Job Overview

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

The role

How can multisensory and tangible technology help support inclusive social play between autistic and non-autistic children in formal and informal education settings? What are the impacts of cultural differences on these sorts of technological provisions? These are the main research questions that drive an 18-month collaborative project between the University of Bristol in the UK, and Hamed Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, together with partners from user groups representative across the two countries. As part of this project, we are advertising a Postdoctoral Researcher position to explore the design and evaluation of inclusive multisensory social play technologies, with a focus on exploring questions around the design and evaluation of technologies that are inclusive of children with mixed-abilities.

What will you be doing?

The candidate will contribute to the development of a framework for inclusive social play in education and then design, develop and evaluate multisensory tangible technologies that explore a wider range of sensory modalities to support collaborative social play between autistic and non-autistic children. The research will emphasise co-design methodologies, involving children, caregivers, educators and other professionals to support the design, prototype development, and evaluation processes. The candidate will lead this process in Bristol: working with participants to co-design, develop and evaluate a tangible multisensory interface using state-of-the-art technologies, such as sensors, distributed digital objects, and geocaching.

You should apply if

You must hold a PhD degree in either Computer Science, Education, Design, or Social Sciences. The ideal candidate will have experience of and appreciation for co-design methodologies, disability, and experience in working with children and technical prototyping and tinkering will be advantageous. Applicants without a PhD qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis, provided they hold a first-class postgraduate degree and appropriate and relevant alternative experience.

Additional information

For informal queries, please contact: Oussama Metatla, o.metatla@bristol.ac.uk

To find out more about what it’s like to work in the Faculty of Engineering, and how the Faculty supports people to achieve their potential, please see our staff blog:

https://engineeringincludesme.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities, to join us.

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