Creating Innovative People for Radical Change
HighWire is a Doctoral Training Centre at Lancaster University. We have a post-disciplinary approach to innovation through research which crosses computing, design and management.
We are currently recruiting exceptional students with backgrounds in computing, design and management to join HighWire in 2010.
- Perform research focused on problems, not disciplines
- Have a real impact on industry and society
- Work with world-leading commercial partners
- Undertake a 4 year MRes+PhD programme
- Receive a £16,490 p.a. enhanced stipend
- Study in a new purpose-built facility on the Lancaster University campus
- Understand and apply innovation to the digital economy
About HighWire
The centre is funded under the EPSRC Digital Economy programme and is supported by a range of companies including: AT&T, BBC, BT, Clifford Chance, CSMTC, HP Labs, Knowledge Partners, Microsoft, Mott MacDonald, O2 and Sony in addition to 20 micro-businesses and SMEs in the Northwest.
HighWire is a world class, cross-disciplinary and user-centric Doctoral Training Centre which places innovation at the heart of its curriculum and ethos.
We go beyond traditional multi-disciplinary approaches by seeking a creative fusion between three key disciplines, namely computer science, management and design.
The emphasis is on producing a new breed of innovative people who understand and are able to advance the state of the art in technical, design and business innovation: innovative people prepared to work in challenging roles in organisations and ready to drive radical change in the digital economy.
We closely align with the needs and goals of business and industry to ensure the relevance of our programme and to encourage technology exchange and early adoption of emerging technologies, processes and ideas.
This builds on the strengths of Lancaster University's InfoLab21 initiative, a recognised leader in technology exchange, to seek a more value-added and marketable pathway from the digital laboratory to the marketplace.
Recruitment Events
If you would like to be informed of when the next HighWire recruitment event will be held, please register your interest by filling in the form below and we will notify you by email when the next event is announced.
Prospective students will be invited to attend special recruitment events at Lancaster University. Candidates will have the opportunity to meet with key staff from HighWire, view our facilities and discuss potential directions for their PhD research. Specifically this event will include:
- Tour of current facilities and campus
- Presentation from Prof. Gordon Blair, Director of HighWire
- Presentations from representatives from computing, design and management specialists
- Opportunity for a one-to-one discussion with a senior academic about your proposed area of research
- Applicants who have filled in an application form will be invited to a selection interview as part of the day's activities
March 17th
HighWire held a very successful recruitment event on March 17th of this year.
For further details of the day and copies of the slides presented please follow the link to the right.
Programme Details
Indicative Research Areas
Clusters of topics will be developed with our extensive list of collaborating companies; an indication of the areas we will be looking at includes:
The Impact of Emergent and Disruptive Communication Technologies on Rural Communities
Exploring the impact of emergent and disruptive communication technologies and services on rural communities and the possible fusion of business and governmental opportunities arising from this contribution, especially for small and medium sized enterprises.
Structuring of Organisations and Technology
Looking at how organisational practices and capabilities are affected by the need for the development and marketing of digital innovations in the case of digital system producers, and the need for modifying digital artifacts and organisational practices to exploit capabilities offered in digital innovations in the case of organisational end-users.
Digital Products and Sustainability
This would explore ideas that enable an interdisciplinary approach to the challenge of design for sustainability. Grounded in technical feasibility and new production possibilities and informed by the need for transitions in business organisation, supply chains, etc. this will develop constructive and sustainable relationships between global and local/regional production.
Democratisation and Open Innovation
This theme would study the emerging phenomenon of the democratization of innovation and its technical, business and design implications as a key strategic contribution to the digital economy. Areas of activity would include, citizen journalism, open source, co-creation, open innovation, post-participatory design and mass creativity.
Where is HighWire?
Located at Lancaster University, we bring together world-class research expertise in computing, design and management. We have expertise in crossing and fusing together multiple disciplines. From 2010 onwards HighWire students will be based in a new £10m centre for students, faculty and industrial partners to work intensely for sustained periods of time on new digital ideas, products, business models and initiatives.
What does HighWire Offer?
HighWire offers a training programme, spanning four years and consists of an initial year of both formal and practical training, culminating in the award of a Masters of Research (MRes), followed by a three-year period of study leading to a PhD (i.e. successful students completing the programme will achieve two degrees).
The training will emphasise digital innovation through technologies, products, and processes and through close involvement with organisational end-users, producing career-related transferable skills that will make students valuable in a wide range of organisations.
The emphasis throughout the programme is on the overlap between the three disciplines. We seek to produce individuals who will inevitably remain grounded in a particular discipline, but who will also have an acute awareness and appreciation of the other disciplines.
Examples include the technologist with an awareness of the challenges of design (manufacturability, human-factors, aesthetics etc.) coupled with an appreciation of the business considerations of developing and marketing digital innovations into services and products, for organisational end-users and their customers.
To do so, we seek to create a creative space and a living laboratory where the PhD students can work together with other students, faculty and organisations, in clusters to develop and test emergent insights about innovation in the digital economy.
Research Excellence
Our performance in successive research assessment exercises has placed Lancaster in the top 10 universities in the UK and this is reflected in an increasing portfolio of regional, national and international research partnerships that advance core disciplinary knowledge and address key societal issues.
Specifically, in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise HighWire partners were ranked nationally:
- Computing: top 10=
- Art and Design: top 5
- Management: top 5
HighWire is part of a collabrative network including AT&T Research, Stanford D-School and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Applications
The process
- Informal discussion with the Director of HighWire
- Optional attendance at a HighWire recruitment event
- Complete HighWire application form
- Selection interview
- Enrolment end of September 2010
We are looking for excellent graduates coming from any of the partnering disciplines – computing, design and management.
Successful applicants will work in cross-disciplinary teams to address the challenges and opportunities arising from the digital economy with organisational partners.
We are offering bursaries to cover home/EU fees and an enhanced stipend of £16,490.
Contact
Enquiries – Prof. Gordon Blair, HighWire Director
Email:
Telephone: +44 (0) 1524 510515
Prof. Gordon Blair
InfoLab21
Lancaster University
Lancaster, UK
LA1 4WA
Discipline-specific Advice
Computing: Prof. Gordon Blair –
Design: Dr Leon Cruickshank –
Management: Dr Mike Chiasson –