Drs Ralph Schroeder and Matthijs den Besten are the first James Martin Research Fellows to join the James Martin School e-Horizons Institute, effective from 1 April 2006.
Dr Schroeder will be based in the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and will play a key role as the e-Horizons Institute develops, connecting the OII and the social sciences with the Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC) and computer science at Oxford. He will continue to fulfil his roles within existing OII research projects, including the ESRC’s World Wide Web of Science and Oxford e-Social Science Node.
Dr den Besten will be based in the Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC) and will identify and examine large-scale online information and communication technology breakthroughs focused through the lens of e-Research, enabling the wider consequences to be explored through the e-Horizons Institute. Formerly he was a research assistant on a JISC funded project, ‘Institutional Infrastructures of e-Science’, while based in the OII.
Professor Bill Dutton, Director of the OII, said that Dr Schroeder’s ongoing work on virtual environments, combined with his current research on the social dimensions of the e-Sciences, enables him to raise critical questions about the future of communications, and play a major role in the e-Horizons Institute.
Professor Paul Jeffreys, co-Director of the OeRC, said that Dr den Besten will provide an essential link between the application-driven research of the OeRC and consequent evaluation, analysis and examination of ICT breakthroughs. He will explore the way ICT can enable transformations in arenas of society from research, to commerce and public services, to everyday household and entertainment activities.
The e-Horizons Institute (established in 2005) conducts research on the coming breakthroughs in e-science that could have wider social and economic implications in other sectors of society. It is a collaboration between the Oxford e-Research Centre and the Oxford Internet Institute. It is supported by and affiliated with the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford.
The Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC) is a new focus for e-Research in the University and in the region. It builds on the activities and community generated by the Oxford e-Science Centre over the last 5 years. The OeRC acts as a facilitator for new e-Research projects across the University, undertakes research to determine future requirements for supporting ICT technologies, evaluates, implement and supports use of existing technologies, and develops essential technologies with other departments, institutions and industry.
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK’s leading research and training agency addressing economic and social concerns. It is an independent organisation, established by Royal Charter, but receives most funding through the UK Government’s Office of Science and Technology.
Senior Research Fellow
Ralph Schroeder has interests in shared virtual environments and the sociology of science and technology. His current research is related to digital media and populism, climate change online, AI and social theory, and the internet in China and India.
Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford
The e-Horizons Institute researched the coming technological breakthroughs in e-science that will have cross-sector social and economic implications as they are taken up by business, government and other actors.