Just to add a little to what my colleague Ian Tranter has said about our
University's approach which is not untypical of the UK. As well as supporting
pedagogic research in engineering and other disciplines we also engage in
inter-disciplinary research. For example we run a series of "digital
studentships" which are set up explicitly to fund collaborative research
between schools in the University on the understanding that
information/communication technology itself jumps across disciplinary barriers.
In this scheme, we have a jewellery design student supervised jointly by
Applied Arts and Computer Science staff and the people involved feel that it is
a productive collaboration (I'll leave it to you to work out where jewellery
connects with Computer Science but it certainly does). This is challenging but
it can be done if everybody wants to learn from each other and it is essential
when new disciplines do not fit comfortably into old demarkations. Lubomir has
stated previously his worries about eclecticism in research methods which I
respect, but it does seem sensible to accept that new situations may require us
to synthesise new approaches.
When I saw Jason's original message I was reminded of two papers at La Clusaz.
Michael Kroelinger and Jacques Giard told us about the system for approving PhD
Programs in Arizona, and Jacques commented later that their regulations were
quite specific about the disciplinary focus which should be mantained, while
Steven Scrivener described the situation at Coventry (fairly typical of UK I
imagine) where he felt able to support research students with novel proposals
on the grounds that there was sufficient interest to require somebody to take
the first steps.
In the UK we have taken on board the need to develop a (slightly) more
structured approach to supporting research students and are making progress in
that. I hope we will continue to retain the ability to recognise and take on
challenging students and novel research.
Best wishes from Sheffield
Chris Rust
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Professor Chris Rust
Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University UK
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tel +44 114 225 2706
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Psalter Lane, Sheffield S11 8UZ, UK
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