Ph.D. position in Brain Computer Interaction, University of Glasgow

TOBI is a large European project which will develop practical technology for brain-computer interaction; i.e., non-invasive BCI prototypes combined with other assistive technologies that will have a real impact on improving the quality of life of disabled people. These non-invasive BCI are based on electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The expected impact of TOBI is a wide-spread use of BCI assistive technology endowed with adaptive capabilities that augment those other assistive technologies they are combined with. TOBI will deliver short-term BCI assistive prototypes that will be tested and evaluated in real life situations by a large number of end-users.

The aim of this studentship is to use and develop interaction techniques which can work with noisy, uncertain input mechanisms such as machine learned classifiers. The project is at the intersection of a machine learning and HCI and will involve developing novel multimodal feedback techniques to enhance interaction with extremely restricted input channels. In particular, this will involve the display of uncertain, inferred states in such a way as to help users learn to use this novel form of interaction more reliably. This involves solving fundamental problems at the core of human-computer interaction, which are also relevant for a wide range of other interaction design issues such as sensor-based interaction and context-sensitive interaction.

The studentship is for 40 months and is only available to UK/EU nationals. The studentship is suitable for candidates with a good first degree (or Masters) in Computing Science, Electronics & Electrical Engineering or Mathematical subjects. Candidates should have strong software engineering and maths skills and ideally experience in signal processing and machine learning. The project will involve frequent travel to European project partners. The student will be jointly supervised by Prof. Roderick Murray-Smith and Dr. John Williamson.

The application procedure can be found at http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/phd/application.html.
Informal enquiries to Professor Roderick Murray-Smith: rod@dcs.gla.ac.uk,
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rod/
Deadline for submissions is 5th January 2009