This project celebrates the vibrant cultural practices, intangible heritage, and unique social rituals of horse racing through emergent immersive and interactive storytelling. It aims to explore how these practices can be made tangible and publicly accessible via bespoke, place-based immersive experiences within a museum context. Focusing on the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket – the birthplace of horse racing, the global epicentre of the sport, and the financial hub of the racing trade in Europe – this practice-based research will delve into innovative ways of storytelling using immersive and interactive media.
This fully funded PhD position, jointly funded by the National Horseracing Museum and the Manchester School of Art, offers the candidate an interdisciplinary academic supervision board comprising experts from the Manchester School of Architecture (ranked 5th in the prestigious QS Ranking), the world-leading School of Digital Arts (SODA), and the curatorial team of the National Horseracing Museum. Through hands-on involvement in a real-world project at a premier national institution, the candidate will investigate how a museum setting can integrate advanced immersive and interactive technologies to communicate intangible heritage. As part of the broader ‘Day at the Races’ project, the project will capture the essence, stories, and cultural experiences of horse racing and develop site-specific, place-based immersive media to effectively convey them. Additionally, the candidate will have access to state-of-the-art facilities at both SODA – featuring cutting-edge VR and motion-capture studios – and the Manchester School of Architecture.
Project aims and objectives
The project aims to:
- Investigate the challenges and opportunities of using immersive technologies to tell the stories of intangible heritage and cultural practices surrounding horse racing within a museum context.
- Develop innovative interdisciplinary methodologies for creating bespoke place-based, and site-specific engaging experiences tailored for heritage communication through storytelling in a physically immersive and interactive space.
- Activate parts of a Grade II* listed building (Gallery 6–7, Palace House) by transforming it into a fully immersive space through the use of advanced immersive technologies.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of digital narrative interventions and immersive spaces in enhancing public engagement, accessibility, and the transmission of cultural practices to non-specialist audiences and future generations.
- Contribute to academic discourse on the role of emerging technologies in heritage preservation.
This research will make significant contributions to multiple academic fields:
- Heritage studies: It will offer insights into new frameworks and methodologies for integrating narrative immersive digital technologies into traditional museums for preserving and communicating intangible heritage.
- Digital heritage: It will advance the understanding of how cutting-edge technologies and immersive interactive spaces, and potentially AI can be utilized to address challenges in heritage communication and engagement.
- Immersive technologies: It will offer practical insights into the design and implementation of bespoke immersive and interactive systems for tangible heritage within historically significant buildings.
- Intangible heritage: It will explore how innovative digital heritage can function as a means to reflect vibrant cultural experiences, such as the one of a ‘Day at Racing’ to non-specialised public audiences and younger generations.
- Built heritage: The project will explore how new technologies can activate and reinvigorate culturally historically significant sites, in this case, Palace House.
Funding
The student will be in receipt of a stipend payment, amount to be confirmed on offer (as an example the 24/25 rate is £19,237).
Home and Overseas students can apply. Home fees are covered. Eligible overseas students will need to make up the difference in tuition fee funding.
Specific requirements of the candidate
The ideal candidate will be a creative researcher/practitioner:
- With a background in design, architecture, media design, film, videogame, or immersive technologies.
- With a portfolio of academic and/or industry projects that align with the post.
- Proficient in real-time computing, Unreal Engine or Unity, projection mapping, and interaction sensing.
- With significant academic and/or industry experience with VR/MR, projection mapping, and physically immersive environments.
- With an interest in/or a strong understanding of AI technologies and their potential applications in interactive storytelling [desirable].
- Previous knowledge and passion for horse racing are not required but are desirable.
How to apply
Interested applicants should contact Dr Hamid Khali (h.khalili@mmu.ac.uk) for an informal discussion.
To apply you will need to complete the online application form for a full-time PhD in architecture (or download the PGR application form).
You should also complete the narrative CV form addressing the project’s aims and objectives, demonstrating how the skills you have maps to the area of research and why you see this area as being of importance and interest.
Applicants should also submit a link to their portfolio or a link to selected examples of their relevant creative work outputs.
If applying online, you will need to upload your statement in the supporting documents section, or email the application form and statement to PGRAdmissions@mmu.ac.uk.
Closing date: 18 March 2025
Expected start date: October 2025
Please quote the reference: A&H-HamidK-Architecture-2025
