PhD Studentship in Evaluating the Influence of Tangible 3D Printed Replicas on the Museum Experience

Sponsor Company: Oxford University Museum of Natural History (MNH)

Eligibly: Available to eligible home fee status

Funding Source: AHRC

Supervisors: Prof. Mark Williams, Dr. Paul Wilson, Prof. M Paul Smith, Mrs. Janet Stott

Research Group: Centre of Imaging, Metrology, and Additive Technologies (CiMAT) - WMG

Subject Areas: Geology (Palaeontology); Engineering (Other); Education (Other); Mathematics (Applied Statistics)

Project Description

The University of Warwick, and Oxford University Museum of Natural History, are pleased to announce the availability of a fully-funded four-year (full-time) doctoral grant under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.

This project will be jointly supervised by researchers in WMG at the University of Warwick and Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the doctoral researcher will be expected to spend time in both institutions, as well as becoming part of the wider cohort of CDP-funded doctoral students across the UK.

The studentship will focus on the impact of tangible 3D printed replicas, models produced via the process of additive manufacturing, on the museum experience of visitors. The primary purpose of this is to investigate the feasibility of employing such replicas in museums and how visitors interact with and learn from such objects.

A number of articles on the subject have been published regarding the effectiveness of tangible 3D printed replicas, with little consensus emerging to date. One issue is that studies into this method of interpretation have often used small sample sizes and inconsistent methods, making it difficult to generalise their findings. The novelty of this project will be in the application of user experience (UX) techniques from industry, building a holistic view of the research problem using a number of cutting-edge, data-rich methods.

The student will employ a range of rigorous methodologies, including Content Analysis, Factor Analysis and other statistical methodologies, whilst ensuring that the methods employed are suitable for the task, reliable and valid. A range of statistical approaches will be combined with well-documented qualitative research approaches to provide a holistic view of how visitors interact with, and learn from, tangible 3D printed replicas. This will use and build on previous research efforts within the WMG–OUMNH group to attempt to answer this research problem.

The outcomes of the project will be a completed thesis project, which will in turn have a number of peer-reviewed publications published over the course of the project. These research articles will help to inform practice in the wider community in relation to employing tangible 3D printed replicas within exhibition galleries, and will provide the student with a good foot-hold within academia. The student will also be encouraged to attend conferences and to network at academic events across the UK and internationally, developing key contacts within the museum sector and disseminating findings.

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