PhD Studentship – Modelling Cross-species Behaviour to Discover General Principles of Visual Recognition. How biological systems recognise faces and objects is both an important biological question and one that has applications in engineering. The aim of this studentship is to apply computational modelling to compare how the human visual system and the much simpler honeybee visual system, whose brain is about 0.1% the size of an average human brain, solve the problem of visual recognition.
Knowledge of how different biological visual systems solve the vision problem can lead to the development of better artificial machine vision systems that can be adapted for particular tasks. Based on our previous behavioural work with humans and bees, our hypothesis is that there is a core set of general principles (eg algorithms) that many biological systems implement to solve difficult recognition problems. Importantly, these principles are simple enough to be implemented by the miniature bee brain yet powerful enough for visual recognition.
The successful applicant will model behavioural data obtained from humans and bees performing similar recognition tasks to derive these principles and potentially apply them to machine vision systems.
The Institute of Neuroscience is a leading centre for the study of brain and behaviour, with a unique infrastructure for neuroimaging, and state-of-the-art equipment for studying and modeling human and animal behaviour. The Institute also supports a thriving postgraduate student community. The applicant thus has an ideal opportunity to join an active environment which integrates research on human vision, systems neuroscience, computational neuroscience and evolution to understand brain and behaviour.
Project start date: on or before 30th March 2010
Eligibility and Value of the Award
Due to funding criteria, this studentship is open to UK applicants only. The award covers tuition fees at the UK rate and an annual stipend (approximately £13,290).
Person Specification
Applicants must have a first–class or upper-second-class Honours degree, or equivalent, in computer science, psychology, neuroscience, or a related discipline. Applicants should also have a strong interest in vision and its neural bases, and programming experience (eg Matlab, C).
How to Apply
You must apply through the University’s postgraduate application form, inserting the reference number ION89 and selecting ‘PhD in the Faculty of Medical Sciences – Neuroscience’ as the programme of study. Only mandatory fields need to be completed (no personal statement required), and you must attach a covering letter, CV and (if English is not your first language) a copy of your English language qualifications. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote the reference number ION89 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project.
You should also send your covering letter and CV to Scott Macmillan, Postgraduate Secretary, Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, or by email to scott.macmillan@ncl.ac.uk.
Closing date: 15th January 2010
Further Information
To find out more about the studentship contact q.c.vuong@ncl.ac.uk (or at +44 (0) 191 222 6183). To find out more about how to apply contact scott.macmillan@ncl.ac.uk.