News Story

BT Fellowship for Watt

Marc Eisenstadt, Friday 29 May 1998

Dr. Stuart Watt, joint Lecturer in Knowledge Media and Psychology, has been awarded a prestigious Short-Term Research Fellowship by BT Research Labs. Stuart will spend six weeks at BTRL in Martlesham Heath this summer, continuing his innovative work on intelligent agents and the concepts underlying the very notion of agency.

According to the web site describing the BT Research Lab’s Research Fellowship scheme, located at www.labs.bt.com/recruitment/fellow,

“The BT Short-Term Research Fellowship Scheme aims to establish beneficial links between the company and academia by offering researchers the opportunity to carry out a short project (usually six weeks) in one of BT’s internationally renowned research centres. The scheme is open to lecturers, professors and PhD-qualified research assistants who are working in relevant disciplines. … We are keen to receive imaginative proposals that address any field of research which you feel may be relevant to a global telecommunications company. Not surprisingly, our interests are wide ranging and cover far more than the ‘traditional’ engineering disciplines, extending from such matters as how to transmit information at ever higher rates, through to the impact of modern telecommunications on society (and vice-versa). Proposals for projects which seek to innovate or to challenge current thinking are particularly welcome.”

The BT Web site goes on to state:

“The Short-Term Research Fellowship Scheme offers a unique opportunity to work for a short period within one of the world’s leading telecommunications laboratories. You will have the chance to see at first hand the technological and business factors influencing BT’s research today; this may help influence your own research in the future. During your time with BT we’ll be keen to learn more about your own department’s research activities and how BT can maintain links beyond the Fellowship period. Travelling and accommodation expenses will be paid and an honorarium of £3,600 will be awarded on completion of the project.”

You can read an overview of Stuart’s research work on ‘Sympathetic Agents’ at suilven.open.ac.uk/stuart/agent.html