PRR Project

Summary

We are looking for a candidate with a doctorate in a scientific field/specialisation in museology with interest in doing interdisciplinary museum research and exploring the ways in which ICT and new media might and are transforming the museum experience and curatorial work leveraging museums’ transformation. The candidate is expected to have the competencies to contribute to research development as well as to support lecturing, namely at MA and PhD level. S/he should be competent in developing and submitting research projects, effective communication, including presentations and social media, scientific meetings’ organisation and have experience in producing high-quality research and writing, with digital methodologies, as well as the capacity to work both independently and closely with a team. The position is located at CITCEM and the candidate will work in close cooperation with the Educational & Societal Challenges and with the Information, Communication & Digital Culture research groups.The researcher is expected to pursue collaborative as well as individual research projects that will explore the nexus of new media, data, digital assets management, digital heritage long term preservation, digital culture and museums from both historical and contemporary perspectives and work with museum collections and/or mediation practices to shape new approaches for museum transformation. The role includes creating/participating in the design and implementation of research projects (such as the design and evaluation of actions in the world of practice), contributing to reviewing/synthesising academic literature, scoping/reviewing existing new media and digital culture processes, knowledge exchange and impact activities, and the writing of outputs. The work executed in these domains will be used to support and further develop collections/audience engagement curatorial methods and activities, namely through co-design and creative practices that dialogue with the cross-cutting themes explored by CITCEM, such as the climate crisis or human movements. The candidate is expected to be able to prepare students with the rapidly growing of digital collections, services and platforms, and consequent outgrown of existing collections management systems, reinforcing the need of research, knowledge and practice related to tools for handling digital images, documents, and rich media files. Standardization, metadata, interoperability, data clouds/spaces, rights management, use and re(use) of digital data are key terms for current and future museums professionals. As a research output it is also expected that s/he will deliver online self-directed learning materials in the form of training pathways for our research community. These pathways will lay out the steps and concepts inspired by digital humanities and social sciences beginners need to master digital and data-led methods and tools suitable for the field.This is an excellent opportunity for a post-doctoral researcher to work as part of an interdisciplinary team and develop knowledge exchange and impact with and for partners and stakeholders in the museums and heritage sector. CITCEM is anchored in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences and offers a capacious and inclusive umbrella for a wide range of research topics and approaches. The Education and Societal Challenges Group brings together researchers who potentiate the intersection between education and societal challenges, exploring the close relations between various disciplinary areas, such as history, education, museology, heritage, conservation, geography, anthropology, sociology, information science, the performing arts, and the audiovisual sector. Societal challenges include issues related to the construction of identities, plural memories and difficult heritages, citizenship, cultural diversity, the environment, risk management, and social justice.Understanding and using new media and digital culture is not only a hot topic but is critical to the success of museum practices and research in the 21st century. The addition of a researcher with this profile to the team will maximize the interdisciplinary effects of the encounter between different fields, particularly in the context of Museology & Heritage studies. It will provide spaces for the visibility and dissemination of research produced within the Group; bring about new insights and perspectives designed to inspire and impact researchers at different stages; and, crucially, participate in the crafting of a common space with and for academic and practice communities. It is also worth highlighting that the candidate is expected to support and participate in ongoing and future research projects.The holder of the position’s main duty is research. Nonetheless, the researcher is expected to take part in teaching, supervision, and other teaching-related duties, namely in the scope of the MA in Museology and the PhD Program in Heritage Studies.