[Air-L] Virtual Lab, call for bids

Frans Mäyrä frans.mayra at uta.fi
Wed Apr 7 00:07:53 PDT 2010


Hi - this might hopefully be of interest to the readers of this list; please
also feel free forward this call to any company or individual you know is
working on web analytics, online user research tools, game player research,
or with tools for multi-method Internet research. Thanks! - Frans

*Invitation for Tenders: A Virtual Lab*

The social, cultural and economic significance of different virtual spaces
(e.g. online learning environments, virtual game worlds, social networking
services) has grown steadily during the last decades. At the same time, the
need for innovative research methods and tools has increased. In Finland,
the Universities of Jyväskylä, Tampere and the Technical University of
Tampere have opened an open call for bids for implementing a compact
‘virtual laboratory’ to facilitate research and education in virtual spaces.

At this stage, we are looking for proposals that specify an implementation
that is particularly focused on qualitative research methods (e.g. online
surveys, self-reporting, user diaries), but multi-method approach, and plans
that somehow integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches are
considered as a merit. The maximum cost of tenders cannot exceed 12 000
euros (VAT included). Solutions that propose utilization of open source
software and implementation mashups of existing social media and analysis
tools are very welcome. The Virtual Lab service will be implemented to a
server which the customer will specify; the technical details will be
negotiated and agreed upon with the maker of chosen bid. Further information
is available from: Professor Frans Mäyrä (UTA; frans.mayra at uta.fi) and
Professor Päivi Häkkinen (JYU; paivi.hakkinen at ktl.jyu.fi). The completed
tenders, including possible references of earlier successful projects that
are related to the fields of social media, virtual worlds and tools for
analysis, are asked to send by 5th May, 2010 as an email attachment to
address: paivi.hakkinen at ktl.jyu.fi.

The Cluster for Excellence in Future Learning and Game Research is part of
the University Alliance Finland, and a joint spearhead project of the
research groups located in the University of Jyväskylä, University of
Tampere, and the Technical University of Tampere. Our goal is to advance the
understanding and knowhow related to online learning and gaming from both
pedagogic, entertainment and technically oriented perspectives. More
information about the work of research groups is available from the
Internet:

http://gamelab.uta.fi/ - University of Tampere, INFIM Game Research Lab
http://ktl.jyu.fi/ktl/tutkimus/tvt - University of Jyväskylä, Human-centred
ICT in learning and working environments
https://www.jyu.fi/tutkimus/hankkeita/agl - University of Jyväskylä, Agora
Game Lab http://www.tut.fi/amc - Tampere University of Technology, Advanced
Multimedia Center http://matriisi.ee.tut.fi/hypermedia/en/research/ -
Tampere University of Technology, Hypermedia Laboratory

-- 

| Frans Mäyrä, PhD * Professor of Digital Culture & Game Studies
|    Department of Information Studies & Interactive Media ///
|   Games Research Lab * University of Tampere * Finland /////
|   www.uta.fi/laitokset/infim/ * http://gamelab.uta.fi //////
| frans.mayra at uta.fi *gsm +358503367650 *fax +358335517503 ///
| www.unet.fi/fransblog **** www.uta.fi/~frans.mayra /////////





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