About Us

The eCentre was established originally in the School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences (CMS) focusing primarily on the development of multimedia, web and e-learning technologies. It has since developed, in combination with the university’s Educational Development Unit, to become a university-wide, multi-disciplinary research centre, with a focus on the development and utilisation of digital technologies.

The centre is run by an executive, composed of the Dean of CMS, Dr Liz Bacon, the Head of the Educational Development Unit, Simon Walker, and Professor Lachlan MacKinnon who has a strategic development responsibility for computing research.

The centre acts as an umbrella for a number of research groups, both within and across the university's Schools and also provides a focus for a growing number of PhD students.

Institutionally, the centre provides the opportunity for a large number of academic staff to develop and report good quality academic practice in the use of digital technologies, and the opportunity to develop new technological solutions to academic problems. However, the centre is not focussed solely on academic issues, and therefore also provides the opportunity for academic staff to work together across disciplines in solving real-world problems, from industry, private and public sector, using digital technologies.

The growth in the use of social networking technologies and other next generation communication and distribution media, combined with the interest in user-generated content, also features large in the agenda of the centre.

In common with CMS, the eCentre also has a particular interest in the provision of services and the development of applications to develop “socially responsible” computing, providing opportunities for our academic staff and students to address a number of the issues arising from changes in social policy and practice.

The centre also provides a range of seminars and workshops for various topics across the remit of the research groups, and hosts an annual international conference on the use and application of digital technologies in academic practice called APT (Academic Practice and Technologies).