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Post-Doctoral Fellow in Augmented Reality Educational Games

Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Human-Computer Interaction in the “Environments of Change" Project at the EQUIS Lab, School of Computing, Queen’s University, Canada. Highlights of the position include:

  • Performing research in augmented reality gaming
  • Working in a multidisciplinary project involving computer scientists, historians, geologists, and primary school educators
  • Designing for and with children.

Medieval history is not just a list of kings and battles. The Environments of Change project seeks to understand and teach about the lives of ordinary people living in medieval southern England, focusing on the effects of climate and climate change on the lives of farmers, blacksmiths and children living in a medieval village. Our augmented reality game allows players to explore and interact with the village of Northeye during the 12th century to understand the daily lives and struggles of the people who lived there. Our ultimate goal is to deploy the game in partner elementary schools in Ontario, Canada. Through this game, we are researching how augmented reality fosters collaborative learning in a classroom.

The post-doctoral fellow will be expected to conduct studies both in the lab and the classroom in the area of AR for educational games, to publish the results of these studies, and to mentor graduate students working on the project. Candidates must have a PhD or equivalent in Computer Science or related discipline with specialization in Human-Computer Interaction. Direct experience in AR games is an asset, but is not required.

The candidate will join an inclusive and diverse interdisciplinary team as part of the EQUIS Lab. The lab specializes in research into the next generation of digital games, and is best known for its work in exergames for children with cerebral palsy, and tabletop simulation games. We work in a newly opened studio research lab with an open-plan space for collaboration and creative design, closed offices for quiet work, and individual cubicles for privacy.

Queen’s University is located in the historic city of Kingston, Ontario, with a bustling downtown, beautiful parks, hiking and cycling trails, and freshwater sailing. Kingston is located in the UNESCO Frontenac Arch Biosphere, featuring beautiful scenery while being close to the major centres of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Queen’s is ranked first in Canada and fifth in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings of global universities advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals within and beyond their local communities. The School of Computing is one of Canada’s leading research departments in computer science. HCI at Queen’s includes the EQUIS Lab, the iStudio Lab and research groups in Ingenuity Labs.

Queen’s encourages applications from underrepresented groups including women, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities. All applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

For any informal inquiries, please feel free to reach out to Professor Nicholas Graham.

Applying

Application deadline: Until position filled
Preferred starting date: January 2022
Position duration: up to 2 years

Applications can be sent electronically and should include a CV, one paragraph cover letter (with earliest possible starting date, detailing interests and passion), portfolio, two selected publications, and contact information for two academic references. Please submit your application via email to equislab@cs.queensu.ca with subject line “Environments of Change Postdoc”.