De Montfort University (DMU) is looking to appoint a Research Fellow in Sound and Music Computing. DMU is an ambitious, globally minded and culturally rich university with a strong commitment to the public good. We strive to maintain a stimulating and inclusive environment that champions difference and celebrates success.
Faculty / Directorate
The Leicester Media School (LMS) is based within the Faculty of Computing Engineering and Media (CEM). The school is home to a diverse range of programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level, which includes Music Technology, Media Production, Media and Communication, Journalism, Graphic Design, Game Art, Animation, and others. There are around 1500 students, and 75 permanent staff. Our courses are taught by experienced academics and practitioners in professional facilities using cutting-edge technology. Many courses in the school benefit from a relationship with professional industry partners, including Channel Four News, Bauer Media, the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester. The school also boasts a vibrant research culture, with outstanding research in the areas of Music Technology and Innovation, Creative Technologies, Cinema and Television History, and other critical approaches to Media
Role
A part-time (50% FTE), 23-month Postdoctoral Research Fellow position is available to work at the forefront of Sound and Music Computing as part of the AHRC project “Sensing the Forest – Let the Forest Speak using the Internet of Things, Acoustic Ecology and Creative AI”. The proposed project aims to raise awareness among forest visitors/aficionados, artists, scientists, and the general public about the connection between forests and climate change. Community building will centre on looking at a better understanding of forest behaviour
using complex scientific data in creative and artistic ways.
As a Research Fellow in Sound and Music Computing, you will conduct research around sound and music computing and climate change by doing fieldwork, developing software/hardware and publishing research papers related to the project objectives within an expert interdisciplinary team. You will deal with routine communication using a range of media, communicate material of a technical nature, and contribute to the relevant project meetings and events. You will have the opportunity to be involved in some supervision of student projects related to the project objectives. You will be expected to use initiative and creativity for problem-solving and decision-making throughout the project lifespan. The successful candidate will receive support to balance the competing pressures of research and administrative demands and deadlines. Sensory and physical demands will be relatively light in this research project.
Ideal Candidate
The postdoctoral researcher will bring research methods expertise in Human-Computer Interaction, skills in Sound and Music Computing (SMC) and knowledge in web technologies/Internet of Things (IoT). The postdoc will join a multidisciplinary team of leading researchers across environmental science, installation art, HCI and SMC. The role of the postdoc will be to contribute to bridging data science and SMC/artistic practice in the form of new software and tools so that artists, forest aficionados and the general public can creatively
engage with scientific data both as consumers and producers.
The postdoctoral researcher is expected to have an interdisciplinary profile with strong technical and artistic backgrounds with experience in web development, data science, programming software/hardware, audio technology, HCI and artistic practice. A PhD in a related area is essential. Desirable skills include familiarity with environmental data management and user evaluation. The successful candidate should be actively engaged in their own research and have experience of leading research academic writing.
The successful candidate will possess excellent communication, inter-personal and networking skills, with a strong commitment to delivering research and to working within a team. Working on the AHRC-funded project “Sensing the Forest”, will allow the postdoctoral fellow to collaborate with the research team to carry out world-leading research and co-author high-quality peer-reviewed publications. The postdoc will have opportunities to get to know and collaborate with the Music, Technology and Innovation — Institute for Sonic Creativity (MTI2)
(www.mti2.dmu.ac.uk) and the Leicester Media School in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media at De Montfort University.
Please submit an up-to-date CV with your application, a 1-page statement of research interests and aspirations, and the names of three academic referees.
For informal enquires about the position, please contact Dr Anna Xambó Sedó, PI. E-mail: anna.xambo@dmu.ac.uk
We welcome underrepresented populations in the field of SMC and align with DMU’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy (https://www.dmu.ac.uk/empowering-university/edi-strategy/).