Part-time +/or Distance Learning PhDs at KMi
Although the OU is famous for enabling students to undertake part-time distance learning, doing a PhD is very different to studying a predefined course. A PhD is an apprenticeship in learning a host of new skills 'on the job', and for this reason, most PhD students at the OU are full-time, on-site. In KMi you will get much more from the experience (and have a higher chance of success) if you working as part of a research group, and participating actively in the lab's life (e.g. seeing your supervisor regularly, joining the student group, meeting visiting researchers, giving presentations, and with ready access to high quality technology and internet access).
That being said, there are still part-time students at the OU because full-time study based here is of course not possible for everyone. Moreover, as collaboration technologies improve, some of the time/space obstacles to asynchronous research collaboration are reduced. However, the bottom line is: no supervisor, no PhD! If you can find a supervisor who is happy to take you on a part-time and/or distance learning basis, you're in business.
As explained on the main PhD/Studentship page, all students must write a research proposal, and you are strongly recommended to write this in conjunction with the potential supervisor. What you are recommended to do is look at the list of projects who are looking for students, and approach direct the relevant project leader of any that interest you. Briefly outline your background and interests, and see if they are interested to know more. You can of course send us a proposal out of the blue, but it stands less chance of finding a supervisor to own it.
The application deadline for Part-time study is the same as for Full-time applications.
Future Internet
KnowledgeManagementMultimedia &
Information SystemsNarrative
HypermediaNew Media SystemsSemantic Web &
Knowledge ServicesSocial Software
Future Internet is...
With over a billion users, today's Internet is arguably the most successful human artifact ever created. The Internet's physical infrastructure, software, and content now play an integral part of the lives of everyone on the planet, whether they interact with it directly or not. Now nearing its fifth decade, the Internet has shown remarkable resilience and flexibility in the face of ever increasing numbers of users, data volume, and changing usage patterns, but faces growing challenges in meetings the needs of our knowledge society. Globally, many major initiatives are underway to address the need for more scientific research, physical infrastructure investment, better education, and better utilisation of the Internet. Within Japan, USA and Europe major new initiatives have begun in the area.
To succeed the Future Internet will need to address a number of cross-cutting challenges including:
- Scalability in the face of peer-to-peer traffic, decentralisation, and increased openness
- Trust when government, medical, financial, personal data are increasingly trusted to the cloud, and middleware will increasingly use dynamic service selection
- Interoperability of semantic data and metadata, and of services which will be dynamically orchestrated
- Pervasive usability for users of mobile devices, different languages, cultures and physical abilities
- Mobility for users who expect a seamless experience across spaces, devices, and velocities
Future Internet from KMi.
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