This PhD Project is part of the EU-funded Horizon programme MEMORISE: Virtualisation and Multimodal Exploration of Heritage on Nazi Persecution. The aim of MEMORISE is to create a comprehensive infrastructure to preserve and enhance heritage on Nazi persecution, supporting easy access to, exploration of, and engagement with this heritage. The PhD project will look specifically at on-site and virtual visits of heritage sites. Its aim is to develop an educational concept to evaluate the benefits and limitations of existing user interfaces for learning about and engaging with heritage on Nazi persecution. The outcome will also be relevant for other types of memorial sites and creative industries.
This PhD project analyses existing approaches that utilise automated computation and virtual and augmented reality techniques to engage with history in general and Holocaust memory in particular. The project develops and tests an educational concept based on reviewing existing educational approaches in Holocaust education and media literacy fields and evaluates best-practice approaches, learning principles and heuristics. This offers new approaches to learning about complex heritage through digital technologies. The project will test the concept with pilots at memorial sites and will evaluate the usability of the virtual environments, the search infrastructure and the educational concepts.
This PhD project is a collaboration between the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science of Radboud University. Prof. Paul Verschure (Faculty of Science) is the principal investigator of the MEMORISE project and first supervisor for this PhD track. Dr Edwin van Meerkerk (Faculty of Arts) will act as daily supervisor of the PhD candidate. The PhD candidate will therefore be principally embedded in the Faculty of Arts.
As a PhD candidate, your primary goal will be the completion of a PhD thesis within the contract period. In addition, there will be other tasks and duties to fulfil, such as participating in meetings of the project research group(s), presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences, and participating in staff meetings of the Radboud Cultural Studies programme and the intellectual life of the department of Modern Languages and Cultures at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History (RICH). Finally, as a PhD candidate, you will write a PhD thesis, participate in the Graduate School for the Humanities – which includes taking courses for approx. six months – and provide six months of academic service to the Faculty of Arts at Radboud University.
Fixed-term contract: You will be employed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4 year contract) or 3.5 years (5 year contract).
Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University’s primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.
The Faculty of Arts is committed to knowledge production with a significant scientific and social impact. With over 500 academic and support staff, we teach and conduct research in the fields of history and art, languages and cultures, and linguistics and communication, using innovative methodologies and working in close collaboration between the disciplines. Our research is embedded in two research institutes: the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) and the Radboud Institute for Culture & History (RICH). We currently have approximatively 2,500 students, enrolled in three departments: the Department of History, Art History and Classics, the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, and the Department of Language and Communication. We aim to contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive world, which is why we especially seek applications from candidates who bring diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and skills that will be assets to our study programmes and research profiles.
Radboud University
We want to get the best out of science, others and ourselves. Why? Because this is what the world around us desperately needs. Leading research and education make an indispensable contribution to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. This is what unites the more than 24,000 students and 5,600 employees at Radboud University. And this requires even more talent, collaboration and lifelong learning. You have a part to play!