[alife] PhD Positions in Active Sonar in Denmark and Belgium

[John Hallam]

Active Sonar Perception Inspired by Bats

... at Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium, and University of
Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark in the framework of the EU project
ChiroPing (01/02/2008 -- 31/01/2011).

ChiroPing is a multidisciplinary research collaboration between 4
universities in the area of sensing for autonomous systems.

The principal objective of the project is to discover how to engineer
embodied active sonar perception systems which can serve as a complement
to vision and facilitate the deployment of robotic systems in situations
where vision is infeasible.

The project will implement and evaluate two demonstration systems built
as biomimetic models of an insect gleaning and a water-trawling bat
species respectively. It will use a classic biomimetic methodology,
involving close collaboration between bat ethologists and roboticists.
It will proceed by identifying and measuring the relevant acoustic and
morphological parameters of a few carefully selected bat species,
reconstructing from that the bat's acoustic experience as it flies
through natural hunting tasks. From this data, computational models of
how the bat coordinates its acoustic, behavioural and morphological
choices during hunting will be elicited and implemented on appropriate
robotic systems.

For further information on the project, see
    http://www.chiroping.org/

Recruitment to a Ph. D. position (3 years)
===========================================

What we expect:
---------------

Recent Masters-level expertise, or equivalent, in one of the areas of
acoustics, robotics or signal processing. Extensive expertise in C
programming and mathematics, signal analysis and/or pattern
recognition is necessary.

What we offer:
--------------

We offer a full-time paid position with a maximum duration of 3 years
on an exciting research project in an active and reputable research
group. The gross salary for the Ph. D. position will be according to
the standard rates and conditions at the employing institution, either
Universiteit Antwerpen or University of Southern Denmark.

Information and application
---------------------------

For information and application to Universiteit Antwerpen please contact: 
Prof. dr. ir. Herbert Peremans, herbert.peremans at ua.ac.be

For information on Chiroping at University of Southern Denmark (SDU) please
contact:  Professor John Hallam, john at mmmi.sdu.dk

For application to SDU, please apply for the position advertised here:
http://www.jobs.sdu.dk/vis_stilling.php?id=3894&lang=eng
-- information on obtaining and completing the SDU application form can
be found at http://www.chiroping.org/sdu-phd.html