By Oonagh O Farrell
Seven of Ireland’s third level institutions have launched a new Digital Arts and Humanities (DAH) PhD programme, one of the largest projects of its kind in the world.
The project has received €6.8 million in state funding with the help of the European Regional Development Fund and is part of the Government’s objectives to prioritise investment and development in science and technology.
Forty-six post graduate students will take part across the seven institutions of NUIM, NUIG, TCD, UCC, Queens’ University Belfast, the University of Ulster and the Royal Irish Academy in the cross-border initiative.
“It is a great opportunity to cement ties between universities on the island of Ireland,” says Marie Wallace of IBM Ireland, one of the DAH partners.
The four year programmes will be based within any one of the universities, though students will work closely with industrial partners such as Google, IBM, Intel and Microsoft as well as cultural institutes.
Trinity DAH students will be based in one of the college’s two research units, the Trinity Long Room Hub or the Arts Technology Research Lab.
Nella Porqueddu is based at the Trinity Long Room Hub. Ms Porquedda’s project uses a digital approach to study history and looks at the issue of identity and place after the First World War in areas along the Italian and Austro-Hungarian front-line.
Tom Boland, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, says that the Digital Arts and Humanities PhD programme is giving students a strong foundation in the potential of the creative digital arts and to explore how ‘digital’ is changing the face of the arts and humanities.
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