[Commlist] Collaborative Doctoral Research Scholarships, School of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI), LSBU

Here a reminder that 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.

Each of the collaborative doctoral projects offer 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 Game Production. /

A partnership between UK Music, Sonic Research Group, and Creative 
Technologies Research Centre

How can AI be understood within creative practices such 
as music production, sound design, game development and interactive 
sound? To what extend 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

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 or Research Centre 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) 
<mailto:(ACI-Research /at/ lsbu.ac.uk)>_), 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-word 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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