By 
Creative Industries Theme Leader and Programme Leader, Game Design and Production
Tel: 01382 308177| r.sloan@abertay.ac.uk | www.robinjss.co.uk|@RobinJSS
Division of Games and Arts, School of Design and Informatics, Abertay University
I have won follow-up funding for the two Scottish Crucible projects I was involved with:
- Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee (Robin Sloan and Adrian Saurin – Scottish Crucible 2015) – internship funding to develop “The Enemy Within” project for web.
- University of Dundee/Wellcome Trust (Adrian Saurin and Robin Sloan) – funding to further develop and evaluate The Enemy Within project.
- BA/Leverhulme (Marisa Wilson, Emma Bond – both Scottish Crucible 2015 and Robin Sloan) – funding to continue our archive and game-design research as part of our Sugaropolis project.
Marisa, Emma and I have also had unsuccessful grants submitted to SGSAH and AHRC (Immersive Experiences call), but are hoping to build on this momentum with a network grant that we will develop in the new year.
To reflect on my SC experience, I’ve recently been promoted to the Creative Industries Theme Leader at Abertay University, which accounts for 1/3 of my workload. At Abertay we have four research themes, so my role involves leading our research and KE related to Creative Industries theme (the others being Society, Security, and Environment). I used my SC training and experience as the foundation for applying for this role.
I’m continuing to develop interdisciplinary proposals and collaborations going forward, particularly in the space of digital mental health. I feel my SC experience has prepared me for this complex research work across disciplines and involving diverse stakeholders. Currently this work involves: co-leadership of three connected PhD studentships that are tasked with researching game design to assist families whose wellbeing is adversely affected by cancer diagnosis; continued development of a VR mindfulness game, which I presented at Chi Play in October; and the Dundee and Me project (collaboration with a psychologist, creative writer, and two geographers) which seeks to research how our wellbeing is affected by the environment.
