PhD Scholarship - Interaction Design

It is an exciting time to get involved with the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, located on UQ's St. Lucia campus.  The School is ramping up its investment in teaching, research and engagement to create an inspiring, diverse and flexible workplace. The direction is backed by a bold, new strategic vision to ensure the School is at the forefront of meaningful research outcomes and pedagogy across its core impact areas of health, data, automation and energy. Boasting strong student enrolments in professionally accredited programs, combined with world-class researchers and facilities, the School is focused on strengthening its position in the global computer science and engineering communities.  By attracting the brightest minds and fostering a truly innovative and collaborative work environment, the School will develop global solutions to contemporary issues and mentor the leaders of tomorrow. 

The School recognises and values equity and diversity, and encourages applications from any individual who meets the requirements of this position irrespective of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, age or other protected attributes. The School strives to provide an inclusive working environment, and along with the University is committed to supporting staff with family and caring responsibilities by providing policies, programs and initiatives to help balance work and family responsibilities.

The Redback Technologies Research Centre is a research enterprise created in partnership between Redback Technologies and The University of Queensland. Redback Technologies is an innovative start-up company backed by major companies and located on UQ's Long Pocket campus.

The research centre is focused on data aggregation and analytics in the field of power and energy systems. The integrating of meters, digital controls and cloud computing will enable new data products for direct use by multiple disparate industries. Research, development, and utilization of these technologies will profoundly change the status quo, and see new business models, products and services in sectors such as insurance, finance, transport, infrastructure planning, home automation, and energy networks.

The centre focus will be the research and development of three principle technologies to transform energy grids and energy consumption. They are:

1. Embedded Networks & Transactional Systems
2. Human-centred design of interactive Information Visualisations
3. Data Science, Big Data Analytics, and Machine Learning

 

The role

We are seeking talented PhD candidates to work on d interaction design research objectives of the Redback Centre, in particular to address the specific research objectives of an Advanced Queensland Platform Technology Project. This cross-disciplinary project in Redback Centre is focused on data analytics and visualisation in the field of power and energy systems. The integrating of meters, digital controls and cloud computing will enable new data products for direct use by multiple disparate industries. Research, development, and utilization of these technologies will profoundly change the status quo, and see new business models, products and services in sectors such as insurance, finance, transport, infrastructure planning, home automation, and energy networks..

You should have background knowledge in the field of Design of interactive information visualisations for big data.

The successful candidate will have the benefit of top mentorship from academic and industry connections as well as access to UQ's world-class laboratory and computing facilities.

The person(s)

Applicants should possess a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction or related field and have demonstrated expert knowledge in the field of Design of interactive information visualisations for big data and in-situ prototyping and fieldwork-based research methods.

Ability to successfully work in a research team to deliver outputs to industry and outstanding effective communication and interpersonal skills is essential. Experience with working in a multidisciplinary research team and in collaborating with industry partners will be highly regarded.

The University of Queensland values diversity and inclusion and actively encourages applications from those who bring diversity to the University. Please refer to the University's Diversity and Inclusion webpage  for further information and points of contact if you require additional support.

This role is a full-time position; however flexible working arrangements may be negotiated.

Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to the contact person listed in the job advertisement.

Remuneration

This scholarship is open to Australian citizens and international applicants. Applicants should possess first class honours degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or Interaction Design from an Australian University or a Master's Degree with a high GPA from a reputed overseas University. The candidates should also have good general research skills, a strong methodological background, excellent analytical skills, very good writing ability and the capacity to work with industry professionals.

This is an Advanced Queensland Platform Technology Project funded PhD scholarship at the Australian Government's RTP rate of $27,802 per year (2018), tax-free for three years with the possibility of two 6-month extensions in approved circumstances. Some top-up scholarship will be considered based on the selected student's credentials.

For further information on scholarships please refer to: https://graduate-school.uq.edu.au/scholarships

Starting date 

This PhD position will start in RQ1 2019.

Enquiries

To discuss this role please contact A/Professor Stephen Viller on +61 7 336 51190 or viller@itee.uq.edu.au