Mike Phillips

Academic profile

Professor Mike Phillips

Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts
School of Art, Design and Architecture (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business)

The Global Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Mike's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

Goal 04: SDG 4 - Quality EducationGoal 06: SDG 6 - Clean Water and SanitationGoal 08: SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic GrowthGoal 09: SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and InfrastructureGoal 11: SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesGoal 13: SDG 13 - Climate ActionGoal 14: SDG 14 - Life Below WaterGoal 17: SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

About Mike

Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts, University of Plymouth, School of Art, Design and Architecture, Faculty of Arts and Humanities:

Mike Phillips R&D orbits a portfolio of projects that explore the ubiquity of data ‘harvested’ from an instrumentalised world and its potential as a material for revealing things that lie outside our normal frames of reference - things so far away, so close, so massive, so small and so ad infinitum. He is co-editor of Ubiquity, The Journal of Pervasive Media http://www.ubiquityjournal.net/

He manages the Fulldome Immersive Vision Theatre, a transdisciplinary instrument for manifesting (im)material and imaginary worlds. The IVT supports interdisciplinary projects working with the Plymouth Dental and Medical Schools, Deep Physics and Astronomy groups, Earth Sciences, Psychology, Architecture and Environmental Building, as well as providing public screenings and supporting artists, musicians and performers through residencies and workshops. The IVT was instrumental in establishing IMERSA and the biennale Fulldome UK festival at the National Space Centre.

Phillips is an active member of an international transdisciplinary community that engages with immersive, interactive and performative technologies. He sits on the ISEA International Board (Secretary), the Arts Council England SW Digital Reference Group, and is a founding Partner and Organiser of FullDome UK (www.fulldome.org.uk/).

Other transdisciplinary work includes Atomic Force Microscopy based projects: ‘Exposure’, exhibited at UCLA Art Sci Centre, California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), Los Angeles, USA; ‘spectre [ˈspɛktə/]’, Schauraum. MuseumsQuartier, Museumsplatz Wien, Austria; ‘A Mote it is…’ Art in the Age of Nano Technology, John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA. Other digital projects include: ‘Constellation Columbia" a zero gravity work for Parabolic flight from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training. Centre, Russia. Courtesy of The Arts Catalyst: MIR Campaign 2003, Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, Russia; SciArt funded (Wellcome Trust, ACE, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation) ‘STI Project’ (Search of Terrestrial Intelligence) in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).

Supervised Research Degrees

PhD Supervision:

  • Current students as DoS: 12.
  • As other supervisor: 14.
  • Completions: 57.

(Students located in i-DAT, CODEX, Planetary Collegium (Plymouth, Milan & Zurich), Cognovo, Robotics and Geology).

PGR Examinations:

Internal Examiner:   Plymouth University: 12. Chair: 5

External Examiner:   17 [Bournemouth University: 2 / Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL: 2 / Leeds Beckett University: 1 / University of Brighton: 2 / Edinburgh Napier University: 1 / Edinburgh University: 2 / Goldsmiths, University of London: 1 / Kent Institute of Art & Design: 1 / De Montfort University: 1 / University of Salford: 1 / University of New South Wales: 1 / University of Wales Trinity Saint David: 1 / University of Westminster: 1 / University of Huddersfield: 1 /

Funding for studentships, residencies and research projects secured from: 5 F/T, 2 P/T 3D3 AHRC CDT, 3 F/T Co-I: EU FP7 Marie Curie ITN (€4.1m) "CogNovo: Cognitive Innovation" and ALErT, developing immersive geological simulations. ESF 1 F/T, Onasis Foundation 1 F/T, CAPES 1 F/T, Alban 1 F/T, British Council Artist Link Inhabit program (residency, Brazil), Canadian Council for the Arts (residency and research project), Arts Council England (Grant for the Arts and project funding), Plymouth City Council (partner funding), AHRC (Art Science Fellowship), EPSRC (RA and Project funding), ERDF (RA and project funding) as well as a variety of smaller project funds from partners and collaborators.

Director of CODEX [www.codex-research.net/] an international Postgraduate Research network operating in the volatile and dynamic space that frames new interdisciplinary art and design practices. Full-Time PhD consists of an 18-month Residency Period in the UK followed by a Mobility period in the collaborating institution: Jiangnan University, Wuxi (China National Light Industry Key Laboratory of Industrial Design and Experience Design Frontier Methodology and Technology Innovation Research Centre), Nanjing University of the Arts and Soochow University.

i-DAT's Research Activity can be found here: http://i-dat.org/research/

Teaching

Main area of focus: critical, practical and creative processes required for the production of interactive digital and temporal media, data manifestation and visualization. These activities foster experimentation and conceptual understanding of interactive design processes, establishing 'Ergodynamic' design strategies and critical conceptual skills, combined with technical production skills.

Modules:

  • ADA700. Postgraduate Research Methods Training
  • MRes Digital Art & Technology. Project and Dissertation supervisions.
  • BA/BSc Digital Media Design / BA Game Art & Design / BA/BSc Internet Design / MRes/ResM Digital Art & Technology.: Final Stage Project and Dissertation supervisions.
  • DAT715: Invisible Architecture
  • DAT515: Programming Audio/Visual Experiences.

Supervision of Industrial Placement students on BA/BSc (Hons) Digital Media Design.

Previous:

2007 - 10: TQEF RiT (Research Informed Teaching) Projects ‘Development of multi-disciplinary content for the IVT’ and ‘Development of a Cross-Faculty Centre for Creative Design and Technology’ (reports submitted 04/2009, Phillips, M. and James, N.).

2000: Founder and Director of the Institute of Digital Art and Technology, University of Plymouth. Funded by ERDF Award £11,640, HEIF/RDA Award £38,774 and ESF & HEROBIC Award £116,406.

1997 - 04: Deputy Director of STAR (Science Technology and Arts Research) PhD Supervisor / researcher. The STAR research group became i-DAT on the demise in 2004 of CAiiA-STAR Integrated PhD Programme, which became the Planetary Collegium.

1997 - 07: Interactive Media Subject Group Leader, School of Computing, Faculty of Technology, University of Plymouth. Became i-DAT in 2004.

1994 - 98: Staff Development and Industrial Courses: Discovering Multimedia, Exploring Multimedia, Producing Multimedia. A variety of short courses delivered by satellite.

1989 - 92: Lecturer Media (New Technology), Full time. Exeter Faculty of Arts & Design, Polytechnic South West. Specific responsibilities for coordinating: Media Technologies, 3rd Yr Fine Art 4D.

1988 - 89: 0.5 Full time Lecturer Film, Video, Publishing, Department of Arts Communication, Exeter Faculty of Arts & Design, Polytechnic South West. P/T lecturer - Media/Time Base, North Devon College of F.E.

1987 - 89: Fellow and P/T Lecturer on: Publishing & Book Production (Postgraduate); Film & Video (Fine Art B.A.); Photo/TimeBased (BTEC); CAD, 3D (B.A.). Exeter College of Art & Design.

1985: Teaching Assistant In Narrative & Documentary Video module B.A. & M.A. students, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Massachusetts.