Roll for Initiative!

Applications are sought from passionate, creative and outgoing students interested in using their skills and interests in tabletop gaming in application to research in computer science, Human Computer Interaction, and User Experience design. This exciting PhD project will see the worlds of TTRPG and computing coincide to produce meaningful interactions to support the design, development and deployment of technology, whether from the software level, or at the pipeline level in support of those who will become developers and designers.

Tabletop Role Playing Games (TTRPG) allow the player to immerse themselves in a world where anything can happen — within the rules. You can become someone new, fight demons, play out exciting and speculative storylines, all with the help of your party. This ability to place yourself in the life of another person (or ethereal being) resonates with principles of User Experience Design (UX) where usability experts strive to understand the impact their application or interface might have on a hypothetical audience.  There is also the potential for this technique to be used in computer science education, to enable students to explore real world design and programming processes, and the ethical challenges that ensue with the creation of new software and hardware.

The difficulty in eliciting requirements from users, especially users with complex interaction needs, is well-established in literature (Ferreira et al., 2019; Heumader et al., 2018; Pacheco et al., 2018). The process is one that is primarily an ongoing act of interpretation in which user ‘wants’ are translated from interviews, observation, focus groups and such into actionable ‘needs’ that can then be addressed in further design and development. The literature thus makes a distinction between ‘gathering’ requirements – as in collecting together feedback – versus ‘eliciting’ requirements, which is a a more participatory form of ongoing interpretation. As noted by Pacheco et al. the process is highly contextual and its complexities are influenced by everything from the project, the organisation, the environment, and the prior-experiences and skill-sets of all involved parties. It is also dependent on the requirements elicitation techniques employed.

Given the core importance of the techniques chosen and the impact this choice has on the quality of the final product, it is unsurprising that a rich ecosystem of competing and complementing techniques are regularly employed. These include interviews, workshops, observation, protocols and dialogue, scenarios, and prototyping amongst others. There is a rich potential to explore the parallels and potentials of TTRPG within the context of UX and requirements, its characters, contexts and interactions. – and further, in the education of those that aim to work within these spaces. There is the possibility to create playable, serious, UX worlds with the potential to provide deeper, more insightful output, and make recommendations for the addition of a TTRPG approach to User Experience processes and education.

It is essential that applicants have extensive experience of playing Tabletop Role Playing Games, and preferably have also run games as Dungeon Master or Games Master. Applicants should also have a keen interest in new technology, creative practices, and be capable of running workshops, user studies and liaising with industry contacts. Competency in programming would also be desirable.

Further Information on how to apply can be found on the Find A PhD website

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Miriam Sturdee (ms535 @st-andrews.ac.uk), School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews.

Winter Graduation reception

We would like to invite our graduating students and their guests to join us for a celebration in honour of their achievements. Please join us for a small reception with a glass of bubbly and some Fisher and Donaldson’s cakes.

The event will take place on Tuesday, November 28th, between 12 noon and 2 p.m. at the Jack Cole coffee area.

We look forward to commemorating this special occasion together.

Lecturer Vacancy

The School of Computer Science is looking to recruit a lecturer as part of a large on-going expansion of our academic staff and to support our evolving approach to digital teaching.

We wish to appoint a lecturer (either Education track, or Education and Research track) to join our vibrant teaching and research community, which is ranked among the top venues for Computer Science education and research worldwide.  The School develops deep science and technology across the discipline of computer science, which informs and underpins our teaching at undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels.   We are expanding our teaching programmes to include digital modes of delivery to allow us to teach a broader range of students than would ever be able to physically move to St Andrews for the duration of a traditional programme.

The is an exciting departure that lets us take the School’s reputation for teaching excellence to an extended audience, including individuals seeking to upskill within employment, those seeking a career change, and those with other constraints on their time and location. In the first instance this will involve the development of an entirely new digital-only MSc programme in data science.

We are seeking dynamic, collegial individuals who value teaching and research excellence to support the expansion and development of our strengths in data and computational science centred around our Artificial Intelligence and Systems research groups. The right candidate will be able to contribute to research and teaching in an appropriate area – including, but not limited to, computational science, data analytics, machine learning for data interpretation, scientific visualisation – as well as being involved in the development and delivery of “born-digital” teaching resources and assessment methods sitting alongside more traditional approaches and materials.

Please see the linked advert for more information!

First year welcome reception

We would like to invite all of our first year students for snacks and refreshments in the CS Coffee area this evening (06/09/23) at 5-6pm.

This will be a good opportunity to meet some of the staff and fellow students.

Orientation 2023

We are looking forward to welcoming our students to the new academic year.

Scheduled for the week starting from Monday, September 4th, the Computer Science orientation programme includes details about various events, and sessions for our staff and students.

For more general information the University Orientation and Induction Information provides students with an overview of the university, its services, and important dates to mark on their calendars.

See you all soon!

School of Computer Science, Jack Cole Building