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Please see below for our areas of research focus in this Division.
Or, if you are looking for something specific, visit the full list of university research opportunities in our course list.
Our research profile is interdisciplinary, encompassing digital art and performance, game design and game studies, and sound and music production.
Research in the Faculty is highly integrated, involving collaboration between staff from across all our Departments and the University more broadly. This supports Abertay’s research within the Creative Industries & Cultural Vitality, Health and Care Across the Lifespan and Sustainable Development & Inclusive Living Challenge Spaces.
Our research leads to the creation and evaluation of new and experimental forms of play, from curated digital performances to applied games.
In applied games, we use a range of research methodologies – from serious game jams to full development projects – to explore the role and value of games in education, in training, and in science communication.
While our researchers are well-placed to lead and manage research projects involving the development of games and interactive media products, many are also creative practitioners engaged in practice-based research ranging from experimental game design to digital art.
We have received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) the European Commission, the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) and a range of other funding bodies, charities, public sector and private sector organisations for research and knowledge exchange projects
The Faculty hosts: (i) InGAME (Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise) the UK Creative Cluster for Computer Games, which provides a R&D environment for new and experimental creative content, products, services and experiences; (ii) the Emergent Technology Centre which will house a 5G network core (part of a £4M 5G R&D Testbed partnership with Dundee City Council and Scottish Futures Trust) - the first Scottish innovation hub to support R&D on enabling technologies for applications where mobile plays a key role (e.g., service delivery, Internet of Things); and (iii) cyberQuarter (£18.2M Tay Cities Deal) which brings together academia and industry to: create new products, markets and services; catalyse the growth of a Cybersecurity cluster that will retain and attract talent and investment; and make businesses and citizens more cyber-resilient.
Performance and Play explores communities of play and experimental practice-research utilising digital and traditional media, the incorporation of game development, screen technologies and extended reality (XR) applications into site-specific performance and art, and studies of performance audiences. Working closely with industrial partners (e.g., Microsoft, Sony) to explore the potentials of emerging technologies for immersive storytelling and new forms of creativity and play. Current international collaborations integrate storytelling and game development, with a focus on energy use, climate change and conflict. This includes a strong focus on immersive technologies, with research focused on novel applications of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Recent work includes developing an app for street level play outside the V&A Dundee during the Covid-19 lock down.
A prime example of leading practice-based research in exploring the intersection between play and performance is the Inchcolm Project, a proof of concept hybrid of game design, theatre design and promenade performance.
Our arts research involves the creation of original works as a commentary on contemporary society, in support of communities, and in exhibition and festivals. This includes art practice that challenges norms and provides artistic commentary on geopolitics, digital graphic design that explores differences in visual perception and experience including the perceptions of partially sighted communities, and engagement with and leadership of digital arts festivals.
More broadly, our research staff are actively engaged with the design, development, and showcasing of experimental game design. Our practice-based game design research includes experimentation with novel and original controller designs, explorations of play and play styles, and playable critiques of games and technology.
Applied Games draws on its academic and industrial expertise to engage a range of research methodologies – from play as interrogation and ideation in serious game jams to data driven design in full development projects – to explore the role and value of games in education, in training, and in science communication. Researchers seek to develop new game design frameworks following practice-based approaches, for instance by applying media archaeology to game design. Applied Games brings together expertise in computing, mathematics, design, and psychology to develop and evaluate both hardware and software. For example, recent work in agri-tech has brought Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) together with animal husbandry to increase efficiency and animal health.
Our games and History research activity relates to how games, interactive media, and immersive experience design engages audiences with history, with collective memory, and with the aesthetics of nostalgia. Abertay has a strong track record of applied games research ans examples include:
Working with our colleagues in the Department of Games Technology and Mathematics, we are also conducting practice-led research into the design of games to support families adversely affected by cancer diagnosis.
Games studies research underpins both Performance & Play and Applied Games areas in which we undertake theoretical and empirical research into the design, production, and reception of games, to encompass game production studies, interactive narrative, immersive storytelling, and critical analysis of games culture.
Specifically, our focus includes:
Our arts research involves the creation of original works as a commentary on contemporary society, in support of communities, and in exhibition and festivals.
This includes art practice that challenges norms and provides artistic commentary on geopolitics, digital graphic design that explores differences in visual perception and experience including the perceptions of partially sighted communities, and engagement with and leadership of digital arts festivals.
For Job Openings, including Research Fellowships, view the job search section on our website.
For PhD Studentships in any of our Subject areas, check out the Funded research projects and Postgraduate Research Funding sections.