April 5, 2022 In News, Open positions By Narmeen Marji

TAMPERE UNIVERSITY HOSTING AND COACHING GAMES AND GAMIFICATION MSCA-PF CANDIDATES

The professors of games and gamification research at Tampere University (TAU) welcome applicants to join and actively co-develop successful applications to the MSCA-PF program.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is one of the funding opportunities that belong to the Horizon Europe framework programme. Postdoctoral Fellowship PF is one of the MSCA’s main funding actions enabling 1-3,5 years long individual projects in Europe (European Fellowship) or other countries (Global Fellowship). MSCA PF is for postdoctoral researchers coming from another country than the hosting institution. The call is aimed at promising researchers with a purpose to promote their career development and aims to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers wishing to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral mobility.

More information on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships can be found here: Postdoctoral Fellowships | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (europa.eu)

Tampere University, as an internationally recognized vanguard of game and gamification research, is welcoming applicants from the areas of games and gamification to join the MSCA-PF coaching Masterclass at Tampere University. The professors in the area of games and gamification research will mentor and co-develop applications to the MSCA-PF call and successful applicants will be able to join the research communities and groups at Tampere University. 

TAMPERE UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE A MASTERCLASS FOR ALL ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS 

Tampere University offers a holistic program for supporting candidates in developing winning proposals through their Masterclass webinars and personal coaching by TAU grant-writers.

The webinar course series called MSCA PF Masterclass 2022 will be organized for the sixth time during April-August 2022. All potential researchers applying for MSCA PF funding to TAU will be invited to the course. In addition, all the researchers at TAU applying for the Global or European Fellowship funding abroad are welcome to join the course. This Teams based Masterclass is highly recommended for all MSCA PF applicants. The aim of the Masterclass is to provide coaching on competitive proposal writing and developing the research idea together with the supervisor. 

How to participate: 

The call is open for individuals that have gained a Ph.D. by the deadline of the call or who have defended their thesis no more than 8 years ago. The gross salary for a successful MSCA-PF candidate will vary between 5300-5800 € per month depending on several factors (specified in the MSCA-PF program and during the orientation period).

Possible mentors for applicants in games and gamification research include the following professors: 

General (any topic)

Education

Management, business, economics

Culture

Researchers interested in applying for the PF grant and working at Tampere University should verify that they fulfill the respective eligibility criteria. 

To do this, you should send an Expression of Interest as soon as possible but latest by April 27, 2022, via email to the mentor you are interested in working with (check the list of available groups/supervisors). with the following email subject: “MSCA PF“. You can also make inquiries to the mentors beforehand about their research groups and possible research topics. The expression of interest should include the following documents and should be in PDF format:

  • A short CV (max 2 pages) 
  • 1 document that contains a short proposal idea/draft (max 1 page)

Before submitting the Eol please check your eligibility:

  • you must have a Ph.D. degree (by September 2022)
  • you must not have more than 8 years of experience in research, from the date of the award of their Ph.D. degree
  • you must not have resided or carried your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Finland for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline (September 2022)

The applicant together with the supervisor is expected to fully commit to the proposal writing process and deadlines. 

Moving forward

You will be informed whether you have matched with a supervisor for the MSCA PF 2022 call by the 29th of April. At that time you will also receive the schedule of the MSCA PF Masterclass 2022.

All applicants that match with a supervisor and fulfill the general eligibility criteria will be invited to our Teams-based Masterclass course by the 29th of April. The TAU MSCA PF Masterclass 2022 will help you prepare a competitive proposal will be starting on the 10th of May from 14:00-15:00.

Gamification Group’s research covers several forms of information technologies such as games, gamification, game-based learning, persuasive technologies, social networking services, online video streaming, eSports, sharing economy, crowdsourcing, virtual economies, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. GG has published several seminal empirical, theoretical, and meta-analytical scholarly articles from the perspective of consumer behavior, human-computer interaction, game studies, and information systems science. GG is the most internationally published research group especially on the topic of gamification, but pursues several topics related to games and novel information technologies. http://gamification.group

Possible topics (but not limited to) that would have a great fit with the Gamification Group are e.g. the following

  • Users: e.g. engagement, player motivations, player experience
  • Education: e.g. serious games, game-based learning,
  • Media: e.g. eSports, streaming
  • Commerce: e.g. business models, free-to-play, gambling, gamification as marketing
  • Work: e.g. organizational gamification, gameful work, gamification in leadership
  • Technology: e.g. virtual reality, augmented reality
  • Toys & play: e.g. toy play, toy design/creation, toys in education, Internet of Toys
  • Health: e.g. quantified self, games for health
  • Culture: e.g. the gamification of everyday life

“Coaching is of paramount importance to any MSCA application. Writing my project at Tampere University was a unique experience that contributed to the application’s success. Professor, researchers and university staff have been helpful, encouraging and they patiently guided me through the whole process, answering immediately all my questions. With their great experience, they helped me to structure, strengthen and enrich my proposal, offering valuable advice from a practical and a methodological perspective. Last but not least, Gamification Group’s environment is an ideal place for a researcher, as it is friendly, inspirational, supportive and a source of great research opportunities.”

— Nikoletta Zampeta Legaki, Gamification Group member, MSCA-IF grantee with the project GANDALF. 

“Coaching is a fundamental asset for any MSCA application. While I was writing my project at Tampere University, researchers and staff have been invaluable advisors: inspiring me and helping strengthen my project both from a practical and methodological perspective. (…) At the Gamification Group I found a dynamic and supportive environment to develop ReClaim, a place full of stimulating discussions and great research opportunities.”

— Mattia Thibault, MSCA-IF grantee with the project ReClaim.

“Preparing my MSCA-IF application was an intense and gratifying experience. While I could focus on writing a research proposal that intersects topics that I am passionate about, having such collective support in this process boosted my application towards this fruitful outcome. For instance, Tampere University’s research services guidance allowed me to understand further what evaluators expect from the proposal and how to address these points through an online workshop and follow-up meetings. Meanwhile, Professor Hamari and Gamification Group researchers’ expertise also ensured the proposal’s quality by introducing different perspectives and providing valuable advice in methodological and practical aspects. Despite the pandemics, the provided support and the collaborative environment made the whole process so enjoyable that I cannot wait to start implementing GamInclusive.”

— Ana Klock, MSCA-IF grantee with the project GamInclusive.

 “I witnessed one of the best experiences as a supervisee while preparing my application for MSCA-IF. Together with my four colleagues from different parts of the world, we were guided by the research services of Tampere University in a 2-day grant-writing workshop followed by a pleasant dinner in Tampere. Still, the workshop was only the hands-on part of this longitudinal support as I had been continuously and rigorously supervised by Juho Hamari, supported by the experts in research services and also by the colleagues in Gamification Group. As a result of this process, GG now hosts three successful MSCA-IF grantees who will also be of help for future applicants.”

— Oğuz Turan Buruk, MSCA-IF grantee with the project WEARTUAL.

“The MSCA-IF process was one of the most professional and supportive experiences I’ve had the joy to encounter. The enthusiasm and coaching provided by the team at the Gamification Group and TAU’s research services team was sustained over a four-month period from the original workshop right through to the final submission. The coaching I received from my supervisor, Professor Juho Hamari was worth its weight in gold in terms of practical and methodological advice in shaping a compelling research proposal. And in my particular case, my project wasn’t successful in its first attempt, but the Gamification Group and TAU believed in me and the project, and supported me in resubmitting an improved proposal the following year – and here we are with a funded project.”

— Marigo Raftopoulos, MSCA-IF grantee with the project Augmented-Humans.

Tampere University is one of the most multidisciplinary universities in Finland. Almost all internationally recognized fields of study are represented at our university.

Tampere University (TAU) was created in January 2019 by the merger of the University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology. TAU is Finland’s second-largest university with 20.000 students and 330 professors. TAU is a partner in the ECIU University, one of the first 17 Erasmus+ European Universities alliances that will become the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionizing the quality and competitiveness of European higher education.

At the new University, technology and social sciences come together in a unique way. Our research groups and projects conduct multidisciplinary research across institutional boundaries.

Welcome to join us at GG @ TAU!

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