Author: Joan Murphy

Artistic Research and the Lingering Gaze of Thought [SAR2026 Keynote Published]

Artistic Research and the Lingering Gaze of Thought by Henk Borgdorff

Artistic Research and the Lingering Gaze of Thought, by Henk Borgdorff, is the text of a talk delivered at the 17th Conference of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR) in Galway. Borgdorff argues that artistic research should be understood not as opposed to academia but as a cutting-edge form of it, pointing to Australia’s recent recommendation to retire the term “Non-Traditional Research Output.” He surveys what distinguishes artistic research—its engagement with practices and material things, its grounding in experimentation, participation and interpretation next to its methodological pluralism, and its relation to 4E-cognition (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive)—while sharing common ground with fields like visual anthropology and science and technology studies. The heart of the piece is a proposal to rethink “discursivity” beyond language, treating material configurations of sound, image, movement and gesture as forms of rigorous, non-propositional reasoning. 

The text can be found on the Journal for Artistic Research website: https://www.jar-online.net/en/artistic-research-and-lingering-gaze-thought

Henk Borgdorff is emeritus professor of Research in the Arts at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA), Leiden University and the Royal Conservatoire, University of the Arts, The Hague. Borgdorff has published widely on the theoretical and political rationale of research in the arts.

The Journal for Artistic Research (JAR) is an international, online, open-access and peer-reviewed journal that disseminates artistic research from all disciplines. Its Network space provides a forum for JAR readers to share unreviewed contributions including reflections and book reviews, while also housing the JAR network channels.

JAR is published by the Society for Artistic Research (SAR), an independent, non-profit association.

Research Fellows (x2) [Mica lab, UK]

The mica lab is currently hiring two 24-month UKRI-funded postdocs

Both roles will be based in The Bridge Studios at UWE Bristol, in partnership with MiMU Gloves, x-io Technologies, Watershed, and Drake Music.

Role 1: Research Fellow in Digital Musical Instrument Design
Planning and facilitating musical instrument co-design activities with disabled and non-disabled participants, and exploring a range of methods for prototyping surfaces, objects, and mechanisms for music interaction. People with expertise in music, product design, HCI, and/or disability studies are encouraged to apply.
See: https://go.uwe.ac.uk/dmiDesign

Role 2: Research Fellow in Algorithmic Sensing for Music
Creating algorithms for detecting nuanced musical interactions in real time using hand-worn wearable technology. People with expertise in signal processing and/or machine learning are encouraged to apply.
See: https://go.uwe.ac.uk/algoSense

For more details on the roles, and to apply, please visit https://micalab.org. Applications close 6th August 2026, with interviews expected to take place in the week commencing 31st August 2026.

Digital History Autumn School 2026, Germany [Bursaries Call closes Aug 2]

From Data Acquisition to Data Publication: Quality Control, Tool Assessment, and Methodological Challenges in Digital History

Digital History Autumn School 2026

From Data Acquisition to Data Publication: Quality Control, Tool Assessment, and Methodological Challenges in Digital History

28 September – 2 October 2026

Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe, Marburg & HERMES (Humanities Education in Research, Data, and Methods) Data Competence Center

Digital tools and AI-assisted methods are increasingly shaping historical research. From OCR and annotation to corpus analysis and the application of generative AI systems in analysis or dissemination, these technologies open up new possibilities for generating and augmenting historical knowledge. Even after a few decades of experience, the combination of hermeneutic and computational approaches is far from straightforward, and researchers are often confront-ed with new methodological and practical challenges such as (but not limited to):

·              Data acquisition: How can processes of datafication and data-collection lead to relia-ble and accurate data?

·              Data modeling: Which data model is best suited to a particular research question and dataset, and how can expressiveness and interoperability be optimally balanced?

·              Data analysis: Are the available tools sufficiently powerful for the chosen model, and do they perform as effectively on one’s own data as reported in the literature?

·              Evaluation: How can results obtained from a specific tool be critically assessed? What roles do data quality, uncertainty, and methodological transparency play in a given re-search context?

·              Data exchange and reproducibility: How can research results be published and shared in ways that foster reuse and conserve transparency? To what extent are digitally supported methods transferable and reproducible across different datasets, and un-der which conditions?

The Digital History Autumn School 2026, organized in the framework of the Joint Lab Cul-tural Data in a Digital World (Herder Institute, Marburg –https://www.herder-institut.de/de/start, in close collaboration with the data competence center  – Humanities Edu-cation in Research, Data, and Methods – HERMES – https://hermes-hub.de/ ), addresses these questions from both methodological and practical perspectives. Together with experts in Digi-tal Humanities and Digital History, participants will explore criteria for the selection, applica-tion, and evaluation of digital tools and methods and will have the opportunity to discuss them in the context of their own research projects.

Topics

·              Selection and critical assessment of digital tools

·              Data preparation and data quality practices

·              Evaluation methods in the Digital Humanities

·              Transparency and reproducibility of digital methods

·              Dealing with uncertainty, ambiguity, and incompleteness in historical data

·              Source criticism, provenance, and the documentation of data transformation processes

In addition to thematic workshops, the Autumn School will provide opportunities for ex-change both with the experts and among the participants. Planned activities include interactive formats such as peer-support sessions, including opportunities for participants to present and discuss their own research data, methods, and research questions as well as networking events.

Who Can Apply?

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The Autumn School is aimed at:

·              Advanced Master’s students

·              Doctoral researchers (PhD candidates)

·              Postdoctoral and other early-career researchers

from the fields of Digital Humanities, Computer Science, Cultural Heritage, Digital History and Information Science who work with historical and cultural data and wish to integrate dig-ital methods into their research and critically reflect on their use.

Practical Information

======================

Dates: 28 September (from 2p.m) – 2 October 2026 (until 2p.m..)

Location: Herder Institute, Marburg, and Philipps University Marburg

Working Language: English

The organizers will provide for single room accommodation at a regular hotel. Travel expenses can be reimbursed up to a maximum of EUR 250.

Application

Applicants are invited to submit:

·              A short letter of motivation (maximum one page)

·              A brief curriculum vitae (CV)

·              Optionally, a short description of a project or dataset they would like to discuss during the Autumn School

Application deadline: 2 August 2026

Notification of acceptance: by 21 August 2026

We welcome applications from individuals with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and particu-larly encourage those who have so far only made limited use of digital methods to apply.

Please submit your application as a single PDF file to: herbstakademie@herder-institut.de

For further Information please contact Dr. Cristina Vertan  at : herbstakademie@herder-institut.de

Taxonomy of Digital Research Activities in the Humanities (TaDiRAH ) [Call for Participation]

Taxonomy of Digital Research Activities in the Humanities (TaDiRAH )

The Taxonomy of Digital Research Activities in the Humanities (TaDiRAH ) has by now developed a long and vibrant history. Over the years, it has grown through a wide range of collaborations, driven by international and interdisciplinary exchange as well as the commitment of numerous contributors from the digital humanities community.

At present, a new phase is beginning that envisions the collaborative further development of TaDiRAH. Core content and initial language versions are already in place; now we would like to involve the community more closely, bring together existing expertise, and jointly shape the next steps. One key objective is to further develop TaDiRAH sustainably, strengthen its international interoperability, and establish it firmly for the long term.

We invite everyone interested to actively contribute — whether through feedback, content contributions, discussions, or participation in linguistic extensions — as we explicitly view the further development of TaDiRAH as a collaborative process.

For existing language versions, we are looking for active contact persons who can serve as points of contact and support maintenance, coordination, and further development. At the same time, we would also like to specifically ask who might be interested in contributing to additional translations and linguistic extensions.

The technical and conceptual development is carried out transparently via GitHub (https://github.com/dhtaxonomy/TaDiRAH).

Changes are documented, discussed, and versioned there. Participation is also possible for people without extensive technical expertise; supporting materials and introductory resources are available (https://zenodo.org/records/20762024).

Contributions are possible on different levels:
– Editorial and conceptual contributions
– Translations and linguistic adaptations
– Discussion of terminology, structures, and use cases
– Technical support and review
– Networking and increasing visibility within the community.

Please do not hesitate to contact us: tadirah-request@listserv.dfn.de.

As next steps, additional language versions are planned, particularly Polish (PL) and Turkish (TR). Interested contributors are warmly invited to get involved.
Interested individuals are also warmly invited to subscribe to the mailing list: https://www.listserv.dfn.de/sympa/info/tadirah.

At present, there are two Germany-based data competence centers with a concrete interest in the further development of TaDiRAH and in sustainably advancing related efforts. HERMES (https://hermes-hub.de) and SODa (https://sammlungen.io/), represented by IGSD e.V. (https://igsd-ev.de), are currently supporting TaDiRAH by increasing its visibility and fostering exchange between projects and communities. At the same time, involving and activating the community also serves to identify potential pathways for the long-term sustainability of the project activities. They contribute to visibility, promote exchange between projects and communities, and support the sustainable institutionalization of these activities.

We are delighted to be taking part in this year’s EADH 2026 in Kraków and warmly invite everyone to attend our session. The programme will be available here shortly: https://eadh2026.confer.uj.edu.pl/programme.

Survey on research (meta)data quality [EOSC-EDEN]

Survey on research (meta)data quality [EOSC-EDEN]

Have you encountered any issues when it comes to sharing, finding, accessing, and working with research data? If you are: 

  • a researcher who works with data on a daily basis, 
  • a professional who manages or curates research data 
  • a professional who works with the technical infrastructure required for managing or curating research data,

then your perspective on the future of FAIR long-term data preservation is invaluable. 

We invite you to fill out a survey that investigates how research communities work with research data, and how data archives and repositories work with the different aspects that contribute to the quality of research (meta)data

The Horizon Europe-funded EOSC EDEN project investigates and develops strategies for curation and long-term preservation of research data. One important aspect of the project is to collect insights from researchers and preservation professionals, with the aim of turning identified challenges into actionable improvements. Your professional insights will support our work on:

  • Improving and standardising curation and preservation practices
  • Developing the services and tools needed to enhance digital preservation strategies
  • Enabling the reusability of research data
  • Bridging knowledge across disciplines
  • Equipping researchers with the knowledge to answer central research questions

Whether you work at a repository or in research, in a large organisation or a small team, and whatever your discipline or career stage, we would like to hear from you. Multiple responses from the same organisation are welcome, and we encourage you to share information about the survey with your professional networks. 

Filling out the survey should take between 20-30 minutes to complete, and we will keep it open until Monday, 31st August, 2026. 

You can find the survey here: https://nettskjema.no/a/eosc-eden-survey-2026.

For any questions about the survey or the work of EOSC EDEN, please contact Helene N. Andreassen (Project Task Lead) at helene.n.andreassen@uit.no.

Thank you for sharing your experience — your contribution is greatly valued!