ICS News Archive

Informatics Ph.D. Candidate Daniel Gardner Selected as ARCS Scholar

The Advancing Science in America (ARCS) Foundation supports the “best and brightest” scholars in the U.S. It advances science and technology by “providing financial awards to academically outstanding U.S. citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering and medical research.” One such scholar is Informatics Ph.D. candidate Daniel Gardner.

“I am honored to have been selected,” says Gardner, adding that it provides him with a sense of “financial relief.” The $5,000 stipend for 2018-19 (and eligibility for an additional $5,000 stipend the following year) allows him to focus on completing his research and writing his dissertation. Through his research, he is examining how socio-cultural institutions and systems of authority can materialize in the design of digital media.

“I study various interfaces or systems that operate on the peripheral of the central designed intent of video games and digital media, but that tend to govern how we access or experience the media infrastructures we consume,” he explains. “My research helps to illustrate the values and power structures that pervade our systems of digital media.”

Gardner hopes to eventually land a tenure-track position at a university. “I love to teach and do research, so that would be the best possible situation.”

The ARCS Foundation has awarded more than $100 million to ARCS Scholars in top-rated STEM programs at leading U.S. universities since its founding in 1958.

— Shani Murray