Dear colleagues,
We are currently seeking applications for a funded PhD studentship exploring the materialities and imaginaries of contemporary and future spaces (e.g., built environments, homes) and things (e.g., assistive and everyday technologies), and to consider how relations with these ‘more-than-human’ actors may shape, support, and constrain the wellbeing and flourishing of people as they age.
The study will use creative and ethnographic research methods to explore these phenomena with older people groups, designers, architects, technology developers, and members of the housing and care workforce in the UK, Australia, and Canada. The PhD student will carry out participant-observation with non-academic organisations and draw on visual ethnography and/or arts-based workshops to elicit discussion about designing future care spaces and things within each country, with support from the supervisory team and local partners.
Please pass on this opportunity to your students or colleagues who may be interested in this topic. The deadline for applications is 23rd January 2026. Further information available at this link here: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/futuring-care-imagining-and-designing-materialities-of-care-for-ageing-societies-ref-rdf26-hw-hns-lariviere/?p190706 .
Kind regards,
Matthew
Dr Matthew Lariviere
Associate Professor of Gerontology