Unfortunately I was unable to attend in real time the last of our NORTH Lab panels on covid-19 and HCI research (see summaries of panel 1, panel 2, panel 3 and panel 4), but thanks to technology I can still report back on what was discussed and make it look Read more…
Adding to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our NORTH Lab online panel series, I’ve once again summarised the discussions and presentations below. It’s interesting to see how discussions evolve week on week, and this time they seemed to be somewhat more practical, thinking about how as researchers we can collect data in this Read more…
Following on from Part 1 and Part 2 of our NORTH Lab online panel series, below are my notes on yesterday’s discussions, which have been probably the most thought-provoking of all for me. I personally very much resonated with the common thread throughout the speakers: Is doing work in this Read more…
We held our second NORTH Lab panel on HCI research for covid-19 this week. Following on from last week (you can read a summary of the first panel here) It was nice to be joined by another 60-ish people, this time mainly across the UK and Europe. And while last Read more…
As part Northumbria’s university-wide strategy to move all meetings online, we have also moved our fortnightly NORTH Lab seminar to be remote. NORTH Lab is an interdisciplinary research collecting within Northumbria that brings together people from Computer and Information Sciences, Design and Psychology, among others. This week, rather than holding Read more…
UPDATE: This call is now closed.
I am looking for a PhD student to work with me on designing interventions for work-life balance in the gig economy. This is a fully funded PhD studentship.
If you are interested or know someone who would be, please read below and share. (more…)
I submitted my thesis at the end of February, a week after starting my new job as a Lecturer at Northumbria University. I then defended my PhD exactly a month ago and passed with no corrections. Before I completely forget how that last month or so of writing my thesis felt, I wanted to share some thoughts and tips that hopefully can come in handy to others in a similar position.
Back in January 2017, during a moment of utter panic, I sat down and made a timeline of what needed to be done in my last year. You can find that timeline below, but be aware: 90% of it didn’t go as I had planned. Compared to my original plan, I submitted 5 weeks late(r). By the time of submission, I technically still had seven months before a very hard university deadline (which was September 2018), but I wanted to have handed in a month before I started my new job to have some well deserved holiday and sleep. However, life is messy and doesn’t always go according to plan! (more…)
Earlier this year I decided I wanted to organise a student-led group to discuss qualitative research in my department that could provide peer support. After some deliberation about how to best lead it, in March I started the QUDDLE group, QUalitative Data Discussions Led by Experience (pronounced “cuddle”). Yes, I know, it’s a cheesy name – but sometimes when you do research and you are drowning in data (which seems to be always the case in qual research) you want a supportive virtual hug.
If technology is not making us happy, why are we using it?
And if it is making us happy, why do we run away from it as soon as we can?
On Monday I went to the debate “This house believes that Artificial Intelligence/Robotics will make us happy“, organised by CSAR (Cambridge Society for the Application of Research). While it was the first time I went to one of these events so I wasn’t sure what to expect, I certainly didn’t expect the panel to only include one woman, with an audience of similar (but slightly more balanced) gender ratio, and an average age of maybe 60. I was stunned that there were only a handful of people my age, given that we are the generation that can have maybe the strongest impact on what direction AI can take. (more…)
Several weeks ago I attended a great workshop on mentorship, led by Natacha Wilson. I was so impressed with the delivery and the quality of content, that when I heard she’d be coming to UCL to run a workshop on becoming a research leader, I didn’t want to miss it. I maybe attend one too many of these workshops/seminars, but I generally find them very reassuring and useful. In a world of competition and politics, it seems that being strategic is key, and I’ll take any form of advice I can get. These events are also a great opportunity for self-reflection, which we far too often don’t find time for, but can help identify areas of improvement before it’s too late. (more…)