Generative authenticity and internet cultures (QUT Generative AI Lab PhD scholarship)

Applications close

31 May 2024

You'll receive:

• a stipend scholarship of $33,637 per annum for a maximum duration of 3.5 years. The duration includes an extension of up to 6 months (PhD) if approved for your candidature. This is the full-time, tax-exempt rate which will index annually.
• tuition fee coverage, either through a Research Training Program Fee-Offset place, or a QUT tuition fee sponsorship, for your research degree.

As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the field.

You need to meet the entry requirements for a QUT Doctor of Philosophy , including any English language requirements.

We are seeking to recruit a student to take up the scholarship and begin full-time study in July 2024.

You'll require:

• background in a relevant humanities and social science discipline, such as communication and media studies, STS or information studies, digital sociology, or internet studies
• a recently completed first-class honours degree, or research master degree, or a coursework master degree with a significant research component from a recognised institution and in a cognate discipline
• a strong interest in undertaking a three-year research project on authenticity in internet cultures
• a demonstrated excellent capacity and potential for research.

Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to a QUT Doctor of Philosophy .

• The first step is to email Distinguished Professor Jean Burgess detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship and include your CV, full academic transcript and details of three referees (email and contact number) as soon as possible.
• Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an online interview with members of the supervisory team.
• If supported to apply, you will be invited to submit an expression of interest (EOI) following the advice at how to apply for a research degree .
• In your EOI, nominate Distinguished Professor Jean Burgess as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship website into question 2 of the financial details section.

The QUT Generative AI Lab (GenAI Lab) is a new, specialist research initiative focused on addressing the emerging social and cultural challenges and possibilities of Generative AI. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team led by Distinguished Professor Jean Burgess, the Lab aims to develop, disseminate and apply new sociotechnical research capabilities specific to Generative AI, combining critical, technical, and externally-engaged approaches. The GenAI Lab is aligned with QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) .

This scholarship supports one of a cohort of three PhD students who will commence together in the lab’s first year of operation.

The successful candidate will undertake an independent project aligned with the larger, multi-institutional Generative Authenticity project within the ADM+S Centre. The PhD project will draw on theories from communication, sociology and/or STS to investigate an aspect of authenticity in internet cultures. Topics might include synthetic media (deepfakes) and misinformation in social media platforms, how online creators are dealing with the rise of Generative AI, new forms and definitions of creative content in platform cultures, or the way platform users are experiencing the integration of AI into the platforms they use daily (as with Meta AI, for example). Approaches might include digital ethnography, cultural analysis, platform studies, and digital methods.

The candidate will be supervised by Distinguished Professor Jean Burgess and have the opportunity to engage in a dynamic environment with members of the QUT School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre, as well as the national ADM+S Centre.  The closing date for applications is 31 May 2024.