Applications are now open for the OII Summer Doctoral Programme 2009, to be hosted this year by CCI and the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia.
The programme aims to stretch the thinking of all students on a range of issues, to provide valuable advice and support for students' thesis research, and to establish a peer network of excellent young researchers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the thematic focus this year will be on 'Creativity, Innovation and the Internet': our partners on the SDP since 2003, CCI and the Creative Industries Faculty are at the forefront of pioneering international research initiatives in creative industries policy, applied creative industries research, digital media design, and the creative and performing arts.
As in previous years, the programme will involve daily research seminars and panel sessions given by leading academics, with students having the opportunity to present their research to their peers in informal seminars. Break-out sessions will allow groups to focus more narrowly on research questions of mutual interest, and time is made available for individual research and informal contact with tutors and fellow students.
Student feedback on the Summer Doctoral has always been overwhelmingly positive, and the SDP 2009 promises to be yet another excellent year in this series.
The SDP2009 Application Form is available on the website.
The application process will close at 17:00 GMT on Monday 16 February 2009. Successful applicants will be notified by 1 April 2009.
All applications must be supported by one or more of the students' current doctoral supervisors (references will be requested). All teaching will be in English, so all applicants should be able to demonstrate their competence in this language.
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2. Candidates: What are we looking for?
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Up to 30 places are available and will be awarded on a competitive basis. Preference will be given to students at an advanced stage of their doctorate who have embarked on writing their thesis.
Like the course tutors, our SDP students come from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds: computer science, sociology, law, etc.
Whatever the background, the programme aims to facilitate deep discussion of both substantive and methodological research issues, and to help students frame their research questions and direct their research.
As in other years, the SDP2009 will seek to generate dialogue and debate between students from different disciplinary backgrounds on issues relating to the broad theme of creativity and innovation with a view to improving each student's doctoral thesis and identifying topics for future collaborative research. With these aims in mind, we are particularly keen to attract the most promising students who are prepared to engage with different disciplines, backgrounds and viewpoints.
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3. Background: the OII Summer Doctoral Programme
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Launched in 2003, the OII SDP is now an important fixture of the OII's year, a time when we bring together a diverse group of students and tutors for two weeks of intense work and discussion. We consciously encourage the international character of the SDP in order to encourage peer networks that are as diverse as possible, and to benefit students who may not have significant academic peer-groups in their own universities. The programme is held away from Oxford every other year with this being the third stint abroad (in 2005 it took place in Beijing, and in 2007 SDP was hosted by the Berkman Center, Harvard University).
Quick Stats:
160 students
38 nationalities
80 tutors
320 hours of seminars .. since the first SDP2003. And counting.
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4. Fees / Scholarships / Partners
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The cost of the course will be AUD $3300.00, covering accommodation from 5-17 July 2009 (inclusive) and all course tuition fees. Travel to and from Brisbane is not included in this fee.
We are currently looking for additional funding to provide support for student scholarships. Students do not need to make a request for a scholarship at the application stage as this will be dealt with once the selection process has been completed.
We are grateful for the generosity of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) and all our academic partners in supporting this programme: the Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation (iCi) (2009 co-organiser), the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI), the Berkman Center for Internet and Society (Harvard University) and the Annenberg School of Communication (USC).
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Full details are available from the Oxford Internet Institute SDP program papge:
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/teaching/sdp/
Contacts:
Laura Taylor
Graduate Studies Administrator
mailto:sdp@oii.ox.ac.uk