Job Description

Job Details
Section
Art & Media Technology
Location:
Winchester School of Art
Salary
36,130 to 40,497 per annum, pro rata
Part Time Fixed Term (21 hours a week until 31/12/2026)
Closing Date:
Friday 06 June 2025
Interview Date
To be confirmed
Reference
3099125FH

We are recruiting an Artist in Residence to undertake artistic research with a focus on Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology, in the context of the recently awarded UKRI grant 'SOUNDSCALE: Sensing On Urban Noise: Distributed Sensing for Collaborative and Sustainable Cityscapes and Living Environments', http://soundscale.ac.uk.

The role

The postholder will be based in the Department of Art & Media Technology in Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton and within the Critical Infrastructures and Image Politics research group, https://criticalinfrastructures.net/.


The postholder is expected to conduct independent artistic research and to collaborate with members of the research team by participating in team meetings and contributing to methodology, research process and outcomes. The SOUNDSCALE project aims to study the emergence of DAS technology from an interdisciplinary perspective, including contributions from the arts, humanities, social and physical sciences.


We invite applications from a wide variety of practices and want particularly to welcome applicants with experience of community work and community engagement, interdisciplinary research and critical approaches to technology and infrastructure. This role is especially relevant to applicants working with technology from a variety of standpoints, including civic and community-oriented technology, feminist and decolonial approaches, sound art, algorithmic governance, media and cultural studies, digital media, environmental approaches, and others. The communities and physical research sites of the project are located in Southampton and London.

You will be an artist with a portfolio of research projects. A PhD is not required for this role. Apply by uploading your portfolio and CV outlining your professional experience.

The postholder will actively participate in the research process according to their expertise and will offer a distinct contribution to the project, with the potential to integrate their existing methodologies into the methodology of the project. The postholder will closely work with Project Co-I Dr Alexandra Anikina, and with other members of the research team, including PI Dr Rafael Mestre, Co-I Prof Matt Ryan, Co-I Prof Dianna Smith, Co-I Prof Mohammad Belal and others, as well as our community partners.


The postholder will contribute to outcomes and impacts, including engagement activities and knowledge exchange resources, potentially including policy guidelines, toolkits, co-authoring papers, etc. The project comes with funding for production of artworks, as well as travel budget for conference attendance and mentoring support.


We encourage interested candidates to contact Co-I Dr Alexandra Anikina (a.anikina@soton.ac.uk) and PI Dr Rafael Mestre (r.mestre@soton.ac.uk) with informal enquiries.

Applications will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon completion of PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.*

The environment

You will join a supportive, highly interdisciplinary environment in a working group of colleagues from different disciplines. You will have research freedom to design your own path to achieve the project's goals.


The Department of Art & Media Technology works across art, game design, cultural leadership, digital media, creative technologies, and curating. The department supports a politically alert and contextually astute, interdisciplinary research environment, in which practice-based, scholarly, and editorial processes are at play.


Thinking of applying but concerned you might not meet all the requirements? Studies show that certain groups are less likely to apply to a role if they don't meet 100% of the requirements. If you feel this is the right project for you, we encourage you to apply, and particularly welcome women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBTQI+ and disabled applicants.



We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applicants who support our mission of inclusivity.


This role does not qualify for Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship. To explore alternative UK visa options, see gov.uk.


Apply by 11.59 pm GMT on the closing date. For assistance contact Recruitment on +44(0)2380 592750 or recruitment@soton.ac.uk quoting the job number.