PhD - Scholarly Communication & Research Infrastructure

Expressions of Interest sought for PhD study in Scholarly Communication and Research Infrastructure

University: University College Dublin
School: Information and Communication Studies
Supervisor: Dr (opens in a new window)Lai Ma, Associate Professor
Deadline for expression of interest: Open

Description:
Expressions of interest are sought for PhD study in scholarly communication and research infrastructure under the supervision of Dr (opens in a new window)Lai Ma, Associate Professor at School of Information and Communication Studies and Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded project, “Sustainable and Collaborative Research Information for Bibliodiverse Ecosystem: A Transnational Study”.

In recent years, there has been increasing pressure for openness in scholarly communication, involving open access of publications, open data, open methods, open peer review, and so on. The very notion of ‘open’, however, has not been conceptualised and examined. The history and socio-political contexts in which open research infrastructure develops in different geographical regions provide vantage points for understanding transnational knowledge flows, in particular, how knowledge becomes valuable, marginalised, neglected, blocked, or kept secret. How does the predominance of indexing services and academic publishing in Western regions affect global knowledge production?
How can standard-setting practices benefit or be detrimental to openness? Would open research infrastructure lead to epistemic diversity or epistemic injustice?

The PhD study will look beyond the practical aspects of open research and dig deep into the history, political economy, and geopolitics of knowledge production and scholarly communication.

Dr (opens in a new window)Lai Ma welcomes expressions of interest from candidates with background(s) in library and information studies, science and technology studies, and history of knowledge/science.

Please contact her directly at (opens in a new window)Lai.Ma@ucd.ie if you would like to know more about the programme of study.

The successful candidate(s) may be supported by tuition fee waiver and stipends.