Paul Coulton

What the women stationed in a base in Antartica told Kim Stanley Robinson when he asked them about the possibility of relationships with men there: “The odds are good — but the goods are odd.”

Designing applied games for deep conceptual learning in undergraduate science curricula – a service design perspective at Imperial College London on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Designing applied games for deep conceptual learning in undergraduate science curricula – a service design perspective at Imperial College London, listed on FindAPhD.com

🎓 PhD Studentship Alert 💰

Want to do a fully funded PhD in serious games? 🕹️

We have a studentship open at Imperial on using service design to create games for undergraduate science curricula.

Apply by August 17, UK home students only.

Full details 👉 bit.ly/games-phd-25

@ & DM open, pls share!

AI fulfils its potential

Rtd is about the process of design all the tiny decisions you make as designer that get embodied in the design whatever the purpose.

A workshop at DIS25 on Saturday the 5th of July exploring the temporalities of speculation.

Submissions open now! See here: www.sixdegreesworkshop.com

Keir Starmer Used Dodgy Figures to Claim 4,000 New Jobs. In Fact, It’s Only 400 | Novara Media Labour’s plans to kickstart productivity are based on massively inflated numbers from a US private equity giant. Why is the prime minister doing Blackstone's PR? Polly Smythe reports.

novaramedia.com/2025/06/04/k...

Data centres will not create the thousands of jobs gov would like us to think they will.

DIS2025 Workshop Expanding Historical Approaches to Speculative Design

If you're attending ACM #DIS2025, consider applying to our workshop on Expanding Historical Approaches to Speculative Design! We welcome participation from folks interested in history, design, and speculation.

Short position papers due June 13, more info here: sites.google.com/view/histori...

Across continents the world is fading from green to grey.

#ShowYourStripes for #BiodiversityDay

Download and share here: biodiversitystripes.info/global

Noticing a surge in interest around games as approach to futures so posting this old DRS paper for inspiration dl.designresearchsociety.org/cgi/viewcont...

DL just around the corner! Apply by May 15 if you're interested in advancing research on theory translation and games

Reimagining Research Practices Call for Artists and Creatives! The Reimagining Research Practices project at Lancaster University is commissioning a graphic novel to visually capture key findings on sustainability, ethics and inclusion in research. We're looking for graphic artists, writers and creatives to bring researcher and community stories to life. Commission: £24,000 Deadline: 7th May 2025 Apply now! More details: reimagning@lancaster.ac.uk

Colleagues of mine are seeking to commission a graphic novel that captures their research project's findings.

Commission value £24,000, application deadline 7th May

To apply: Send CV and portfolio to reimagining@lancaster.ac.uk

Further details here: www.linkedin.com/posts/nuri-k...

Only two more weeks to take this survey, please help us out by filling it in and spreading the word. Especially #artdirector #gameart #worldbuilding #gamedesign 🙏🏼

Speculative Machines and Us: Histories and Futures of AI We warmly invite colleagues to join us for an in-person one-day symposium on Thursday 17th July 2025. To join, please register using the link below. The event is organised by the Centre for Science…

✨Very excited to share details of our British Academy-funded one-day symposium at Lancaster University in July: SPECULATIVE MACHINES AND US: HISTORIES AND FUTURES OF AI. ✨💥Featuring @ohalpern.bsky.social @mbfazi.bsky.social @aleenachia.bsky.social and more💥 tinyurl.com/bde6x7ub Please share widely!

Smarter Repair 2053 In 2023 the European Union enacted the right-to-repair for European citizens which was undoubtedly a step forward in tackling planned obsolescence and the deluge of electronic product waste being p...

Part fiction (and a little parody) this paper posits that 'smart' devices sould not focus on alleviating us of some mundane task (solutionism) but as a way of managing repair and maintainance of connected devices to turn right to repair into capacity to repair.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Love tinkering with tech? Care about peeps and our planet? Check out our #sustainablefutures activities Fri 11th in Morecambe + Sat 12th in Lancaster for #LancasterUniversity's #CampusInTheCity event 🤖🎨🌿

#RePlay #ROBBEtheRobot #RepairLand #EnergyMaster

#TheMakingRooms @imaginationlanc.bsky.social

Generative AI seems to generate new AI experts at a prestigious rate

This week I defended my PhD - “Imagining Otherwise. A Speculative Feminist Design Approach to Interspecies Kinship - a reflective account of other ways of knowing, thinking and being with and in the world.” At @imaginationlanc.bsky.social

All PhD vivas should be this fun

Katrine Haydock

PLAY THIS (archaeology) GAME!

Katrine Haydock, one of our brilliant undergraduates has developed a video game for her dissertation to understand the impact of archaeological methods on gameplay. Please play it and take the survey. 🏺

katrinehaydock.itch.io

We have 2 fully funded PhDs which include Fees and Stipend (at UK rates) in areas related to technology and creative practice.

Personally, I am interested in any proposals bringing solar punk ideas into design fiction artefact creation :)

imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/update/funde...

We have a rare opportunity for two fully-funded (fees and stipend) PhDs in @imaginationlanc.bsky.social! A wide range of EPSRC related themes including 'Digital Worlds and Worldbuilding'. Do get in touch if you have an idea for a proposal imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/update/funde...

We have two fully-funded (fees and stipend) PhD positions being advertised over here at Imagination.

Themes include sustainability and regenerative systems, robotics and AI, biomaterials, digital worlds and world-building.

Is this you? Say hi!

imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/update/funde...

We have 2 funded creative PhD student ships available for 2025 covering a wide range of potential topics and approaches. See here for more details imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/update/funde...

Cryptocurrency Might be a Path to Authoritarianism Extreme libertarians built blockchain to decentralize government and corporate power. It could consolidate their control instead.

That time when I wrote this seven and one half years ago

We’re All in ‘Dark Mode’ Now How light-on-black became a way of life

I wrote about the fast rise of Dark Mode in apps and websites. Programmers have always preferred dark screens because they stare at them all day and night. Now all of us stare at screens all day and night.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

To complement our Design Management course, we’re thrilled to announce our new MA in Design Futures! Now taking applications for 2025 to explore innovative futures-oriented methods to tackle emergent issues and design for a world of complex challenges tinyurl.com/59n3s52j

When people sa flying to Barcelona must be a great gig. I’m in this trip my luggage got lost in both directions. I lost my passport. My flight home was cancelled and rebooked via Heathrow ( hence second lost baggage). Ended up in Glasgow to get train home which was just cancelled 😭

Paul Coulton giving his talk at the conference.

A thought-provoking and creative session that pushed the boundaries of design and stretched the limits of our imagination. Thanks, Paul, for sharing such an original and transformative approach to speculative design. And thanks, @gsancornelio.bsky.social and Mediaccions for such an amazing event.

Paul Coulton giving his talk at the conference.

The second day of “Expanding the Margins” kicked off with an inspiring keynote by @proftriviality.bsky.social, professor at the School of Design at Lancaster University. His talk explored design fiction, futures beyond the human, and speculative artifacts to challenge and expand our imagination.