WEAVR: Pioneering Fully Integrated Cross-Reality Spectator Experiences in Esports and Beyond” is a £5.8 million R&D project aiming to radically transform audience experiences in esports (http://weavr.tv/). It is one of four UK flagship demonstrators, funded from the Industrial Strategy’s Audience of the Future programme, aiming to establish the UK as world leading in the emerging forms of interactive and immersive storytelling (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/audience-of-the-future-launch). It is led by ESL, the world’s largest esports company, and the University of York, which brings world‑class research in digital storytelling, games, AI and data analytics. The other Weavr partners are top UK companies in studio TV production (Dock10), VR content development (Rewind), HD and 360 video (Focal Point VR) and data analytics (Cybula), making up a large interdisciplinary team of researchers, software developers, 2D & 3D artists, TV producers, game developers, designers, and market analysts. Weavr’s research engine is based at The University of York in the Digital Creativity Labs (https://www.digitalcreativity.ac.uk/), a world centre of excellence for impact-driven research.

We seek an outstanding data visualization researcher for a fixed-term position as a Research Associate on the Weavr project. As the successful candidate, you will conduct research for collaborative projects and develop interactive visualizations of esports player data. These visualizations will include: i) audience-facing visualizations of player behavior that can be included within live broadcasts and second-screen experiences; ii) visualizations that help commentators and pundits tell more nuanced and engaging stories during live broadcasts and post-game analyses; and iii) visualizations that assist other members of the research team in understanding complex data sources during the development of machine learning and game analytics algorithms. You will also write up research results and disseminate them through publications, seminar and conference presentations; contribute to the identification of possible new areas of research; and undertake appropriate administrative activities.

You will have a PhD (or equivalent experience) and record of excellent research in data visualization, reflected in high quality publications. You will also have good programming skills (e.g. C, C++, C#, Python, Java, Unity) and knowledge of frameworks for creating data visualizations, accompanied by a passion to develop working research prototypes of visualizations that can be applied in real-world environments.

This post is a fantastic opportunity for you to develop your career in an area of high strategic importance for the creative industries.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

This post is available on a fixed term basis until December 2020.

The University is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community – a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds.