The CTTS is pleased to invite applications from suitable applicants for the  PhD scholarship described below. The research will be supervised jointly by Drs. Ryoko Sasamoto and Minako O’Hagan and is for four years. How to apply: Email your CV and covering letter to ryoko.sasamoto@dcu.ie

About the award

For an eligible student, the full time studentship will cover fees and an annual stipend of approximately 16,000 euro (2013/2014 rate) for up to four years (PhD award).

Supervisors: Drs. Ryoko Sasamoto (DCU) and Minako O’Hagan (DCU)

Dr Sasamoto can be contacted on ryoko.sasamoto@dcu.ie for further details of the project and for support in completing the research proposal.

Project description:

The novel use of intra-lingual (i.e. same language) captions other than as a viewing aid is widespread in Asia today and has begun to influence Western counterparts as a tool for enhanced TV viewer experience. These “impact captions” are often dynamically positioned with various fonts and colours, and are used to draw viewers’ attention to certain aspects of the programme. Despite their prevalence, this area is under-researched and the media industry continues to use such captions in an ad hoc manner. In response to the industry’s search for new ways to engage viewers (e.g. Channel 4 Annual Report 2012), this project aims to gain empirically-supported insight into how complex layers of multimodal representations involving text, audio and image are received by viewers. Physiological and psychometric viewer data will be collected and triangulated with richly annotated multimodal corpus data captured from TV screens, and will be analysed in terms of cognitive and affective viewer responses.

This project has clear commercial and societal implications, as the findings are likely to contribute towards a set of guidelines for optimal impact captioning with the potential to transform current practices. Furthermore, by establishing a productive methodology, this project will form the basis for future research, making further societal contributions in broader scenarios including effective captioning on various devices in crisis communication such as involving natural disasters.

This project builds upon the existing collaborations with colleagues in a team that combines expertise in audiovisual translation, linguistics, Asian media and human-computer interaction studies

Academic entry requirements: Applicants for this studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree in Ireland, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside Ireland, in an appropriate area of Linguistics, Translation or Psychology. Successful candidates should have excellent IT skills and be familiar with (or open to) mixed method approaches.

It is essential for applicants to have a native (or near-native) proficiency in the Japanese language. A masters level qualification is desirable.

Priority will be given to candidates with a background in Pragmatics (cognitive or experimental), Audiovisual Translation, or Corpus Linguistics .

The studentship will be funded by Dublin City University and is available to Irish nationals and other EU and non-EU nationals. If you meet the criteria, funding will be provided for tuition fees and stipend of 16000 euro per annum for 4 years, subject to satisfactory progress.

Deadline for Applications: 10th March 2014.
How to apply: Email your CV and covering letter to ryoko.sasamoto@dcu.ie