About KMi

Visitors

Visitors
The Knowledge Media Institute (KMi) is home to internationally recognized researchers in semantic technologies, new media systems, collaboration technologies, knowledge management, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and human-computer interaction. KMi provides opportunities for researchers and students to come to KMi and join our research teams. The participants will take part in project-based research with a chance to make a contribution to one of our projects, while at the same time pursuing their research agenda e.g., continuing to study towards their PhD. If interested, please read through the information provided below and afterwards contact the KMi Visitors Co-ordinator with the relevant information about yourself and your interests.


Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of a visitor?
As a visitor, you will work in a project team, working with KMi students and staff on a research problem which is of interest to both KMi and to yourself.

Are visitors necessarily British or EU nationals?
Definitely not, we are open as to your nationality, and we will consider your application regardless of whether you are British/EU national or not.

Do I need to have my own funding?
Yes, normally visitors are covered by their own grant – e.g., in the context of their doctoral bursary. In exceptional circumstances we may be prepared to fund a visitor ourselves, but this is a relatively rare occurrence.

How to apply for a KMi Visitor vacancy

  • Look at the information available on our web site about our research activities. In particular, look at the What We Do page and at our list of projects and technologies.
  • Prepare a structured CV (résumé)
  • Describe one or more research topics of interest to you and try to identify relevant KMi projects, with which you would like to be associated.
  • Send us your CV and application by email
  • The Co-ordinator will make an initial assessment about your application, and, when appropriate, will put you in touch with a specific project leader or project team. You will then discuss your potential work with these people to ensure that a suitable topic is identified, which matches yours and the project’s interests.
  • If we decide to formally offer you a visitor position, we will contact you with the further particulars. It is your responsibility to obtain all travel documents and visa if applicable. If your application is accepted, we will of course support your application for a visa

The application process

  • Look at the information available on our web site about our research activities. In particular, look at the What We Do page and at our list of projects and technologies.
  • Prepare a structured CV (résumé)
  • Describe one or more research topics of interest to you and try to identify relevant KMi projects, with which you would like to be associated.
  • Send us your CV and application by email (visitor Co-ordinator contact details)
  • The Co-ordinator will make an initial assessment about your application, and, when appropriate, will put you in touch with a specific project leader or project team. You will then discuss your potential work with these people to ensure that a suitable topic is identified, which matches yours and the project’s interests.
  • If we decide to formally offer you a visitor position, we will contact you with the further particulars. It is your responsibility to obtain all travel documents and visa if applicable. If your application is accepted, we will of course support your application for a visa.

The Open University info

  • OU Maps
  • Living in Milton Keynes
Visitor Co-ordinator: Alan Fletcher - feel free to contact for advice about coming to KMi as a visitor (email, telephone +44 (0)1908 654511).

General information: Ms Ortenz Rose (email, telephone +44 (0) 1908 654774, Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK).
 
The Open University Event | SSSW 2013, The 10th Summer School on Ontology Engineering and the Semantic Web Journal | 25 years of knowledge acquisition
 

Social Software is...


Social Software
Social Software can be thought of as "software which extends, or derives added value from, human social behaviour - message boards, musical taste-sharing, photo-sharing, instant messaging, mailing lists, social networking."

Interacting with other people not only forms the core of human social and psychological experience, but also lies at the centre of what makes the internet such a rich, powerful and exciting collection of knowledge media. We are especially interested in what happens when such interactions take place on a very large scale -- not only because we work regularly with tens of thousands of distance learners at the Open University, but also because it is evident that being part of a crowd in real life possesses a certain 'buzz' of its own, and poses a natural challenge. Different nuances emerge in different user contexts, so we choose to investigate the contexts of work, learning and play to better understand the trade-offs involved in designing effective large-scale social software for multiple purposes.