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[CALL] New Research Scholarships for PhD Studies at Swinburne Design

$61,000 per year for a total value of $182, 959 over three years

Three new research scholarships have been announced by Swinburne Faculty of Design for commencement mid 2013, each comes with a package valued at A$182,959* over three years. These scholarships are for well qualified research students seeking a PhD.

Expressions of interest (EOI) are being sought immediately from high achieving people who possess qualifications equivalent to an Australian first class Honours degree or Masters by Research degree or similar.

The deadline for EOI for each scholarship is Friday 3 May 2013. The three research scholarships are:

1. CSIRO Flagship Collaborative Fund Capacity Mapping for Integrative Design

▪   Working with University Distinguished Professor Ken Friedman

2. Wayshowing/Wayfinding in Hospitals

▪   Working with Professor Per Mollerup

3.  Speed of Recognition and Affective Processing of Design Objects

▪   Working with Professor Allan Whitfield

▪   Would suit applicants with a background in psychology, psychophysiology, or social science

More detailed information on each of the research scholarships is provided below.

To register your interest

Expressions of interest for the scholarships, and for further details, interested applicants should contact Rachel Mosel at Swinburne Faculty of Design on telephone +61 03 9214 6917 or email rmosel@swin.edu.au

The deadline for all expressions of interest is Friday 3 May 2013.

Further scholarships details:

1. CSIRO Flagship Collaborative Fund Capacity Mapping for Integrative Design

▪   Working with University Distinguished Professor Ken Friedman

The literature on design integration is heavily clustered in the design management literature of single cases or pieces that promote design. Nearly nothing offers a broad, robust understanding of how design integrates and finds application across the entire manufacturing value chain.

This capacity mapping project will survey Australia and the world with respect to capacity and draw out from this map potential ramifications and opportunities. Importantly, it will identify and map the links between the design activities on the supply side and manufacturing activities on the demond side.

CSIRO has funded a post-doctoral research fellowship for this project. Swinburne wish to add PhD students to this to form an effective team that divides the different aspects of the research program.

High achieving people with an Honours qualification or other research experience (in any discipline) interested in this project are encouraged to express their interest as soon as possible.

2. Wayshowing/Wayfinding in Hospitals

▪   Working with Professor Per Mollerup

Wayfinding in hospitals is a problem, to the patients and other wayfinders and to the hospitals. Bad wayshowing and the resulting bad wayfinding affects the well-being of users and the efficiency of hospitals.

Hospitals are complex environments. They are big and often have complicated plans with large distances between entrance and destinations and between departments. Hospitals are frequently expanded which tends to add to complexity. Names of departments are long, unusual, and often difficult to lay people. Patients are nervous and some have reduced visual and mental capacities. Complicated wayfinding situations add to these shortcomings.

This study aims to quantify the problem and point at probable solutions. The study will be significant to patients (well-being) and to hospitals (efficiency/costs).

High achieving people with an Honours qualification or other research experience (in any discipline) interested in this project are encouraged to express their interest as soon as possible.

3. Speed of Recognition and Affective Processing of Designed Objects

▪   Working with Professor Allan Whitfield

▪   This project would suit someone with a background in psychology, psychophysiology, or social science.

Using the light-emitting diode tachistoscope, an instrument newly created by Swinburne University of Technology, we have shown that humans can reliably identify animals with only 1 millisecond (ms) of visual exposure. Such durations have not previously been attainable with existing visual display equipment. The rapid exposures are achieved by illuminating images on a monitor with a separately controlled backlight composed of fast-switching light-emitting diodes. A second version of this instrument, the LED-Tachistoscope Mark 2, extends this to the microsecond level.

The first aim of this project is to explore the limits of visual recognition. The second aim is to explore the speed of affective processes. We intend to replicate the work of Lindgaard’s team in Canada that found extremely reliable affective responses to websites at only 50 ms exposures. With the new technology we can take these exposures to the microsecond level. The research significance is that we can explore areas that others cannot. Furthermore, the earlier work led to publications in SCI-E journals: ‘Review of Scientific Instruments’ (a journal of the American Institute of Physics) and ‘Vision Research’.

See above for details of application.

* To be successful in applying for this scholarship, applicants must also apply and be successful for an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) or Swinburne University Postgraduate Research Award (SUPRA). Short-listed applicants will be assisted through this process by Swinburne Faculty of Design.

The total package includes: The above mentioned APA or SUPRA of $24,653 p.a. over 3 years (total $73,959); Faculty of Design Top-Up Scholarship of $10K p.a. over 3 years (total $30,000); Faculty of Design Research Start-Up Fund (one-off payment) total $10,000, plus a waiver of all fees (for a domestic or international student seeking a PhD) for a maximum of 4 years.