[Announcements] Funded PhD studentship in the UCL Interaction Centre

[Gaynor, Louise]

Please find details below about a funded PhD studentship in the UCL Interaction Centre for UK/EU applicants only- please pass on to anyone who may be interested.

PhD Studentship in Human-Computer Interaction in the UCL Interaction Centre
University College London<https://www.prism.ucl.ac.uk/#%21/?institution=5243> - Computer Science

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the UCL Interaction Centre (UCLIC), funded by an EPSRC DTP grant for up to 4 years from September 2017 - it is possible for applicants to start later in the academic year.

Please be aware that this funding is only available to UK/EU candidates who have (a) settled status in the UK, with no restrictions on how long they can stay and (b) been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of the studentship and (c) not been residing in the UK wholly or mainly for the purpose of full-time education.

  *   Closing Date 18 Aug 2017 (1 places)
  *   Study: Full Time,
The studentship will be aligned with one of two themes.

1. Getting Things Done: being productive but less stressed in the 21st century (supervised by Prof Anna Cox & Dr Duncan Brumby)

New digital technology permits 'working at home' for many knowledge workers. It also enables 1.3M Britons to work in the 'gig economy', where workers find and arrange work on crowd platforms like Uber. Greater flexibility over when and where work is done comes at a cost: juggling work with other activities and chores. Constant switching between these spheres can be overwhelming. The resulting stress can lead to burnout, costing the global economy £255bn. Studies in cognitive science, human-computer interaction, and social sciences have yielded insights into the costs and benefits of digital living. But integrating these disparate ideas to inform the design of practical training and support tools for people who struggle is a challenge. As a result, there are myriad experts and apps all promising to help us focus, avoid digital distraction, and avoid feelings of overwhelm by helping us remember what needs to be done. Do any of these really work?

Possible PhD projects include but are not limited to:

(i) Digital distractions have us constantly switching between tasks. Good time, task, and boundary management help avoid burnout, but some find this easier than others. Are people who are good at switching between work tasks more likely to effectively manage their work-life balance? Can those overwhelmed by these demands learn from those who are not? Could this help us manage work-related stress?

(ii) Research suggests that limiting the time spent on email is more efficient (Bradley et al 2013<http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1412176/1/BradleyBrumbyCoxBirdEmail.pdf>) and reduces stress (Kushlev & Dunn 2015<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kostadin_Kushlev/publication/267928240_Checking_Email_Less_Frequently_Reduces_Stress/links/547446a90cf245eb436dcfa0.pdf>). So should we aim for inbox zero<http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/inbox-zero>? We have shown that people manage their email in different ways<http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/16618/1/working9-5.pdf>. What is the best way to manage email across multiple devices?

(iii) Heylighen and Vidal <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024630108000848> (2008) provide a theoretical explanation for why 'Getting Things Done' should work. Does rigorous implementation of this methodology help to reduce stress by supporting our personal task management? Many people struggle to implement the process. Which personal management tools best support this?

(iv) Kamsin (2014)<http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1450430/1/AKamsinPhD_Revised_Thesis_Minor_Corrections_without_comments.pdf._REDACTION..pdf> demonstrated that personal task management software, such as to-do list apps remember the milk<https://www.rememberthemilk.com/> and trello<https://trello.com/>, fail to meet user needs and that this is in part due to the fact that those needs change over time. Haraty et al (2016)<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581915001901> identify three different styles of personal task management. How can a personal task management app be best designed to support these changing and differing styles and offer real benefits in improving productivity and reducing feelings of overwhelm?

2. A new approach to managing mental health: human factors in the design of automatic monitoring of depressive states using smartphones and IoT devices (supervised by Prof Anna Cox & Dr Mirco Musolesi)

In the past years, there have been various proposals regarding the use of smartphone data (such as GPS and user-interaction traces) for monitoring mental health (and in particular depression). We are now keen to investigate how such technology can be useful for patients and doctors. Within this broad remit, there are a number of possible PhD projects that could be explored. These include but are not limited to:

(i) developing a solution for presenting results back to users in order to help individuals to better understand and manage their condition also through behaviour interventions;

(ii) developing new forms of presentation that help health professionals to make sense of the data; for example how does this patient's result compare to previous and other similar patients? how should we present the data from a spatio-temporal perspective?

(iii) understanding how to integrate multi-modal signals coming from different mobile and IoT devices for improving prediction accuracy and robustness, also considering the human-computer interaction aspects related to the design of such a system.

Person Specification

Applicants should be interested in Human-Computer Interaction and should possess a strong bachelor's degree (1st Class or 2:1) or Masters degree in a related discipline. Candidates will ideally have some relevant previous research experience and should have excellent communication and presentation skills.

Eligibility

Applications are invited from UK and EU citizens residing in UK. In particular, applicants must meet EPSRC eligibility and residency requirements found here: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/studentships/help/eligibility/ <https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/eligibility/>

Start Date: September 2017 but can be later

Application Procedure

Please apply through the UCL PRISM system at https://www.prism.ucl.ac.uk/#!/?project=220 using the Apply Now button. Applications should include:

1. A personal statement describing the preferred research question, a summary of some relevant literature, and an outline of the type of research to be conducted (including ideas about which methods would be appropriate).

2. Examples of academic writing and outputs from past work (e.g. a dissertation or assignment)

3. Academic transcripts

4. A CV

Interviews with short-listed applicants will begin around 24th August 2017.

Questions about the studentship can be made to Dr Anna Cox (anna.cox at ucl.ac.uk<mailto:anna.cox at ucl.ac.uk>) while queries about the application process can be made to Louise Gaynor: l.gaynor at ucl.ac.uk<mailto:l.gaynor at ucl.ac.uk> or Sarah Turnbull: s.turnbull at ucl.ac.uk<mailto:s.turnbull at ucl.ac.uk>.

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