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JOB DESCRIPTION

The work will be focused on conducting postdoctoral research within the GAMEHEARTS (“Games, Heritage, Arts, & Sport: the economic, social, and cultural value of the European videogame ecosystem”) project.  The candidate will work on this project. The position is situated in the unit of Computing Sciences  at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences. The tasks will mainly consist of research activities, including research planning, workshop organizing, data gathering, data analysis, article preparation, dissemination, and publishing. Moreover, the candidates are expected to participate in project-wide research efforts and further funding acquisitions. A possible teaching load might be negotiated.

REQUIREMENTS

The ideal candidate for this position should have a background in social sciences or humanities alongside a strong interest in emerging and future technologies and digital experiences, futures research, and speculative and/or design research. Moreover, the candidate should strive for proficiency and scientific rigor in interdisciplinary and multi-method contexts.

Additionally, due to the aims and approaches of the project, researchers accepted into the position would be expected to proactively and independently build networks among industry, society, policy, education, and other stakeholders, engage with them in all stages of research, as well as actively engage with media outlets.

Selected candidates will be supervised by Professor Juho Hamari and the project’s senior researcher, Ana Carolina Tomé Klock.

• Minimum qualifications:
  • A suitable doctoral degree
  • Ability to conduct independent, scientific research
• Applicants are required to possess some of the following expertise and abilities:
  • Designing and conducting interviews and workshops with a variety of stakeholders; qualitative data analysis (e.g., reflexive thematic analysis)
  • Designing and conducting online experiments or surveys; quantitative data analysis (e.g., null hypothesis testing, exploratory data analysis)
• Advantageous qualities:
  • Holding strong values in building sustainable and societally beneficial technological futures
  • Drive for impeccable academic article writing/preparation productivity
  • Drive for undertaking pedagogical studies and developing teaching skills
  • Drive for rigorous and impactful research
  • Drive for a career in research

THE POSITION

• Duration: The position will be filled for a fixed-term period until the end of 2026.
• Start date: Immediately or as soon as possible.
• Salary: Salary will be based on both the job requirements and the employee’s personal performance in accordance with the Finnish University Salary System. According to the criteria applied to teaching and research staff, the position of a Postdoctoral Researcher is placed on level 5-6 of the job requirements scale. In addition, employees will receive a performance-based salary component.

PROJECT 

“GAMEHEARTS - Games, Heritage, Arts, & Sport: the economic, social, and cultural value of the European videogame ecosystem” is funded by the Horizon Europe Programme and is led by Professor of Gamification Juho Hamari.

Social life has been radically transformed, most notably by a rise in new digital technologies and a shift towards more fluid, ludic and playful social practices. We live in a society marked by playful digital cultures and neoliberal political rationalities, where playful digital lives and fluid identities become not only desirable, but essential to survival. Recent research identified that entertainment media, including gameful approaches, can lead to experiences beyond mere fun and enjoyment, towards more profound experiences, such as encouraging people to reflection on oneself and/or wider society (such as, people contemplating and trying to understand themselves and their own place in society), and encourage empathy (such as, games that allow people to experience aspects of others’ lives and situations). However, the potentials for these gameful approaches in creating deeper experiences and connections remains relatively under-researched.

In this context, GAMEHEARTS explore and investigate the impact games can have in shaping audience engagement and responses, and in doing so, help to provide detailed insights into how gameful approaches may operate as a driver for increased inclusivity, wellbeing, and social cohesion. By integrating aspects from EDI (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) education and game design, GAMEHEARTS consolidates existing capacities for how gameful approaches can create empathic and inclusive experiences and iteratively designs and evaluates the effects of games for EDI cognitive, behavioural, and attitudinal change, as a way to mitigate implicit biases and empower individuals to reflect and exercise their rights while respecting and upholding others’ rights in the arts and cultural practices.

In addition to producing scientific output, a key aim of GAMEHEARTS is to inform and engage with the public and wider societal stakeholders throughout the course of the project.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The accepted candidates will work in close collaboration with the members of Gamification Group as well as in the context of the larger strategic profiling area of the Tampere University in Gamification, Extended Reality, and their application towards holistic sustainability.

Gamification Group (GG) at Faculty of information Technology and Communication Science, Tampere University is led by Professor Juho Hamari and is internationally renowned for seminal academic and societal contributions in the areas of novel technologies such as motivational information systems, internet commerce, new media and human-computer interaction. GG is especially recognized as the birthing ground for the general umbrella field of gamification research, in which it is one of the most prolific research groups internationally. The guiding principle of GG is to pursue gameful approaches to encourage the healthy development of the planet, people, and prosperity. See more: https://webpages.tuni.fi/gamification/

We offer you the opportunity to join our dynamic and innovative international community. As a member of staff at Tampere University, you will enjoy a range of competitive benefits, such as a flexible work schedule, good facilities for teleworking, occupational healthcare services, a variety of affordable food and drink outlets across our campuses and a personal fund to spend on sports and cultural activities in your free time. Please read more about working at Tampere University. You can also find more information about us and working and living Tampere by watching our video: Tampere Higher Education Community - our academic playground. 

LIFE IN TAMPERE

Tampere is one of the major academic hubs in the Nordic countries and offers a dynamic living environment. Tampere region is one of the three most rapidly growing urban areas in Finland and home to a vibrant knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial community. The city is an industrial powerhouse that enjoys a rich cultural scene and a reputation as a centre of Finland’s information society. The city campus of the Tampere University, where the candidates will be located, is within walking distance of the city centre, and is an international centre of game research. For more information on Tampere and Finland, please visit:

• https://visittampere.fi/en/
• https://www.visitfinland.com/
• https://www.infofinland.fi/en/frontpage 

 HOW TO APPLY

The closing date for applications is 17 January 2024 (at 23.59 EET / UTC+2). Please write your application and all accompanying documentation in English and attach them in PDF format only.

List the attachments that candidates should append to their applications:

• CV following TENK guidelines (www.tenk.fi/en)
• A letter (maximum of 1000 words) that briefly outlines motivation to apply, background and skills related to positions, tentative research questions/ideas, earliest starting date, and any other miscellaneous remarks that the candidate wishes to make
• Pdf copies of your doctoral and master’s degree certificates in original language. If original language is other than Finnish, Swedish or English, please provide an official translation in one of those languages.
• One or two samples of academic writing (e.g., research articles)
• One or two recommendation letters with the contact details of two referees

MORE INFORMATION

Juho Hamari, Professor juho.hamari@tuni.fi

Ana Klock, Senior Researcher ana.tomeklock@tuni.fi