Teaching Collaborations

Our courses are recognised in industry for their effectiveness in training people for careers in Human Computer Interaction and Ergonomics and for the calibre of students who participate. Each September, 50-60 students graduate from our courses, with the majority going on to become HCI and ergonomics practitioners in the private and public sectors.

There are many ways to collaborate with us and contribute to our teaching and the professional development of our Masters and PhD students. Sometimes external practitioners and consultants directly to the course content, by giving guest lectures on specific modules and it is also possible to arrange for students to visit industry workplaces to observe day-to-day operations in practice. For example, we have organised student visits to the London Underground control rooms as part of one of our optional modules in the past.

Seminars to Students

As part of our postgraduate study programmes we run a series of seminars with outside speakers (usually HCI/Ergonomics practitioners). The seminars run through the Autumn and Spring terms. In addition to providing an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of HCI and ergonomics practice, they also provide an opportunity for companies to meet and raise their profile amongst future graduates of our courses.

If you are interested in contributing to our student seminar series please contact our Senior Teaching Administrator, Jo Pearson.

Image showing students in a lecture

Hosting MSc projects and sponsoring prizes

Every summer, each of our MSc students undertakes a substantial research project which is written up as a dissertation and forms a significant part of the MSc assessment. Depending on the interests of the student, many projects are conducted in collaboration with an external 'Host' organisation, who helps frame the research problem and also provides resources such as access to study participants (subjects). The problem under investigation can be research or application orientated. The external host then typically shares a supervisory role with a member of UCLIC staff.

In addition to providing an opportunity for conducting a piece of research of interests to a host organisation, summer projects also provide an opportunity to get to know one or more UCLIC masters students. We have had MSc student projects hosted by the BBC, Orange Labs and also Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. We welcome approaches from interested organisations.

It is also possible for companies to provide prize money for the Best Dissertation on the MSc programme and thus raise the profile of their organisation with potential recruits. Orange Labs sponsored this prize for three years in a row.

For more information on hosting MSc projects, please contact Dr Nic Marquardt (MSc project co-ordinator) or Jo Pearson (Senior Teaching Administrator).

Student Recruitment

We make links between students and potential employers in a number of other ways, including circulating job or internship adverts to our current cohort and an alumni mailing list. If you would like to circulate an advert, please contact our Senior Teaching Administrator Jo Pearson.

Industry Co-Funded Studentships

There are also PhD programmes co-funded by industry partners to train students to be future leaders in innovative research and development. Usually studentships on specific industry-focused projects are part-funded by a research council (eg, EPSRC) and an industry partner. For example, the EngD (Engineering Doctorate) programme incorporates EPSRC funding for fees and stipend, while a relatively small top-up stipend and extra funding for equipment and consumables is provided by an industry sponsor. CASE studentships involve businesses taking the lead in arranging projects with an academic partner of their choice - the main funding again comes from the EPSRC with a top-up from the Industry sponsor that is a minimum of a third of the EPSRC funding. Industry partners can also be involved in Impact studentships where funding is provided equally by UCL and an Industry partner - only UCL academics can apply for this funding and they must seek matching funding from Industry. In all cases, research is thus done in collaboration with a sponsoring company, on a topic of common interest and provides opportunities to explore further novel collaborations and strengthen current partnerships.

In the past, one of our research students, Jake Rigby, worked on media multi-tasking through the EngD programme in Computer Science with the BBC under the supervision of Prof Duncan Brumby. Another student, Susan Lechelt, was working on the 'Internet of Things' on a CASE studentship funded by the EPSRC and the BBC under the supervision of Prof. Yvonne Rogers. Dr Frederik Brudy is worked on cross-device interactions to facilitate small group collaborations, funded equally by UCL and Microsoft Research Ltd and supervised by Dr Nic Marquardt.

For more information on being involved in studentships, please contact Dr Enrico Costanza (UCLIC PhD Admissions tutor) or Louise Gaynor.