Lusofona University and the Université Bourgogne Europe are recruiting a PhD candidate for a fully-funded PhD position within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network DECADOCS – Decadence for doctoral studies. (Grant Agreement 101227176)
About DECADOCS
DECADOCS is the first European doctoral network dedicated to the study of decadence, bringing together 27 partners—including 10 leading universities, museums, and archives—across 8 countries. The network rethinks decadence beyond traditional associations with decline, exploring new dimensions such as sustainability, transnationalism, and sensoriality across fields like architecture, fashion, food, tourism, and immersive media.
The successful candidate will be enrolled in a joint doctoral programme, leading to a double doctoral degree awarded by the Lusofona University, Portugal, and University of Burgundy Europe, France. The candidate will be required to reside in Lisbon for the initial 24 months of the project (from October/November 2025 to September 2027), during which they will participate in graduate training as part of the Ph.D. in Media Arts and Communication programme and have assigned research space at the Early Visual Media Lab – CICANT. After this period, the candidate will move to Dijon to complete the next 24 months of the project and participate in graduate training as part of the Ph.D. in Physical Engineering and Microtechnology programme and develop their research at the Imaging and Artificial Vision Lab – ImViA. During this period, the candidate will also undertake secondments at the Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy in England (initial 24 months) and the Nicéphore Niépce Museum in France (subsequent 24 months), gaining hands-on experience with over 300,000 historical stereoscopic images and devices, while exploring their sensory, technological, and cultural dimensions through direct interaction with collections and archival publications.
The PhD Project: Decadence and Haptic Virtual Reality: Testing Visual and Audio Stereoscopic Compositions
The term haptic refers to the transmission of tactile sensations through vibrations, force feedback, visual, and acoustic information. VR remains visually dominant yet sensory-limited. While most haptic studies focus on vibrations to enhance virtual interactions, more research is needed on how stereoscopic 3D and 3D sound affect user perception in VR. This PhD project focuses on the haptic potential of historical stereoscopic compositions and their application in virtual environments. The successful candidate will conduct archival research and undertake secondments at two major European collections—The Brian May Archive of Stereoscopy (UK) and The Musée Nicéphore Niépce (France)—to select and analyse 100 historical stereoviews noted for their strong tactile visual effects.
The call is open until 23:59 on 20 October and applications must be sent to cicant@ulusofona.pt
To apply, you must read the entire announcement published on the Euraxess network here: