{"id":145748,"date":"2026-07-01T08:58:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/?post_type=hdr-r-projects&p=145748"},"modified":"2026-07-01T08:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:58:46","slug":"tools-for-living-in-more-than-human-worlds","status":"publish","type":"hdr-r-projects","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/hdr-r-projects\/tools-for-living-in-more-than-human-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"Tools for Living in More-than-Human Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How do the tools we use to navigate and represent the world shape what we can imagine, and how do those imaginings reshape the tools themselves? This practice-based PhD project investigates the circular relationship between tools and worlds in the context of more-than-human life. \u201cTools\u201d is understood expansively here: from maps, instruments, and design methodologies to genetic codes, algorithmic systems, and ecological practices. The project is situated within the Ecologies of Imagination Micro Lab at Curtin University\u2019s School of Design and the Built Environment, a transdisciplinary research initiative that examines how creative practice can respond constructively to ecological crises and rapid technological transformation. Treating biological organisms and computational systems as parallel forms of other-than-human agency, the Lab engages with processes of living and simulated living through creative practice to reveal opportunities for new ecologies and agencies. The candidate will work within this intellectual framework to develop original creative works and design methodologies that expand our capacity to live, navigate, and make meaning alongside biological and synthetic Others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aim\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project aims to develop new tools for practising more-than-human world-making. Drawing on speculative design, feminist and decolonial frameworks, cybernetics, and ecological thinking, the project aims to produce \u2013 within the context of a creative practice-based PHD research \u2013 an original body of work that critically examines and expands the repertoire of tools available to designers, artists, and researchers engaging with more-than-human ecologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objectives <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The candidate will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Conduct a critical survey of existing tools through which more-than-human relationships are navigated, represented, and imagined, drawing on the Lab\u2019s case study collection and archival research with partner institutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Develop an original body of design or art practice that proposes new or transformed tools for living in more-than-human worlds, engaging with either biological others (animals, plants, ecological systems) or technological others (AI, algorithms, generative systems), or their intersection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Articulate and test new methodologies for practice-based research in more-than-human design, contributing to emergent debates in speculative design, posthumanist and decolonial design theory, and the environmental humanities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Situate the practice in relation to existing scholarly literature and the Micro Lab\u2019s broader research programme, including its investigation of scripts, agency, and ecological imagination.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Significance <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Ecologies of Imagination Micro Lab occupies a distinctive space within a unified conception of technicity grounded in community and ecological life. This RTP project will offer a candidate the opportunity to make a contribution to a field of growing urgency. As ecological crises accelerate and AI reshapes our built and social environments, the question of what tools we need, and who and what those tools serve, has hardly ever been more pressing. The project will generate original scholarly and practice-based contributions to the fields of speculative design, posthumanist design theory, and the environmental humanities. The internship component, embedded in archival research with local museum and collections partners, will extend the project\u2019s community reach and situate the candidate\u2019s practice in relation to existing material and cultural archives of more-than-human life in the Western Australian context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ideal Candidate <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Additionally, the applicants should meet the eligibility criteria for entry into a PhD program at Curtin University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This project is open to Domestic applicants only.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Internship<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The project\u2019s internship component connects the candidate to local museum and collections partners, supporting archival research in the Lab\u2019s developing case study collection. More information about the internship will be provided at a later date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Scholarship  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you are identified as the preferred candidate for this project, you may be considered for an RTP scholarship<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Enquires and How to Apply <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For enquires about this opportunity contact Dr Monika Lukowska-Appel at\u00a0Monika.Lukowska@curtin.edu.au<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To formally apply submit an\u00a0Expression of Interest<\/a>\u00a0to Dr Monika Lukowska-Appel during the Central Scholarship round (July 1st – July 31st 2026)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":0,"template":"","faculties":[50],"hdr_types":[5487],"research_areas":[],"class_list":["post-145748","hdr-r-projects","type-hdr-r-projects","status-publish","hentry","faculties-humanities","hdr_types-rtp-scholarship"],"acf":false,"featured_image":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hdr-r-projects\/145748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hdr-r-projects"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hdr-r-projects"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hdr-r-projects\/145748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faculties","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculties?post=145748"},{"taxonomy":"hdr_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hdr_types?post=145748"},{"taxonomy":"research_areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research_areas?post=145748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}