The Media Research Group (MRG) in the School of Creative Arts is an interdisciplinary group of researchers working across a range of media and cultural studies fields. The group consists of theorists, practitioners and industry experts in video games, animation, comics, film, television, photography, music, social media and performance.

At the heart of our research is a focus on interaction and convergence in 21st century media. In our present digital age, media forms are increasingly interdependent and yet continue in their traditions. With this in mind, the social, ethical and technical challenges presented by a study of such media form the basis of much of the research of our group, with many of our members’ interests including digital and interactive media as well as transmedia approaches.

MRG members work with a wide range of media organisations including Sky TV, Warner Brothers, BFI, Elstree Studios, Sony PlayStation, CILECT and the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office. The MRG includes the Games and Visual Effects Research Lab (G+VERL) and works with local cultural organisations and charities including The Elstree Project. Our work on digital comics is funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.

Like other research groups in the School, the MRG hosts a range of international conferences and symposia, as well as regular research seminars featuring talks by members and guest speakers from all disciplines. We work alongside the Media Research Group in the School of Humanities and share many common themes.

As with other groups, our research students are key members and benefit from world-leading academic expertise and state-of the art equipment. We are able to supervise research degrees in a variety of media related subjects.