Website: findaphd
Deadline for applications: 28 January 2018
Dr. Joyce Yee and Dr. Laura Warwick are looking for a PhD student to join them at Northumbria University to explore the role and value of relationships in design and social innovation practices in Asia-Pacific. The project builds upon an established and active network – The Design for Social Innovation in Asia Pacific (DESIAP.org) initiative that was set up in 2015 as a platform, network and community of practice for various practitioners, communities and professionals working in the Social Innovation space in this region. This position includes a full stipend, paid for three years at RCUK rates (for 2017/18, this is £14,553 pa) and fees.
DESIAP is a collaboration between Northumbria University and RMIT, Australia. DESIAP received AHRC funding to bring together UK and Asia-Pacific researchers in 2016, leading to outcomes published in a forthcoming special issue in the Design & Culture journal, and a session track in the next 2018 Design Research Society conference. In the last 3 years, we have generated a large number of new activities, outcomes and collaborations – see DESIAP.org for further information.
Research from the DESIAP network has revealed a number of interesting dimensions relating to D&SI practices and we identify the significance of interpersonal relationships between stakeholders and participants as key to their success.
Discourses in social innovation have highlighted the significance of interpersonal relationships and that the resources and exchanges that come from these relationships can create value. The proposition that relationships are the prerequisite and outcome of social innovations makes their interaction reciprocal and inseparable. Despite their importance, relationships and their outcomes (e.g. care, engagement, and reciprocity) in social innovation have not been emphasised in design research as greatly as tools and techniques. Several possible reasons for this are speculated: they are highly contingent and dynamic, and it is therefore complex to understand how they form, develop and degenerate; they cannot be controlled nor manufactured, and are thus excluded from the scope of design; and their contribution to social innovation is difficult to measure. There is a lack of theoretical and methodological knowledge that addresses the challenges of understanding their complex forms and nature – including methodologies to influence them through design interventions, and evaluating them in line with the goal of social innovations. This studentship would investigate how we can analyse and construct frameworks to understand relationships in Design and Social Innovation contexts and also facilitate the forming of relationships desirable to social innovation.
See the website for details and application forms.
Deadline for applications: 28 January 2018
DESIAP is a collaboration between Northumbria University and RMIT, Australia. DESIAP received AHRC funding to bring together UK and Asia-Pacific researchers in 2016, leading to outcomes published in a forthcoming special issue in the Design & Culture journal, and a session track in the next 2018 Design Research Society conference. In the last 3 years, we have generated a large number of new activities, outcomes and collaborations – see DESIAP.org for further information.
Research from the DESIAP network has revealed a number of interesting dimensions relating to D&SI practices and we identify the significance of interpersonal relationships between stakeholders and participants as key to their success.
Discourses in social innovation have highlighted the significance of interpersonal relationships and that the resources and exchanges that come from these relationships can create value. The proposition that relationships are the prerequisite and outcome of social innovations makes their interaction reciprocal and inseparable. Despite their importance, relationships and their outcomes (e.g. care, engagement, and reciprocity) in social innovation have not been emphasised in design research as greatly as tools and techniques. Several possible reasons for this are speculated: they are highly contingent and dynamic, and it is therefore complex to understand how they form, develop and degenerate; they cannot be controlled nor manufactured, and are thus excluded from the scope of design; and their contribution to social innovation is difficult to measure. There is a lack of theoretical and methodological knowledge that addresses the challenges of understanding their complex forms and nature – including methodologies to influence them through design interventions, and evaluating them in line with the goal of social innovations. This studentship would investigate how we can analyse and construct frameworks to understand relationships in Design and Social Innovation contexts and also facilitate the forming of relationships desirable to social innovation.
See the website for details and application forms.
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