PRR Project

Summary

The candidate must conduct architectural research on participation and co-creation in contemporary learning environments, as well as teaching activities related to theory and history of educational spaces and research methodologies for the development of a conceptual and methodological framework on the subject matter of learning environments, user research studies, and participatory and inclusive design.The employee must be an architect with a PhD in architecture, and research applied to adaptable learning environments that encompasses user research and participatory methods to align design and use. The research focuses on spatial experience, fruition, and appropriation, and acknowledges space’s representativeness as a social and phenomenological catalyst. The focus on educational spaces discusses their alignment with learning practices and enables schools to cope with contemporary social, pedagogical, and technological changes, and state-of-the-art spatial requirements. It also aims for an inclusive and adaptable design that allocates a wide array of activities and users throughout a longer life cycle.The implementation of co-creation and co-rehabilitation methods to involve school communities in the design of new and existing school buildings implies innovative research to approach complex problems in real-life scenarios. By enabling school communities to become active stakeholders in the decision-making and in co-design processes, this research intends that the environments comply with the communities’ effective needs, evoke a sense of belonging, and open ways for space appropriation for informal pedagogical practices; ultimately nurturing citizenship responsibilities amongst the students, and achieving an effective social impact from research.The profile demonstrates expertise in teaching theory and history of architecture, and the ability to focus on educational spaces at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, where the teaching activity will take place. This will establish the basis for applied research in contemporary case studies, and foster inclusiveness and participatory processes. Theory of architecture, specifically on educational spaces, is key for the research’s conceptual framework. This encompasses both learning models and respective environments, as the scope of user research studies that can report spatial fruition. History of architecture, specifically on educational spaces, involves the acknowledgment of the legacy of innovative school buildings and learning practices through time. This also addresses the value of tangible and intangible heritage, as paramount for a sustainable development of educational spaces and a knowledgeable involvement of the school communities.Furthermore, the teaching profile should also demonstrate expertise in architectural research subjects, such as research seminars and theory laboratories, at both Master and Doctoral levels, and experience in supervising dissertations. Moreover, it should also prove an extensive teaching experience, including participating in academic examination boards, holding pedagogical leadership positions, and organising and participating in pedagogical conferences and other related activities.The involvement between the courses of architecture, psychology and education sciences in particular, and others, such as the arts, enhances interdisciplinary connections, enriches teaching practices, and encourages a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, and to participatory practices. The link with psychology and education sciences, remarkably improves the understanding of epistemological specificities about teaching practices, providing the knowledge base to allocate contemporary pedagogies in new or pre-existing educational environments, guiding the implementation of specific user research methodologies, and identifying users and stakeholders in the co-design/refurbishment process.The position also involves the development of scientific activities at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies (CEIS20) such as publications, scholarly events, international networking, project development, and knowledge transfer with social impact. Awards for scientific and educational achievement and management positions related to scientific activity are also valuable indicators to consider in this profile.The relevance given to projects driven by complex contemporary problems as clusters of interdisciplinary practice, aligns with the profile and gains added value from previous experience in participating or coordinating interdisciplinary teams with competitive funding. Thus, the profile specifies prior involvement in national and international research projects and the coordination of interdisciplinary teams related to the collaborative redesign of educational spaces, for demonstrating the potential for international collaboration and dissemination, the significance of the research, and the capacity to apply for competitive funding.