University of Ulster

The Intelligent Systems Research Centre invites applications for PhD studentships for the following projects. All studentships start in September 2013, include tuition fees, and an annual maintenance allowance of approximately £13,000. If you wish to apply for a studentship please follow the instructions at: http://www.compeng.ulster.ac.uk/rgs/

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PhD STUDENTSHIP COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED AS OF FRIDAY 8TH MARCH

Bio-Inspired Modelling and Neuroengineering

ADVANCE: Alzheimer’s Disease investigation with Astrocyte-Neuron Coupling Experimentation

Prof Liam Maguire, Dr Liam McDaid

CORIMAN: Content Representation of IMAges using Neuro-circuits

Dr. Ammar Belatreche, Prof. Liam Maguire

DaVis: Process Control Data Visualisation

Dr. Ammar Belatreche, Dr. Yuhua Li

Advanced Approaches to Data Intensive Systems

Dr. Yuhua Li, Prof. Liam Maguire

Intelligent Techniques for Improving Efficiency and Quality for Semiconductor Manufacturing

Dr. Yuhua Li, Prof. Liam Maguire

Active Novelty Detection for Surveillance of Safety-Critical Systems

Dr. Yuhua Li, Dr. Ammar Belatreche

EMBRACE: High-speed On-Chip Communication for Brain-inspired Computers

Dr. Jim Harkin, Dr. Liam Mc Daid

Flexi-NoC: Acceleration of Neural Information Processing using Networks-on-Chip and FPGAs

Dr. Jim Harkin, Dr. Ammar Belatreche

HidInImage+: Accelerating Steganography using Embedded Hardware

Dr. Jim Harkin, Dr. Joan Condell

SOSNN: Self-Organisation in Spiking Neural Networks

Dr. Ammar Belatreche, Dr. Yuhua Li

SpikeTemp: Temporal Signal Processing and Learning with Spiking Neural Networks

Prof. Liam Maguire, Dr. John Wade

Cognitive Robotics

Image planes, Spike-trains, and Auto-visual recognition

Dr. Sonya Coleman, Dr. Dermot Kerr

A Bio-Inspired Approach to Real-time Video and Image Processing

Prof. Bryan Scotney, Dr. Sonya Coleman, Dr. Bryan Gardiner

Robotic Vision using A Kinect (RoboVAK)

Prof. Bryan Scotney, Dr. Sonya Coleman

Intelligent Learning Algorithms for Networked Robotics (I-Learner)

Dr. Sonya Coleman, Dr. Anjan Kumar Ray

Intelligent Visual Servoing for Real Time Object Tracking

Dr. Sonya Coleman, Dr. Anjan Kumar Ray

Robot Skill Building from Human Demonstration

Prof. Martin Mc Ginnity, Dr. Bryan Gardiner

Biometric Surveillance Solutions based on Gait Recognition

Dr. Joan Condell, Prof. Girijesh Prasad

RoboFetch – Intelligent Object Identification and Retrieval

Dr. Laxmidhar Behera, Dr I Rano,Dr. Philip Vance

Modular Learning Architecture for Robots

Dr. NH. Siddique, Dr. Laxmidhar Behera

A Computational Model of cooperative social behaviour in robots

Dr. NH. Siddique, Dr. Laxmidhar Behera

Nanoelectronics

BRAIN: A new brain model using nanoscale memristors

Dr. Liam Mc Daid, Dr. Jim Harkin

BITTS: A New Generation of Brain Like Supercomputers

Dr. Liam Mc Daid, Dr. Jim Harkin

BRAINWAVE: Information processing in the Brain

Dr. Liam Mc Daid, Dr. Ammar Belatreche, Dr. John Wade

Serious Games and Virtual Worlds

Next Generation of Virtual World Environments for the Education of Midwives in Preparation for Stillbirth and Problem Birthing Scenarios

Dr. Joan Condell, Dr. Jim Harkin, Mr. Michael Callaghan

Brain Computer Interfacing

A brain-actuated shadow robot hand for neuro-rehabilitation

Prof. Girijesh Prasad, Prof. Martin Mc Ginnity

hBCI: Hybrid Brain-Computer Interface – Communicating using Brainwaves and Facial Expression

Dr. Joan Condell, Dr. Damien Coyle

Auto-detection of dynamical changes in bio-electric brain-signals during emotional processing

Prof. Girijesh Prasad, Dr. Muhammad Naeem, Dr. Kongfatt Wong-Lin

Brain-computer interface –Controlling Robots using Brainwaves

Dr. Damien Coyle, Dr. Nazmul Siddique

Eye tracker and brain wave supported multimodal brain computer interface

Prof. Girijesh Prasad, Dr. Kongfatt Wong-Lin, Dr. Rakesh K. Sinha

Advancing Brain-computer interface with multi-sensor integration

Dr. NH. Siddique, Prof. Girijesh Prasad, Dr. Rakesh K. Sinha

Adaptive Learning for Modelling Evolving Systems in non-stationary environment

Prof. Hui Wang, Prof. Girijesh Prasad

Ambient Technologies

People Movement Prediction Using Mobile Devices

Dr. Kevin Curran, Dr. Sandra Moffett, Dr Jose Santos

Content Centric Networking – Bringing location to data resources on the Internet

Dr. Kevin Curran, Mr. Aiden McCaughey, Dr T Lunney

Mobile Robot Navigation through Wireless Location Positioning

Dr. Kevin Curran, Dr T Lunney, Mr. Derek Woods

Computational Neuroscience

Computational modelling and data analysis of neural development and related brain disorders

Prof. Martin Mc Ginnity, Dr. Kongfatt Wong Lin, Dr. David Watson

The roles of non-neural astrocyte cells in emergent computation and brain disorders – a new computational paradigm

Dr. Kongfatt Wong Lin, Dr. Liam Mc Daid

Neural Modelling of Multiple Neuromodulator Interactions

Dr. Kongfatt Wong Lin, Prof. Martin Mc Ginnity

Modelling the neurobiology of stress, anxiety and depression

Dr. Kongfatt Wong Lin, Prof. Martin Mc Ginnity

B2B: Brain-to-brain – Bidrectional coupling in social interactions and coordination

Prof. Scott Kelso, Dr. Damien Coyle

Investigating Brain connectivity changes in Alzheimer’s diseases using fMRI and DTI methods

Dr. Damien Coyle, Dr. Xingfeng Li, Dr. Arun Bodke

Investigating Alzheimer’s Disease using Large Scale Models of Mammalian Thalamocortical Networks

Prof. Liam Maguire, Dr. Damien Coyle

Development of Fibre Tracking Algorithm with Application to Ageing Brain

Prof. Martin Mc Ginnity, Dr. Sonya Coleman

The Brain Computer Interface (BCI) research group is featured in the recently released Parliamentary Report on R&D in Assistive Technology published by the Department of Health. The report is authored by the Foundation for Assistive Technology (FAST) and contains a comprehensive review of the projects undertaken across the UK between April 2011 and March 2012 that aim to develop innovative technologies to support older and disabled people to maximise their independence.

The report includes a comprehensive listing of over 300 publicly-funded research projects, providing a summary of each project. Around 30 projects that concluded within the year are featured in detail to highlight the potential for assistive technology to transform people’s lives.

A project undertaken by the BCI group entitled, "Intelligent Pre- and Post-Processing Algorithms for Autonomous Multiclass Brain-Computer Interfaces", is featured on page 22 of the report. The aim was to produce an accurate and fast BCI system which can be easily configured using advanced signal processing tools

The latest Parliamentary report is on the Department of Health website here http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/files/2012/07/Research-and-development-work-relating-to-Assistive-Technology-2011-12.pdf and is available on the FAST website, together with previous reports, via this link http://fastuk.org/research/fastannualrdreport.php.

More information on the research of the BCI team can be found here http://isrc.ulster.ac.uk/Brain-Computer-Interfacing-and-Assistive-Technologies-Team/Home.html

Computational Intelligence Modeling of Market Contagion

Overview:

With Invest Northern Ireland, the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast, five of the world's leading capital markets firms have come together to establish a research collaboration in Capital Markets Engineering. This initiative represents a unique opportunity for those wishing to develop expertise in this essential sector for the economy and to gain experience with these prestigious companies: New York Stock Exchange Technologies, Citi, First Derivatives, Fidessa, and Kofax. ILEX in Derry/Londonderry is strongly supporting the initiative.

We now wish to recruit an additional PhD student for this exciting initiative. The PhD studentship will be based at the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) on the Magee campus of the University of Ulster in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is envisaged that the student will also spend a considerable amount of time at the company locations. The studentship, while distinct and individually tailored, will enhance and contribute to the overall objective of creating a significant research collaboration between industry and the two universities, by addressing complementary problems of interest to the overall consortium of companies.

Please click here for a brief description of the project

For more information please contact Professor T.M. McGinnity at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Or visit the website of the Intelligent Systems Research Centre: http://isrc.ulster.ac.uk/

Eligibility:

These are international studentships and we invite applications from students worldwide.  Candidates should hold, or expect to hold by 15 August 2012, a first class or 2:1 honours degree in a relevant branch of engineering, mathematics, computer science or a closely related discipline. An appropriate degree at Masters level will be an advantage.

Funding:

The studentship covers tuition fees and a tax-free stipend of £13,590 per annum.

Duration and closing date:

The studentship will be of 3 years duration, subject to satisfactory progress, commencing September 2012. Closing date for applications is 13 June 2012.

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How to apply:

Please complete an application form at www.ulster.ac.uk/applyonline

This form should be completed and returned to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Further information can be found at the website of the research office of the University of Ulster:
http://research.ulster.ac.uk/info/prospective/application.html