Skip to main content

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Trinity Menu Trinity Search



Four-year Doctoral Award

A Visual History of Earth System Models from 1972 to Present

Deadline: 4pm on Friday 29 April 2022

Principal Investigator: Dr Timothy Stott

Applications are sought for a fully funded four-year Provost’s PhD Project Award to begin at Trinity College Dublin in September 2022 as part of the research project A Visual History of Earth System Models from 1972 to Present led by Dr Timothy Stott (Trinity College Dublin). The PhD research will be a case study of the visual culture of Met Eireann (The Irish Meteorological Service), with a focus on its contributions to international climate research and to Irish visual culture during this period. The PhD researcher will also work with the PI to develop an analytical framework to study the visual culture of Earth System Science.

In more detail, A Visual History of Earth System Models from 1972 to Present will study ESM visualisations, tracing their history from the world models of the early 1970s through the work of the Earth System Science Committee in the mid-1980s to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) between 1987 and 2015 and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Projects (CMIP), begun in 1995. The project aims:

a. To use the analytical tools of art history and visual culture to study the visual history of ESMs over the past sixty years. b. To study the epistemic, normative, and political aspects of ESM visualisations and the broader visual culture of Earth System Science. c. To historicise ESM visualisations in correspondence with changes in computing, data infrastructures, design trends and technologies, climate science and policy, and the evolution of institutions for ESS collaboration. The successful applicant’s PhD research on Met Eireann will contribute to each of these aims and will offer the first visual history of the organisation.

Potential applicants are invited to email the Principal Investigator, Dr Timothy Stott (stottt@tcd.ie), to consult on their research proposal. The deadline for applications is 4pm on Friday 29 April 2022.

We are looking for applicants with the following qualifications: Essential: • A first-class (or equivalent) undergraduate degree in History of Art, Visual Culture, or History of Science. • Excellent communicative competence in English. • Excellent research and organisational skills. Desirable: • A Master’s degree (completed or in progress) in History of Art, Visual Culture, or History of Science. • Demonstrable experience of using archives and familiarity with oral history approaches. • Willingness to contribute to the research culture of the Department of History of Art and Architecture and the broader School of Histories and Humanities, including the Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities.

Applications for the award must include a personal statement with a research proposal (max. 5 pages), a curriculum vitae with educational history, transcripts of degree results, and two academic references. Prospective students must send these documents to Eilís Dunne at pghishum@tcd.ie by the deadline of 4pm on Friday 29 April 2022. The successful candidate will then make a formal application to TCD via the my.tcd.ie portal and will receive a formal offer in the same manner as other incoming PhD students. Applications will not be considered complete until referees have submitted their references. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by the end of May 2022. Unsuccessful candidates will be considered for other available funding. If the successful candidate does not have English as a first language, s/he will also be required to submit evidence of English language competence at this stage.

Trinity College Dublin is committed to policies, procedures and practices which do not discriminate on grounds such as gender, civil status, family status, age, disability, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or membership of the travelling community. On that basis we encourage and welcome talented people from all backgrounds to join our staff and student body. Trinity’s Diversity Statement can be viewed in full at https://www.tcd.ie/diversity-inclusion/diversity-statement.