI may be used in production, identifying musical elements that 
could be assisted by machine learning or novel creative workflows that 
emerge when working with AI. In the process, questions arise regarding 
agency, authorship, and copyright. We can make sense of such 
developments in relation to theorisation of existing musical tools and 
instruments, however novel theoretical frameworks maybe required to 
adequately grasp the consequences of AI in music production and sound 
design.

Your postgraduate research project can be theory-based, ethnographic, 
practice-led, or practice-based and will benefit from our current 
research expertise in algorithmic music making, electronic dance music, 
game music, competitive AI game spectatorship, as well as from the music 
industry networks of UK Music and its Music Academic Partnership. 
Addressing the potential of AI as creative tool, your work will 
contribute to high-level publication work and innovative creative 
production.

Director of Studies: Prof Hillegonda Rietveld

Reference Number: ACI2402

Project 3: Whitechapel Gallery

Digital Divides: Curating within and beyond the Contemporary Art Institution

There is a long history of artists and curators working with digital 
technology and yet relatively little seems to have changed in the 
practices of contemporary art galleries and museums, and there remains a 
general lack of awareness of how wider cultural practices have responded 
to and been shaped by networked technologies. The ‘digital divide’ 
between contemporary art and new media may have been eroded to an 
extent, yet still curatorial and programming approaches seem to be 
locked into thinking of technology as a tool or means of communication 
rather than allowing for a more radical rethinking of the protocols for 
curatorial experimentation, public programming and audience development. 
Practices still tend to follow traditional models rather than building 
on, and learning from, the affordances, imaginaries and epistemological 
potential of the technology and network itself. What different models of 
curatorial practice, public programming and audience engagement might 
now emerge?

The invitation for proposals is to explore these broad areas of interest 
in the context of a working arts institution - in support of the ongoing 
development of ‘Digital Whitechapel’ as part of the Gallery’s new 
strategy. The physical location of Whitechapel Gallery in East London 
also opens up discussion of the ‘digital divide’ in another crucially 
important register to identify the gap between demographics and regions 
that have access or restricted access, or knowledge of, technology (N.B. 
The Borough of Tower Hamlets has high rates of digital exclusion). In 
this light, we are interested in proposals that explore how a broad 
definition of curatorial practice that emphasises collaborative methods 
can help to shape equity, access and learning programmes within cultural 
institutions working with their local communities. This might include a 
mapping and analysis of recent historical developments and case studies 
in this area to inform the development of future models. Proposals can 
approach these issues in multiple ways but are expected to take the form 
of an embedded, practice-based, qualitative study, developed closely in 
partnership with both institutions.

Director of Studies: Prof Geoff Cox

Co-Supervisor: Dr Richard Martin (Whitechapel Gallery)

Reference Number: ACI2403

The successful candidates will:

    Have a proven, strong educational background in a discipline of the 
Arts and Humanities (digital media, music, games, performance, curating 
etc.)
    Be excited and inspired by the proposed project area.
    Be a self-starter.
    Have good communication skills.
    Have an inquiring mind and be willing to challenge themselves.

The School of Arts and Creative Industries is an interdisciplinary, 
vibrant research environment with international collaboration and 
networking opportunities and dedicated research space. Successful 
candidates will be homed within a research group and will benefit from 
the networking opportunities and unique connections the Research Groups 
offer.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in the second week of January 
and commence their PhD soon after. Candidates are welcome to contact the 
supervisors listed on the advertisement with informal enquiries before 
the application deadline.

Eligibility

    Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject - 2:1 or 1st (essential)
    Master’s degree in a relevant subject or equivalent professional 
experience

English Language requirements:

If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with a score of at least 6.5 in each 
individual component) or equivalent.

Nationality

Applications are open to UK and international students but only home 
fees are covered.

Please indicate if you are likely to require a visa on your application.

We are unable to support visa costs.

How to Apply

Please email ACI Research Office ((ACI-Research /at/ lsbu.ac.uk)) at the apply 
button above. Please submit a CV, a one page Covering Letter stating how 
you meet the requirements and why you are interested in the proposed 
research project, and a 700 words research proposal that meets at least 
one of the areas of supervision mentioned above.

Application deadline: Monday 18th of December 2023.

Interviews: The week starting Monday 8th of January 2024
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