Dr. Sylvester Arnab is a Full Professor in Game Science at the Centre for Arts and Creative Cultures. His research focuses on the investigation into how engaging, empathic, and empowering experiences are designed and applied based on strategies and elements commonly used by playful/ludic and game-based approaches (analogue, digital, or hybrid) and how their operations are underpinned by pedagogical and motivational theories and practices

Sylvester is the co-founder of the multi-award winning GameChangers initiative that emphasises an open practice in playful and game-based learning. Gamechangers has informed empathic teaching and learning and community engagement in various countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, towards responding to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

To date, Sylvester has successfully secured research funding with a total value of over £20 million since 2010 (over £10 million as a principal investigator). Funders include the UKRI (AHRC and ESRC), European Commission (FP7, H2020, and Erasmus+), British Council, ISPF, British Academy, NiHR, and HEFCE.

Sylvester has over 150 academic publications, including a book - ‘Game Science in Hybrid Learning Spaces’ - which provides insights into the research and practice of purposeful game design with a focus on hybrid education. He is regularly invited to give public and keynote lectures in various international events. Sylvester is currently supervising 12 PhDs with seven completions and has examined over 10 PhD theses internationally.

Sylvester was previously a researcher at the Centre for Postdigital Cultures, Disruptive Media Learning Lab, Serious Games Institute, and  University of Warwick’s WMG. He graduated with a PhD in Engineering in 2009 from the University of Warwick. 

Personal: http://sylvesterarnab.com

Game Science (gameful/playful design, serious games, game-based learning, gamification, game design thinking); Hybrid learning spaces; Technology-enhanced learning; Pervasive learning and technologies; Trans-disciplinary game-based intervention development; Multi-modal platforms (tactile, wearable, mobile, extended reality)