My Options

This page describes the options I’m considering – the universities, their departments, their locations, and the topic(s) on which I might do research there. Plus what I see as the advantages and disadvantages of each institution. I’ll fill it in as I get time and information.

The options I’m considering appear in alphabetical order by name.

City University

• Location: Central London
• Possible topics: I think this is the one they said would be good for research-practice interaction. Must check.
• Department/Centre: Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design
• Advantages: Nice, central London. :)
• Disadvantages: TBD

Northumbria University

• Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• Possible topics: TBD
• Department: Design, Design Research
• Advantages:
  • Topic match
  • Faculty (I know Gilbert Cockton fairly well and Mark Blythe slightly, and I’m confident I would enjoy working with them)
• Disadvantages:
  • Distance from London & friends
  • Lower amount of consulting work available
  • Harder to get to Italy and the USA (although I’m told it’s only an hour from Edinburgh, which has better connections)
• Comment: Gilbert thinks that one of my topics would be a great match. (More on that later.)
• Comment: They also have a School of Design in London — not sure yet whether or not it offers interaction design

University College, London (UCL)

• Location: Central London
• Possible topics: TBD
• Department/Centre: Psychology and Language Sciences, in the UCL Interaction Centre
• Advantages:
  • Central London
  • UCL is one of the top five universities in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings
• Disadvantages: TBD

University of Kent

• Location: Canterbury
• Possible topics: TBD
• Department/Centre: Cognitive Psychology or perhaps Social Psychology
• Advantages: TBD
• Disadvantages: A little farther from the south and west of London than I’d like to be

University of Surrey

• Location: Guildford
• Possible topics: TBD
• Department/Centre: Digital World Research Centre
• Advantages: Charming town, close to SW London
• Disadvantages: TBD

University of West London (Formerly Thames Valley University)

• Location: Several campuses in the west of the London area, I think
• Possible topics: TBD
• Department/Centre: Internationalisation and Usability
• Advantages: Near friends
• Disadvantages: TBD

I must thank Dianne Murray (City University and the journal “Interacting with Computers”) and Gilbert Cockton (Northumbria University) for helping me identify possible matches between my interests and the various universities, and especially Dianne for helping put me in touch with the appropriate people. I must also acknowledge Gilbert for making a strong case for Northumbria: When I told him what I most wanted to study, he exclaimed, “Oh, you have to come to us!” I might just do that.