Postdoctoral Researcher
Project: A Collaboration Ecosystem enabling EU Creative SMEs to exchange
multi-media content and create multi-plot, interactive Apps for Children,
curated according to Reader ability and educational value (Q-Tales)
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ref. No. NUIG 116-14
The National University of Ireland, Galway is seeking to fill a half-time, fixed term (18 month)
Postdoctoral Researcher position for the project: A Collaboration Ecosystem enabling EU
Creative SMEs to exchange multi-media content and create multi-plot, interactive Apps for
Children, curated according to Reader ability and educational value (Q-Tales). The position
is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. The
post is available from February 01, 2015 until the end date of July 2016.
The AHSSRB occupies a position at the centre of the NUIG campus, beside the James
Hardiman Library. It houses Humanities and Social Sciences research postgraduates,
Visiting Fellows, Postdoctoral Fellows, staff from the Moore Institute and the Whitaker
Institute, and other funded research entities. It also incorporates the Humanities and Social
Sciences Digital Analytics Hub as a high performance computing facility shared by
Humanities and Social Sciences for digital resource creation and training. This Hub is a
unique facility that serves both as a repository of diverse quantitative and qualitative social
science databases, and as a computing resource that can be used by researchers across
the University. The Hub is a one-stop facility for access to diverse data, visualization and
computational resources for research clusters across various social science research
institutes. The architecture of the Hub is set up to provide remote access to University users,
both within and off campus.
In addition to its emphasis on transdisciplinary research between the Humanities and Social
Sciences, the AHSSRB has a mission to develop strong links to regional and national
creative arts communities and cultural institutions. It is home to the Library’s important body
of archives, providing enhanced access to these and to its Special Collections. The Library is
currently engaged in digitization of a number of its archives and in a long-term partnership
with the Abbey Theatre involving digitization of its complete archive. Among other recent
developments in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences is the creation of the Measurement
Instrument Database for the Social Sciences (MIDSS).
A Collaboration Ecosystem enabling EU Creative SMEs to exchange multi-media
content and create multi-plot, interactive Apps for Children, curated according to
Reader ability and educational value (Q-Tales)
Q-Tales is a Collaboration Ecosystem, specifically designed to serve the needs of the
European Children e-book industry, where European Creative SMEs, Experts and Parents,
co-create new or transform existing Children’s Literature into high quality e-books & Apps
using innovative ICT solutions provided by European ICT SMEs along with a Curation
Framework provided by European Academic experts in the field of Pedagogy, ICT,
Education, and the Learning Sciences. A key aim of the project is to produce a design-based
research framework which can be adapted and adopted to support the design, development
and evaluation of the Q-Tales narrative technologies for children.
Job Description
The postdoctoral researcher will be highly skilled and experienced in design-based research
(DBR) methods and will contribute specifically to the development of the ontological
innovation and design-based research framework for the Q-Tales Project.
The work includes the following duties:
a) Analysis and evaluation of Q-Tales digital narrative content
b) Development of the Q-Tales design-based research framework
c) Report writing, including reviews of the extant, relevant literature on interactive,
narrative technology, particularly as it relates to children’s development and
education
d) Preparation of research papers and deliverable reports for peer-review
e) Associated administrative and organisational duties
f) Interdisciplinary work with partners within the Q-Tales consortium, both commercial
and academic
Qualifications
Suitable candidates must meet the following criteria:
 PhD in Educational Technology, Learning Sciences, Design-Based Research or
cognate area
 Qualification in educational psychology or cognate area
 Significant experience in the design, deployment and evaluation of design-based
research methodology
 Very good qualitative research skills, with a particular understanding of the interface
of mixed methods design and interaction design for educational technology
 Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
 Excellent writing skills and evidence of capacity for research publication
 Ability to work to deadlines, especially in the collaborative production of research
reports and deliverables
 Highly motivated, with excellent organisational skills
 A proven interest in the design of technology for storytelling in education
It is also desirable that suitable candidates would have experience in some or all of the
following areas
 Publication for peer-review
 Excellent writing and presentation skills
 Experience of and ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary team
 Appreciation and knowledge of children’s literature
 Experience of teaching educational technologies - their design, use and evaluation
The holder of the post will work under the direct supervision of Dr. Michael Hogan, Dr. Tony
Hall, and Dr. John Breslin, Co-PIs Q-Tales Project (NUIG).
Salary: €40,000 per annum – pro-rata for this part time post
Start date: 01st February 2015
Further information on research and working at NUI Galway is available on Research at NUI
Galway
For information on moving to Ireland please see www.euraxess.ie
Further informal enquiries concerning this position may be made by contacting Dr. Michael
Hogan, michael.hogan@nuigalway.ie, or Dr. Tony Hall, tony.hall@nuigalway.ie.
To Apply:
Applications to include a covering letter, CV, and the contact details of three referees should
be sent, via e-mail (in word or PDF only) to Dr. Michael Hogan,
michael.hogan@nuigalway.ie
Please put reference number NUIG 116-14 in subject line of e-mail application.
Closing date for receipt of applications is 5.00pm, 19th December 2014
National University of Ireland, Galway is an equal opportunities employer.