Applications are invited for one full-time PhD studentship (with scholarship) for a period of 3 years, at “The Physical Structure of Perception and Computation” (PSPC) lab of the Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and System Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, Italy.

The position, starting Nov 1st 2015, is on one of the following research projects:

1/ Representing peripersonal space through sensorimotor likelihoods.
The activity will focus on the design of theoretical models by converting computational approaches from engineering into cortical-like models of implicit representations of the peripersonal space.

2/ Integration of motion-in-depth multi-sensory information flows in the peripersonal space.
The goal of the project is to investigate how different cross-modal information can enable arm and hand-related actions in the peripersonal space. Specifically, the focus will be on the development of a neuromorphic cognitive system for detecting/encoding motion-in-depth multimodal information flows relative to body parts.

Both projects will provide the opportunity to work on neural modeling, visual psychophysics, robotics, or a combination of them. Experimental, modeling, and theoretical approaches might be pursued with a different accent according to personal attitude.

Ongoing cooperation, at international level, with research groups of different disciplines, will ensure a highly interdisciplinary and stimulating environment.

Successful applicants would have a good honors Master degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics or related disciplines, strong interest in computational neuroscience, and an open mind for interdisciplinary research.

Online application are available from April 13, 2015 at 12.00 noon (Italian time) to June 10, 2015 at 12.00 noon (Italian time).

Full details on the call and the application procedure will soon be available at:
http://www.studenti.unige.it/postlaurea/dottorati/XXXI/ENG/ and http://phd.dibris.unige.it/biorob/index.php/how-to-apply

Prospective students, please contact Silvio Sabatini ([email protected]), providing your CV and qualifications, the name and contact details of two references, and a description of your research interests indicating which of the two positions you are interested in.

DIBRIS is a unique inter-school department of the University of Genoa, bridging together researchers from the former Science and Engineering Faculties. It offers an excellent multidisciplinary, interactive and collaborative research environment combining expertise in computer vision, computational neuroscience, neuromorphic computing, robotics and mechatronics.

PSPC-Lab (www.pspc.unige.it), has a long-standing expertise in visual coding and multidimensional signal representation, robot perception and computer vision. In the last five years, the lab’s research activity focused on the analysis of the structural mechanisms of visuo-spatial cognition, responsible for orienting and interacting in the 3D space.

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Silvio P. SABATINI, PhD [PSPC Research Group]
Professor of Bioengineering
DIBRIS - University of Genova | e_mail: [email protected]
Via Opera Pia, 11A | phone: +39 010 3532092/3532794
I-16145 Genova (ITALY) | fax: +39 010 3532289/3536533
URL: http://pspc.unige.it
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