Dear AVA member,
 
This email contains details of the following:
   
1. Fully-Funded PhD Studentships in Psychology and Neuroscience, Nottingham
 
2. Neuropsychology workshop Leuven, September 9-11th
 
3. Computer vision and machine learning - job opportunities

 
Please send items for the bulletin to [log in to unmask] 
 
MB
 
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Fully-Funded PhD Studentships in Psychology and Neuroscience, Nottingham
 
The School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham has been provisionally awarded funding by the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) for three linked PhD Studentships to start in October 2013. The three studentships are part of the DSTL’s Understanding and Enhancing Cognition and Performance research programme and focus on using recent advances in cognitive neuroscience to explore performance in real and virtual environments. These prestigious studentships last for three years covering all fees, and are expected to include an enhanced tax-free stipend starting at £15,922 per annum. They also include all research and travel costs.
 
Candidates should have a very good honours degree (at least a high 2:1 or equivalent) in psychology or a closely related discipline. A Masters qualification is not required though it is desirable as the studentships are for three years only and successful applicants will be required to take additional masters level training courses as part of the 3-year PhD if they do not already have an appropriate qualification.
 
The School of Psychology at Nottingham is a research-led experimental psychology department covering a wide range of research areas reflecting the broad, multi-disciplinary nature of the field. We have a very active group of over 60 postgraduate students in the school as well as a comprehensive range of facilities for psychology and/or neuroscience research. These include multiple scanners (at 1.5, 3 and 7 Tesla) for fMRI, several EEG/ERP systems, an MEG scanner, TMS  and tDCS systems, eye-trackers, a state-of-the-art driving simulator and an instrumented vehicle.
 
For further details about these PhDs please contact the primary supervisors listed below:
‘Enhancing Mechanisms of Spatial Learning in Real and Simulated Environments’ - [log in to unmask]
‘The Effect of Parietal tDCS on Adaptation to Different Virtual Environments’ - [log in to unmask]
‘Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to Assess Workload and Inhibitory Control in Real and Simulated Driving Environments’ - [log in to unmask]
 
How to apply:
Applicants need not specify which of the three linked projects they are applying for, but candidates for the third studentship will need to have a full UK driving licence – please include this detail on your application.
 
Please send applications, including a full c.v., a covering letter and the names of at least two referees to [log in to unmask] directly. The closing date for applications is Monday 12th August. Interviews will be conducted in the School of Psychology on Friday 23rd August. The studentships will start at the beginning of October 2013.
 
Please note that PhD funding will be subject to MODREC (Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committees) approval and successful applicants must be approved by the Ministry of Defence and the University of Nottingham before the studentship can start.
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2.  Neuropsychology workshop Leuven, september 9-11th
 
Following from a very fruitful neuropsychology workshop in 2010, the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology in Leuven will host another neuropsychology workshop in September (9-11th) this year. The program of talks for this workshop has now been finalized.
 
Our keynote talks include:
- Glyn Humphreys (University of Oxford): "Developing tests of social cognition"
- Jane Riddoch (University of Oxford): "Neuropsychological screening for cognitive deficits: From clinical tests to scientific pay-off"
- Alexander Leff (University College London): "Diagnosing, treating and carrying out research on patients you never get to meet. Is this the future of internet-based rehabilitation?
- Thomas Schenk (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg): "The role of cognition in motor control: from models to treatments"
- Christophe Lafosse (RevArte Rehabilitation Hospital): "Directions in neurorehabilitation: from concept to clinical implementation"
- Edward de Haan (University of Amsterdam): "On the usefulness of 'what' and 'where' pathways in vision"
 
For the full list of talks please visit our website (http://gestaltrevision.be/events/neuropsy2013).
 
We are still accepting registrations, and posters submissions until the 22nd of August.
 
The standard registration fee is 125 euros (incl. lunch, coffee, and the conference reception and dinner on the 9th of September). We also have a reduced registration fee of 75 euros for Master students (excl. reception and dinner). Please email [log in to unmask] for more details.
 
With best regards,
 
Lee de-Wit, Kathleen Vancleef, Katrien Torfs and Johan Wagemans
 
P.S. Please feel free to forward this email to potentially interested colleagues.
 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
3. Computer vision and machine learning - job opportunities

£30424 - £34223 per annum (Research Assistant grade I)

£34223 - £38522 per annum (Research Associate (grade J)

Funded by EPSRC with a total of £12M over 5 years, SPHERE is building an interdisciplinary team of over 50 researchers, students, academics and clinicians to address the real world health and wellbeing challenges that face 21st Century societies. SPHERE is a partnership between the University of Bristol, University of Southampton, University of Reading, Bristol City Council, the NHS in Bristol, Knowle West Media Centre, IBM and Toshiba.

Working within Work Package 2 of the SPHERE project (although they will also collaborate and work if necessary with colleagues in other Work Packages), these RA posts will develop algorithms and associated models and software to perform computer vision and machine learning tasks. The tasks will include feature detection and tracking, deformable models, statistical modelling and analysis, the use of one or more cameras, including methods for tracking across multiple rooms, and many other relevant topics in machine vision.

Successful applicants will have a strong track record of success at PhD-level or beyond in relevant areas (such as machine-vision) within computer science or electronics, but will also have the breadth, vision and ambition needed to work day-to-day with some of the UK’s most distinguished clinicians and clinical scientists.

It is expected that interviews will be held in late August, early September with a start date of October 2013 for 3 years in the first instance.

Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Majid Mirmehdi [log in to unmask]