research grant in design (student attending a master’s degree)
PUBLIC NOTICE
Call for allocation of a Scientist Scholarship
Reference: BI/FhP-22/10
The call for allocation of a Research Grant for a Student attending a Master’s degree is open and subject to the following conditions:
1. General scientific field: Design.
2. Specific scientific field: Product design, Communication design.
3. Admission Requirements: i) Student attending an academic Master’s degree in the field of Design; ii) Experience in qualitative user research and fieldwork; iii) Basic knowledge of inclusive design; iv) Interest in workplace design; v) Proficiency in English and excellent communication skills and teamwork.
4. Project and Workplan: Although manufacturing and assembly work on industrial shop floors tends to be thought of as repetitive and cognitively non-demanding, there is evidence to suggest the contrary. One form of such evidence is spontaneous design created by shop floor workers to improve ergonomic conditions of the workstation, to improve their performance or to improve product quality. As studied in other fields, such as in Innovation or Socio-technical Studies, users create ingenious solutions which can inform better and, event, more inclusive design. We propose to search for these examples, document them and experiment how they could inform inclusive human-tool interaction. Using Research through Design, the grant holder will conduct fieldwork in factory environments, perform qualitative data analysis to identify principles, prepare communication materials for designers and test these materials on new human-tool interaction designs. Objectives: The practical work of Research through Design will follow a structure similar to that used in past inclusive design workshops, where authors have given design students guidelines for design based on ethnography-informed user research. As a result of the process, the project is also expected to produce an array of prototypes demonstrating the applicability of the principles. Grant student workplan: The student will work in the Craft project (FCT: 2022.01777.PTDC) – a research project studying Spontaneous Design in shopfloors as sources for Inclusive Design. Within this project, the student will support the research team’s activities in user research and Research through Design experiments, to understand how to best communicate to design practitioners the topic of spontaneous design as a source of information, inquiry, and inspiration for new methods towards worker inclusion.
4.1. Tasks:
– State of the art;
– Preparatory work: ethics submission package, research data management and logistics;
– Inventory and classification of spontaneous designs;
– Research through Design experiments;
– Dissertation and publication writing.
5. Applicable law and regulation: Portuguese Statute of the Scientific Research Scholarship Holder [“Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação Científica”], approved by Law no. 40/2004, of August 18, amended by Decree Law no. 202/2012, of August 27, Law no. 12/2013, of January 29, Decree Law no. 89/2013, of July 9 (hereinafter referred to as the “Statute”), Law no. 123/2019, of August 28 and the Research Scholarships’ Regulation of Associação Fraunhofer Portugal Research (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulation”).
6. Place of work: Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS, Porto, Portugal, under the scientific supervision of PhD Ana Correia de Barros.
7. Scholarship’s Duration and Regime: The scholarship shall have the duration of 12 months, eventually renewable for equal periods of time or until the term of the project, with estimated starting date on February, 2023, according to article 13 of the Regulation and article 3 of the Statute, under exclusivity regime, except for the exceptions expressly set out in nos. 3 and 4 of article 5 of the referred Statute.
(https://www.aicos.fraunhofer.pt/content/dam/portugal/fhp/careers/grants/Regulamento_Bolsas_Fraunhofer_Portugal_Research_2021.pdf)
8. Amount of the monthly maintenance allowance: The amount of the scholarship corresponds to €875,98 as per table of amounts of the scholarships of Associação Fraunhofer Portugal Research, (https://www.fraunhofer.pt/content/dam/portugal/fhp/careers/grants/Reg_Bolsas_FhP_Anexo_II__Jan2022.pdf). The payment of the scholarship shall be made on a monthly basis, by wire transfer.
9. Selection Procedures: The selection procedures to be used shall be made based on the following parameters:
A – Experience; B – Curriculum evaluation in accordance with the objectives of the project. The following percentage weighting shall be given to the selection parameters: 0,4 x A + 0,6 x B.
10. Composition of the selection panel: Chairman: Doctor Ana Maria Vieira Rebelo Correia de Barros; Permanent Members: Doctor Francisco Maria Cruz Nunes and Doctor Ricardo Manuel Coelho de Melo.
11. Publication/notification of the results: The final evaluation results shall be published in a list ordered by final score, posted in a visible and public place at Fraunhofer Portugal. The approved applicant shall be notified by e-mail.
12. Opening period of the call: The call is open from 18-11-2022 to 30-12-2022.
13. Documents and deadlines for application (mandatory): Applications must be submitted by means of an application email with the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, required qualifications’ certificate and other evidencing documents deemed relevant.
Empresa: Fraunhofer Portugal – AICOS
Local: Porto, Portugal
Tipo: Full-time;
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