PhD Studentships in Spatial Audio and Vision, UK
PhD Studentships in Spatial Audio and Vision
S3A: Future Spatial Audio for Immersive Listener Experience at Home
Five fully-funded PhD Studentships are available for UK students to join the flagship S3A project pioneering the future of spatial audio from production through to reproduction at home. The goal of S3A research is to introduce practical technologies for spatial audio that will revolutionise how listeners experience sound. S3A is a collaborative project between the Universities of Surrey, Salford and Southampton and the BBC Research and Development.
PhD studentships are available in the following areas:
Area of research
Institution/Contact
1. Audio perception: games, binaural, emotional response to sound and audio quality
Salford – Prof. Trevor Cox
t.j.cox@salford.ac.uk
2. Spatial audio recording and production
Surrey – Dr. Philip Jackson
p.jackson@surrey.ac.uk
3. Spatial audio reproduction with loudspeakers or headphones
Southampton- Dr. Filippo Fazi
filippo.fazi@soton.ac.uk
4. Perceptually optimised capture and reproduction of extended sources in 3D audio systems*
Surrey/BBC – Dr Russell Mason
r.mason@surrey.ac.uk
5. Immersive audio-visual content production*
Surrey/BBC – Prof. Adrian Hilton
a.hilton@surrey.ac.uk
*BBC industrial case studentship
Although PhD researchers will be based at the relevant host institution, research will be conducted within the S3A wide project team providing opportunities for collaboration and extended secondment to other S3A partners. Further information about the S3A research project is available at S3A-spatialaudio.org
Entry Requirements
Candidates should hold a 1st or 2:1 Bachelor’s degree and preferably a Masters with distinction in an appropriate discipline (e.g., engineering, computer science, signal processing, applied mathematics, physics, experimental psychology). They should be able to demonstrate excellent mathematical, analytic, programming skills and/or experience in perceptual studies depending on the PhD research topic. Preference will be given to applicants with experience in one or more areas of: sound perception, music and media production, audio and speech signal processing, multi-channel and 3D audio technologies, image and video processing, computer vision, acoustics, array processing, blind source separation, detection and tracking, statistical signal processing and machine learning.
Funding
Funding is available for UK nationals only and covers full tuition fees (home rate) and a stipend at the rate specified by the Research Council (rate for 2015-2016 is £14,057 p.a. tax-free). The award will be for a period of 3 years starting in October 2015. Industrial case studentships will attract an enhanced stipend (~£18,000 p.a. tax-free).
[Students from EU countries other than the UK are generally eligible for a fees-only award]
How to Apply: send (i) cover letter indicating your preferred PhD research area, (ii) curriculum vitae, (iii) outline research proposal (max. 2 pages), (iv) details of two academic referees, and (v) copies of transcripts and certificates of qualification to Liz James e.james@surrey.ac.uk. For specific information on PhD research projects please contact the lead investigator listed above.
Suitable candidates will be shortlisted within one week of the closing date, then invited to complete the formal application process including an interview.
The closing date for applications and support documents is 15 July 2015.