Two Research Associate/Assistant Posts in KMi at The Open University

We have two positions at our lab in two projects which will apply our work on Linked Data/Semantic Web and Web APIs in the domains of eHealth and eLearning.

Duration of Posts: 31 Months and until end of September 2016.

Salary Scale: 27,854 – 36,298 (British Pounds)

Deadline for applications: October 10th

More details and application forms can be found here.

Post Summaries
Linked Open Data is a highly successful technology for promoting the sharing and use of data via the Web. A number of major players are now using Linked Data technology including: Google, Yahoo, BBC, US and UK Governments, Microsoft and Facebook. Less clear is how one can build applications on top of this ever-growing data in a well-engineered, maintainable and re-usable fashion. Over the last few years we have been investigating how to integrate service technologies with Linked Open Data. We use the term Linked Services to cover the general area that we are investigating.

In the CARRE project we are applying our work in the context of supporting patients with cardio and renal problems by combining personal monitoring and medical data with personal social media data and generic sources of ground medical knowledge. This data will be used to provide patient treatment management services based on real-time personalised visualisations.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently come to the fore through high profile providers such as Udacity, Coursera, edX and the OU’s own FutureLearn. According to some commentators this new initiative will radically change the higher education landscape through the provision of high quality freely available educational materials. The FORGE project will apply technologies related to rich interactive eBooks, social networking learning platforms and Linked Data to turn large scale Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE) facilities into a learning resource.

The weSPOT project aims at propagating a scientific inquiry approach for science learning and teaching in combination with current curricula and teaching practices. It lowers the threshold for linking everyday life with science teaching in schools through technology. weSPOT supports the meaningful contextualisation of scientific concepts by relating them to personal curiosity, experiences, and reasoning founded on a theoretically sound and technology supported personal inquiry approach.