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Dear all, If you know of any promising UK/EU students looking for a PhD studentship in bird or insect flight biomechanics, please could you pass on to them the following advertisement for three fully-funded studentships in the Oxford Animal Flight Group. Details also at: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~zool0261/vacancies.html All three projects have biomimetic applications relevant to Unmanned and Micro Air Vehicle control control systems and design. best wishes, Richard Bomphrey Three fully funded studentships available in the Oxford Animal Flight Group: deadline 21 January 2011 We are pleased to be able to offer up to three fully funded PhD studentships this year. Please scroll down to see the full advertisement for each of the three studentships. Please note that the eligibility criteria and starting dates differ between the three studentships. 1. Vision-based flight control in insects, with applications to unmanned air vehicles Supervisors: Dr Graham Taylor; Dr Holger Krapp Feedback control is essential to the flight of insects and most modern aircraft, but there the resemblance ends. Aircraft control systems employ a few high-quality sensors to measure or estimate their current state with a high degree of accuracy; insects have numerous sensors of lower quality, which sense changes in state rather than absolute state. Aircraft control systems typically have their sensors arranged orthogonally; insects have their sensors arranged non-orthogonally. Aircraft control systems process state feedback centrally; insects process signals at the periphery of their nervous system and combine input from different sensory modalities before using this as feedback. In light of these differences, it has recently been suggested that the sensory systems of insects are configured so that they are specifically tuned to detect excitation of their rigid body modes of motion (Taylor & Krapp, 2007). The aim of this studentship is to investigate the mode-sensing hypothesis, by using a combination of theoretical and experimental approaches, so as to inform the design of control systems for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). The hypothesised control architecture is fundamentally different from the architectures employed in aircraft control systems, and offers the potential for exploiting noisy and datum deficient measurements in the feedback control of a Mini/Nano UAV. This could include, for example, input from sensors measuring optic flow. The studentship will be held in the Oxford Animal Flight Group, Department of Zoology, Oxford University (supervisor: Dr Graham Taylor), but is being run in collaboration with the Insect Neurophysiology Group, Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College (co-supervisor: Dr Holger Krapp). The ideal candidate would EITHER have a background in Engineering or Applied Mathematics and an interest in thinking out of the box, OR would have a background in Biological Sciences and a willingness to think mathematically. To apply please use the online application system at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/apply/ . Please remember to quote the studentship reference code GT01. Because you will be applying for a pre-defined project, please provide a Statement of Purpose, and not a Research Proposal, at the relevant point in the application. Please use this statement to explain your specific interest in the advertised project. You may, if you wish, incorporate material from this advertisement. Any queries regarding the application procedure please contact [log in to unmask] The closing date is Friday 21st January 2011. The successful candidate will start their studentship as soon as possible after 13 March 2011, and in any case before the end of September 2011. The University of Oxford is an Equal Opportunities employer. Funding Notes This is an Industrial CASE studentship, which is being jointly funded by EPSRC and Dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory). In order to assist recruitment to this position, the industrial component of the funding will be used to elevate the stipend by £1500 per annum over the national minimum stipend rate for Research Council studentships. Eligibility for this studentship is limited to UK nationals only. The full award is available to UK nationals who meet the UK residency requirements, while UK students who do not meet the UK residency requirements are eligible for a studentship covering tuition fees. Further information can be found at: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/Pages/eligibility.aspx Taylor, G. K. & Krapp, H. G. (2007). Sensory systems and flight stability: what do insects measure, and why? Adv. Insect Physiol., 34, 231-316. doi:10.1016/S0065-2806(07)34005-8 2. Avian flight mechanics: atmospheric energy extraction and gust response in birds Supervisors: Dr Graham Taylor; Prof. Adrian Thomas Birds are masters of their aerial environment. One of their most impressive accomplishments is their ability to deal with – and even exploit – atmospheric heterogeneity at small spatial scales. Birds are able to negotiate the gustiest of conditions, to thermal-soar on days when a sailplane could not leave the ground, and to ascend vertically over a cliff edge without once flapping their wings. The mechanistic detail of how birds accomplish these feats is largely unknown, but similar sensory, aeroelastic, and muscular mechanisms are likely to be common to all. The aim of this studentship is to make detailed measurements of the flight dynamics and flight performance of trained birds of prey using onboard inertial instrumentation and high-speed photogrammetry, and to analyse these in combination with information from onboard pressure sensors and ultrasonic anemometers to understand how birds deal with and exploit atmospheric heterogeneity. The project will focus upon three specific behaviours: response to mechanical and thermal turbulence, exploitation of thermals in cross-country soaring, and exploitation of wind shear over sea cliffs. The project is intended foremost to be a study of the flight mechanics of birds, but there are obvious engineering applications to the flight of Unmanned Air Vehicles, for which atmospheric energy extraction and gust response properties modelled on birds would be of great commercial and strategic significance. To apply please use the online application system at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/apply/ . Please remember to quote the studentship reference code DTG6. Because you will be applying for a pre-defined project, please provide a Statement of Purpose, and not a Research Proposal, at the relevant point in the application. Please use this statement to explain your specific interest in the advertised project. You may, if you wish, incorporate material from this advertisement. Any queries regarding the application procedure please contact [log in to unmask] The closing date is Friday 21st January 2011. The successful candidate will start their studentship in October 2011. The University of Oxford is an Equal Opportunities employer. Funding Notes: UK Research Council Competition Funded Studentship. These awards are available to UK nationals and EU students who meet the UK residency requirements, while EU students who do not meet the UK residency requirements are eligible for studentships covering tuition fees. Further information can be found at: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/studentships/studentship_eligibility.pdf Carruthers, A. C., Thomas, A. L. R. & Taylor, G. K. (2007). Automatic aeroelastic devices in the wings of a Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis. J. Exp. Biol. 210, 4136-4149. doi:10.1242/jeb.011197 Carruthers, A. C., Walker, S. M., Thomas, A. L. R. & Taylor, G. K. (2010). Aerodynamics of aerofoil sections measured on a free-flying bird. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part G - J. Aerosp. Eng. 224, 855-864. doi:10.1243/09544100JAERO737 3. Wing shape, kinematics and performance in insect flight Supervisors: Dr Richard Bomphrey; Prof. Adrian Thomas This inter-disciplinary project analyses the fundamental features of insect wing shape and motion that are important for specific ecological tasks. Research output will constitute the most comprehensive study to date of how the apparatus for flight manipulates, and is constrained by, the physical world. The student will follow two themes to explore the relationship between wing kinematics and flight performance. They will use (1) high-speed cameras to record detailed topographical wing kinematics from a range of insects chosen for their contrasting ecology, and (2) artificial selection to examine the effects of alternative morphological parameters on performance. Kinematics: The student will record detailed wing topographies throughout the wingbeat cycle for representative species. Wing shape and kinematic data will then be used to identify the morphological and kinematic variables which are critical for certain ecological roles. This will be achieved using an existing state-of-the-art photogrammetric technique developed within the Flight Group. Tests will begin by quantifying variation across wingbeats within individuals, before progressing to quantify intra- and inter-specific differences. Finally, the student will integrate their experimental design with an EPSRC-funded Postdoc so that aerodynamic output is simultaneously recorded from experimental subjects. Artificial selection: The student will select strains of fruit fly for exaggerated wing parameters (larger area, higher aspect ratio) and measure consequent changes in performance (speed, load lifting, aerial agility) within a flight arena. The inverse of the problem will be run in parallel, i.e. identification of salient performance criteria and analysis of the kinematic and morphological properties that make them possible. Future direction: This work naturally leads to further collaborative Computational Fluid Dynamics projects (e.g. Young, et al. Science 2009), and Finite Element modelling projects that could further inform the design of miniature vehicles. This PhD could also form the foundation for further work in eco-morphology. To apply please use the online application system at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/apply/ . Please remember to quote the studentship reference code DTG8. Any queries regarding the application procedure please contact [log in to unmask] The closing date is Friday 21st January 2011. The successful candidate will start their studentship in October 2011. The University of Oxford is an Equal Opportunities employer. Funding Notes: UK Research Council Competition Funded Studentship. These awards are available to UK nationals and EU students who meet the UK residency requirements, while EU students who do not meet the UK residency requirements are eligible for studentships covering tuition fees. Further information can be found at: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/studentships/studentship_eligibility.pdf http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/studentships/studentship_eligibility.pdf __________________________________________ Dr Graham K. Taylor Animal Behaviour Research Group Department of Zoology, Oxford University Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road Oxford, OX1 3PS United Kingdom tel. +44 (0)1865 271219 fax. +44 (0)1865 310447 http://users.ox.ac.uk/~zool0261 __________________________________________ Dr Richard J. Bomphrey EPSRC CAF Animal Behaviour Research Group Department of Zoology, Oxford University Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road Oxford, OX1 3PS United Kingdom tel. +44 (0)1865 271224 fax. +44 (0)1865 310447