Digital Economy and Society: ESRC Wales Doctoral Training Partnership PhD Collaborative Studentship with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and Fieldbay Care Group

This scholarship is funded by ESRC Wales Doctoral Training Partnership, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and Fieldbay Care Group.

‌Swansea University, supported by the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership for Wales (Wales DTP), invites applications for funded PhD study, available to start in October 2019. The following collaborative studentship is available in the Digital Economy and Society pathway of the Wales DTP:

‘Investigating Meaningful Making in Communities of People Living with Brain Injury’ (working title), in collaboration with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board and Fieldbay Care Group.

The Maker Movement has the potential to help people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) enormously by giving them the ability to make unique, personally tailored assistive technology while at the same time engaging in social, communities and therapeutic meaningful work. This research explores how the skills and community can be introduced to people with ABI.

We are looking for a student with a background in psychology, social care, social sciences, or computer science who can bring their own unique perspective to this work.

Project description:

Acquired brain injury (ABI) causes cognitive issues with far reaching consequences for those who live with it. Social care services and neuro-rehabilitation groups struggle to deal with the unique, wide-ranging needs this group exhibits. Pervasive digital technologies can help address these challenges by collecting data and, with analysis, act as a cognitive aid, however, in practice the people who could benefit most from this use it the least. Advocates within the Maker Movement want to help by enabling people living with disabilities to remake the world around them to tap into big data’s potential, and have shown success with people with physical disabilities.However, the tools needed are not easily accessible for people living with cognitive issues.

Eligibility
Residential eligibility:

Full awards (fees plus maintenance stipend) are open to UK Nationals and EU students who can satisfy UK residency requirements. You must:

• be ordinarily resident in the UK, meaning there are no restrictions on how long you can stay, and

• have been ’ordinarily resident’ in the UK for at least three years prior to the start of the studentship grant. This means you must have been normally residing in the UK (apart from temporary or occasional absences), and

• not have been residing in the UK wholly or mainly for the purpose of full-time education. (This does not apply to UK nationals and EU nationals who were ordinarily resident in the EU immediately before the period of full-time education).

Due to funding restrictions, these scholarships are not open to international candidates.

Academic eligibility:

ESRC studentships are highly competitive. Candidates should have an excellent background in the social sciences or a relevant area such as psychology, computer science (with a demonstrable focus on HCI) or Design and hold a 1st or upper 2nd class degree. Applications from those also holding a relevant research training Master’s degree (or an equivalent background in research training) will be considered for a ‘+3’ award.

Employment:

Full-time ESRC studentship award holders cannot hold either a full-time job, or a permanent part-time job, during the period of their award. Part-time ESRC studentship award holders cannot hold a full-time job.