FTTI Senior R&D Fellow in VP/XR Textiles and Dress

The opportunity

The University of the Arts London’s (UAL) emergent Fashion, Textiles & Technology Institute (FTTI) builds on the delivery of a £5.9m AHRC Creative Research & Development Partnership (CRDP) funding award (2018-24), the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology (BFTT), as part of the UKRI Creative Industry Cluster Programme (CICP).

UAL’s FTTI is hosting a new multi-million specialist Virtual Production (VP) / Extended Reality (XR) Laboratory, creating capacity for innovative, transdisciplinary practice-led research in VP/XR textiles and dress, working broadly across the creative and cultural industries.

The new FTTI lab will be located at UAL’s new East Bank campus (2023). The campus forms part of a new powerhouse for research, innovation, creativity and learning through a novel collaboration between world-leading universities, cultural bodies, industry and local communities.

To address this nascent field of textiles and dress, UAL convenes a unique range of expertise across UAL's colleges, institutes, and research centres. The specialist lab will drive forward an ambitious research agenda, build capacity to meet wide ranging sector needs, and support significant growth potential for the UK's creative and cultural economy.

The Senior R&D Fellow in VP/XR Textiles and Dress will bring a relevant and applicable creative and / or XR technical textile /dress practice to lead on the development and delivery of novel R&D toward advancing hybrid physical, screen and real-time spaces.

About you

The ideal candidate will have a Doctoral and / or Postgraduate qualification in a relevant discipline, or industry equivalent experience in textiles and dress innovation, technology or equivalent research. They can also have relevant industry experience in disciplines such as film and TV production, CGI, games, animation, VR, AR, XR, MR.

As an experienced researcher, they will lead and support the development of creative and technical VP/XR innovation in textiles and dress and develop and deliver a programme of novel Research and Development (R&D).

They will have experience related to technology innovation practices within the fashion, textiles and technology industry and related sectors. Knowledge/experience of supporting concepts, practices, and procedures used in cloth rendering, textile simulation or visual effects and film production is desired.

Application is by submission of a full curriculum vitae and a covering letter of application, addressing the job description and person specification. Examples of academic writing/journals should be provided as supportive documentation.

If you have any queries about this role or need any reasonable adjustments for your application, please contact Twinkle Brahmbhatt, Senior Resourcing Adviser via email at RKEEstaffrecruitment@arts.ac.uk .

What we offer

To recognise the hard work of our staff and their contributions, we provide a wide range of benefits – please check our careers site/Canvas for further information as conditions and exclusions apply:

▪ at least 39 days of annual leave in addition to bank holidays.

▪ equal parental leave offering up to 6 months full pay for maternity and paternity.

▪ 2 days of paid volunteering leave for a UK registered charity.

▪ generous defined benefit pension schemes (LGPS/TPS}.

▪ discounts including gyms, nursery and private healthcare insurance.

▪ learning and development opportunities including free Short Courses.

▪ season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, free counselling and more!

We are UAL

University of the Arts London (UAL) offers an extensive range of courses in art, design, fashion, communication and performing arts. We are a collegiate University spread across London with six Colleges, four Institutes and five Research Centres. UAL also has two subsidiary companies, delivering specialist activities – UAL Short Courses Ltd, and UAL Arts Temps Ltd.

We’re made up of all types of people, coming together in London, the world’s creative capital. We are designers, artists, performers, thinkers, researchers and makers. Our students, staff and graduates form a global network of creatives, entrepreneurs and leaders. Together, our ideas change the world. Because the world needs creativity.

We are ranked highly across the board. We are ranked first for specialist art and design, second in the world for Art and Design in the 2023 QS World University Rankings (for the fifth year in a row), ranked fifth in sustainability and two of our colleges were rated in the top three fashion schools in the world. 

Our culture

We have become one of the world’s most international Universities, welcoming over 22,000 students and 6,000 staff from 130 countries. And, as a global university, staff and students learn from different cultures and perspectives, which leads to new conversations and innovative work. At our very core, everything we do seeks to challenge the status quo by driving social purpose and standing up for what matters.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds including those who may feel underrepresented in the workforce due to their socioeconomic circumstances such as those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (B.A.M.E.) backgrounds. We aim to be a university where everyone can be themselves and are supported to reach their full potential.

With our commitment to inclusion and diversity, we are proud to be a Race Equality Charter (REC) member to help us reduce barriers that negatively impacts B.A.M.E. staff, a Stonewall Diversity Champion to ensure all LGBTQ+ people are valued at work, a Disability Confident Scheme Committed employer and member of the Business Disability Forum which help us to improve the lives of disabled people in the workplace.