Organisatie
LUCA School of Arts
LUCA School of Arts (LUCA) is an educational and research environment within which creative talent can develop itself artis stically, performatory and technically. We advance the practice of art, creative design and the development of novel insights, as well as develop a wide range of trainings with a diversity of options and specialisations. Our training programmes comprise professional, academic and advanced studies. LUCA gathers the academic programmes of Product design, Audiovisual and Fine Arts and Music & Drama, as well as the professional training programmes of Visual arts, TV Film, Photography, Interior design and Architecture. LUCA joins the renowned schools, Sint-Lucas Gent, Sint-Lukas Brussel, Narafi, Lemmensinstituut, and campus C-Mine of MAD Faculty.
LUCA School of Art opens up the following position within the Mediated Environments Research Group, campus Brussels:
Functieomschrijving
You will be part of a multidisciplinary team, investigating the potential of new approaches to urban citizen participation, such as by experimenting with new methodologies and design interventions, both non-technological and technological. You will be mainly responsible for the design and realisation of urban interventions, tools and methodologies, developed in close collaboration with other team members focussing more closely on the social and political impact of the interventions. Candidates will be asked to prepare a PhD proposal within the first year of their enrolment on topics relevant to the project.
TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
To develop new inquiry methodologies (in the spirit of urban probes or breaching experiments) in order to make actors, interactions and objects related to micro participatory actions visible;
To prototype and design interventions, artefacts (e.g. IoT, wearables), and toolkits for urban participation, both non-technological and technological;
To prototype interactive designs both on the material, electronics and/or software level, for instance by employing tools such as a laser cutter, 3D printer, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, OpenFrameworks, and other kits by SparkFun, AdaFruit and others;
To evaluate these interactive designs, both on their social and political impact and on a level of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), such as the clarity of the interfaces and other aspects of user adoption;
To participate to the elaboration of the project’s methodological, technical, and practical framework and to contribute to a critical feedback on the design thinking process, with attention to the specificities and possible rallying points between the various disciplines of the projects;
To facilitate co-creation workshops and to provide a proactive contribution to meetings with the various stakeholders (citizens, associations, institutional partners,…);
To contribute to the communication and redaction of the projects websites and to social media presence;
To contribute to the writing of conference and journal papers, as well as project reports.
Profiel
You have a Master degree either in interaction design, graphic design, product design, urban design, social design or engineering (software or hardware). Other degrees may also be accepted if the candidate can prove significant experience in the research topics and can demonstrate previous experience through publications and/or portfolio.
Previous experiences and/or strong interests in design research, interdisciplinary collaborations, participatory methods, urban civic media, cartography and critical view of design interventions.
The skills to realize design, both through low and high-fidelity prototyping. We are looking for either designer-maker or developer-maker profiles, with a track-record to integrate technological components in his/her work practice.
Experience with prototyping tools such as laser cutter and/or 3D printer.
Affinities with FLOSS and experience with either Arduino, Particle.io, Raspberry Pi or other microcontroller and/or IoT-capable software and hardware platforms.
Minimum a basic experience with electronics, such as the skills to integrating several break-out boards into a capable system.
Affinities with the other disciplines involved in the projects (social sciences, urban design, architecture or artistic practices) are a plus.
Languages: excellent oral, reading and writing fluency in (academic) English, for integrating the research team; oral, reading and writing fluency in French, for carrying out the fieldwork and meetings with the different stakeholders; basic knowledge of Dutch is a plus, but not a requirement.
Excellent team player and communication skills.
The ability to work independently.
Candidates will be asked to prepare a PhD proposal within the first year of their enrolment on topics relevant to the project. A positive evaluation of the Doctoral Committee will be required.
Aanbod
Full time temporary appointment in the function of Design Researcher for a period of 1 year (March 2018 – 2019). The appointment will be prolonged with at least 1 year on the condition of a positive evaluation of the delivered work combined with a positive evaluation of the PhD proposal. The research projects will last 2 to 4 years.
Salary scale 502 (Assistant)
Categorie
Artistiek
Type
Vast
Tewerkstelling
Voltijds
Regio
Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest