[csaa-forum] PhD Scholarship in Media and Communication Studies, Swinburne

[Ellie Rennie]

PhD SCHOLARSHIP IN MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES: 
'YOUTH RADIO IN THE DIGITAL AGE'

This PhD project will investigate the emergence of youth radio in Australia at a time when the social and cultural role of broadcasting is being transformed by technological change. 
	
Since 2000 a number of youth communities have been granted community radio licences, including SYN FM in Melbourne. These stations maintain a focus on education and participation, situating their audience as creators, not just consumers, of the media. The successful applicant will evaluate the contribution that youth radio makes to innovation in the creative industries and critically assess the implications for media and cultural policy. This will involve research into contemporary patterns of youth media consumption and production, including a survey of youth radio audiences. Further areas of research may include trends towards multiplatform distribution and new content possibilities presented by digital broadcasting. The student will have access to SYN FM and be given the opportunity to conduct comparative research into other youth-oriented community radio licensees across Australia. 

About Youthworx
The scholarship is part of an ARC-funded project within the Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. 'Youthworx: Youth Media and Social Enterprise' was developed as a partnership between researchers at the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology, The Salvation Army and SYN-FM. The project is designed to track and evaluate a scheme (also called 'Youthworx'), which brings disadvantaged young people into SYN-FM and enables them to create programs and participate in the running of the station. The research component of Youthworx is organized around three broad themes: 1) the emergence of youth media as an Australian creative industry and as an element in the Australian media system; 2) the sustainability of social enterprises of this sort, and the social impact of investment in youth participation; and 3) youth media as a social investment in informal learning and vocational skill formation.  This research stands at the convergence between media practice, social enterprise, and public policy. The PhD student will work primarily in the first research stream. 

The Chief Investigators on the project are Julian Thomas, Denise Meredyth and David Mackenzie at the ISR, with Keith Waters from The Salvation Army. A Research Fellow, Ellie Rennie, has been appointed to work full-time on the project. The PhD student will work with the ISR team and participate in the broader network of researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. 

About the ISR
The Institute for Social Research identifies and offers solutions to the social, cultural and spatial management challenges that confront us in an era of global cities and rapid technological change. ISR research expertise spans sociology, economics and cultural and public policy analysis. The ISR's current interdisciplinary research programs are: 
·	Cities and Housing
·	Citizenship and Government
·	Media and Communications
The ISR is located at Swinburne's Hawthorn campus in Melbourne.

About CCI
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) (established in July 2005) is the first Centre of Excellence funded outside the science, engineering and technology sectors. CCI drives the development of an Australian creative innovation system to maximise the national economic and cultural benefits of digital content industries. It integrates research across a range of disciplines to develop new modes of access and distribution for user-led innovation. It aims to provide integrated, empirically grounded solutions to structural, conceptual and policy problems, during an exciting period when new technologies, end-user activism and semi-professional practices are challenging traditional models of production and consumption in the creative value chain.

The Centre is based at Queensland University of Technology (in Brisbane) with collaborating partners at Swinburne University of Technology, Australasian CRC for Interaction Design, Australian Film Television and Radio School, Australian National University, Charles Darwin University, Edith Cowan University and the University of Wollongong.


Supervisory team
Principal supervisor: Professor Julian Thomas (Director, ISR)
Associate supervisor: Dr. Ellie Rennie (Research Fellow, ISR)

Location and Resources
The student will be provided with a desk, computer and telephone at the ISR in Melbourne. Research funds totaling $4000 over 3 years will be made available to the student for fieldwork expenses and conference attendance.

Availability
This scholarship is offered once only to one person. The successful applicant must commence their candidature no later than March 2007.

Scholarship Information
PhD scholarships awarded through an ARC Centre of Excellence are prestigious awards, equivalent or higher to the ARC's postgraduate awards - in this case, the Australian Postgraduate Award Industry (APAI). The value of this scholarship is AUD25118 per annum tax-free for a period of 3 years. 

Eligibility
To be eligible the student must: 
·	Be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen; 
·	Have achieved an Honours 1 or 2A (or equivalent) undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline; 
·	Not be receiving similar funding or stipend from a Commonwealth Government program; 
·	Not already have completed a degree at the same level as the proposed candidature or at a higher level; and 
·	Not previously have held an Australian Postgraduate Award or APAI unless it was terminated within the first six months of the earlier award. 


Application Details
Open for applications from May 1 until June 2, 2006. Applicants are required to send a hardcopy of the following information:
·	A comprehensive CV, demonstrating your academic history, research skills, publication record (if applicable) and relevant industry experience
·	A one page letter, describing your research interests (in relation to the area of study set out above)
·	Application for Admission to Research Higher Degree Candidature and Scholarship form (available from http://www.swin.edu.au/research/sgrs/application_for_candidature.pdf or contact erennie at swin.edu.au)


Please apply direct to the ISR before May 30, 2006.

Applications and enquiries to be directed to: 
Dr Ellie Rennie
Phone: 0404 808 900
Email: erennie at swin.edu.au 
Website: www.cci.edu.au or www.sisr.net 
Address: Institute for Social Research
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218 John St
Hawthorn Vic 3122

Education is only the beginning.
Let's get on with it.

Swinburne University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D

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