Scholar/Researcher-in-Residence Program

Applications accepted on an ongoing basis for Scholar/Researcher residencies.

EMPAC offers residencies for visiting scholars and researchers whose research is directed at the intersection of physical, human-scale environments and the technological domain.

We provide large-scale venues and studios designed and constructed to the highest quality required for scientific and technological research and development that links sensory perception and human expression with unique computational and technological capabilities.

Our facility is a singular environment where access to space, infrastructure, and connectivity offer the researcher an ideal place to test and develop new ideas and technologies, in the context of a research university. In addition to our in-house facilities, Rensselaer recently opened one of the world’s most powerful supercomputer systems based exclusively at a university. This computational super cluster can be integrated with the multi-modal potential that EMPAC can facilitate.

We provide the platform for inter- and trans-disciplinary research activities in areas such as augmented reality, virtual reality, scientific visualization, audification, haptics, human/machine interfaces and interaction, auralization, and multi-modal modeling in large-scale, fully media-integrated, many-user studios, venues and facilities.

Offering these facilities with their wide-ranging opportunities to researchers, scientists, engineers and artists, we invite visiting scholars and researchers to participate in, benefit from, and contribute to the creation of an intellectual force in the national and international context of scientific and engineering disciplines that may also engage perceptual and artistic knowledge and practice.

Visiting scholars and researchers in residence are encouraged to apply for longer stays or affiliations that span over several residency periods. Prospective visitors may apply for limited travel and accommodation support, but also should expect to come with their own research funds. This program is an ideal match for scholars on sabbatical and for researchers with specific requirements which EMPAC can meet. Teaching in one of the academic departments at Rensselaer may be part of the residency. Residencies may also be granted to teams working on a joint project or developing new approaches, especially if they involve Rensselaer faculty and students.

The EMPAC building opened in October 2008. As this residency program is one of the many new initiatives we create, its implementation will be shaped in an ongoing way by inquiries coming from the research community.

For further information, please contact us.

Image: © Peter Aaron / Esto