Postdoctoral position in Meaningful Play and Virtual Environments (3-year position)
Locatie: https://www.luca-arts.be/nl/campus-genk-c-mine
LUCA School of Arts
LUCA School of Arts is a multidisciplinary educational and research environment in which creative talent can develop on an artistic, performative, and technical level. LUCA promotes the practice of art and creative design as well as the development of innovative insight. LUCA combines the strength and expertise of five renowned institutions on as many campuses: Sint-Lukas Brussel, Narafi Brussel, C-mine Genk, Sint-Lucas Gent, and Lemmens Leuven. With over 800 staff members and about 3,800 students, LUCA School of Arts is a creative hub for over 4,500 artists, musicians, theatrical and filmmakers, photographers, and designers.
#weArt #weDesign
Job Description
As a postdoc researcher (70%) at the Inter-Actions Research Unit, you will participate in the Meaningful Play cluster which investigates the application of game design in artistic, social, educational and economic contexts. You will participate in ongoing projects (coordination, implementation) and initiate applications for new projects. You will develop your own research line in this broad field of research-through-design, with an emphasis on either artistic, educational or industry-oriented projects.
As a lecturer (30%) in the Department of Audiovisual Arts, you will teach in the Game Design program at Campus C-mine. You will develop new courses, masterclasses and workshops on game design in relation to novel and immersive environments (such as XR, 360) next to being involved in existing courses on game design and game programming.
As doctor-assistant, you will also execute a limited amount of administrative and organizational tasks.
Responsibilities
o You will be involved in teaching existing courses at the Game Design program
o You will aid in the coordination of ongoing projects at the Inter-Actions Research Unit, such as the Game Badges-project. https://gamebadges.eu/
o You will initiate your own projects within the broad field of design-based game research, and write applications to acquire funding for these projects.
o You will disseminate your research at Art Expositions, symposia, conferences and in artistic or academic publications
o You will participate in board meetings, research activities and symposia of the Inter-Actions Research Unit.
Profile
o You have an art-, design- or practice-based Ph.D. in game design, or in a related field with a focus on game design.
o You have experience in modeling and creating architectures in 3D tools such as Blender, 3DS Max or Maya, as demonstrated in your artistic portfolio.
o OR You have experience in creating interactive rules within game engines such as Unreal or Unity, and in applying these to immersive environments (XR, 360°). This is demonstrated in your artistic portfolio.
o OR You have an affinity for and an active interest in sound design for games.
o OR You have a strong proven experience in collaborations with the game industry
o You have experience in writing applications for project funding and in coordinating projects.
o You are willing to develop new course materials in collaboration and dialogue with the teacher team at the C-mine campus.
o You are passionate about game research, take initiative, have innovative ideas, and experiment with new concepts.
o You can perform work with responsibility, both independently and in team.
o You can communicate in English and Dutch, and conform the language requirements that apply to higher education in the Flemish part of Belgium.
o You are loyal towards the mission, vision and educational policy of LUCA School of Arts.
Project
As part of your application, you describe a project that you want to initiate within the Meaningful Play research cluster, and how this project can be extended into a course module for BA and MA-level students in game design. The project should entail art- or practice-based research related to game design and should deal with a topic of relevance to the future of gaming. It should show an engagement with actors in the gaming industries, or in other cultural fields that are relevant to gaming. The project identifies several conceptual, social, technological and artistic challenges in contemporary gaming, and explores new pathways for the gaming industries through practical work. You also create a plan for funding and dissemination of this research.
Your research proposal should provide the following information and structure:
Offer
At LUCA you will be part of an environment where respect and integrity define our basic attitude, where we see sustainability and diversity as an asset and quality is our motivation. In the coming years, we want to give LUCA an identity as an actor in society, let our education institute become part of a laboratory, complement our offer with demand-driven initiatives, and open up our multicampus reality to a network. This will put you in a stimulating environment in which we offer numerous opportunities to give your own interpretation on your main campus in Genk or on one of the other campuses of LUCA School of Arts.
LUCA aims to create an environment in which all talents can develop to their full potential, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or disability. That is why we welcome all talented people who recognize the added value of diversity and want to help shape an
inclusive organisation.
We offer a temporary employment, fixed-term appointment (100%) in the position of doctor-assistant (scale 509) for 3 years. More information about the salary scales can be found on the website of the Department of Education: (www.ond.vlaanderen.be). Estimated starting date is September 2025.
Interested?
More information can be obtained via Dr. Steven Malliet: steven.malliet@luca-arts.be You can apply until 01/04/2025 via CV Warehouse. You will be appointed in September 2025.
Your application consists of a dossier containing a motivation letter, a research project proposal, a portfolio, a CV, and a certificate of your diploma (and if applicable, a declaration of conformity of your diploma).
