Location: Highfield Campus, with regular visits to Imagination Technologies, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire

Closing Date: PhD must commence before the 30th September 2013

Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton Imagination Technologies are offering a fully-funded iCASE PhD studentship which must commence before the 30th September 2013. The Industrial Case funding allows us to offer an enhanced stipend of £18,726 per year.

You will research innovative methods for implementing machine learning algorithms for consumer applications using a combination of CPU and DSP based techniques. Imagination’s MIPS platform will be used as the basis for this research, along with Imagination’s world-leading PowerVR GPUs.

The proposed work will include both the development of new machine learning algorithms optimised for the Imagination MIPS processor, and investigation of possible extensions to the MIPS architecture for implementing such algorithms on multi-core processors with an appropriate efficient memory coherence model. The ultimate aim is to develop a new generation of cost- and power-effective consumer appliances which can show real awareness of individual users and their requirements. Although the MIPS architecture is the principal design target for this research, the work on algorithms will naturally also give rise to good implementations on GPUs and other widely used architectures.

As a successful candidate for this award, you will:

• Spend your time at the University of Southampton and at Imagination Technologies in Hertfordshire where you will research and write a dissertation leading to a PhD in Electronics and Computer Science
• Have a supervisory team including Professor Steve Gunn and Denis Nicole from the University of Southampton and Jim Whittaker, VP MIPS, from Imagination Technologies.
• Receive a full scholarship and a support grant to attend conferences etc. each year

The successful candidate is likely to have the following qualifications:

• A 1st or high 2:1 degree in a relevant electronics/computer science discipline and/or upper second degree with a related Masters.
• A strong interest in machine learning and/or processor architecture.

THE AWARD: A full scholarship covers both the cost of tuition fees at the UK/EU rate and a stipend. In the 2013-14 academic year, the stipend will be £18,726 which is tax-free and paid in four instalments each year. The studentship is available to support three years’ full-time work, subject to satisfactory progress.

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible for a full scholarship (stipend and fees), a student must have:

• Settled status in the UK, meaning they have no restrictions on how long they can stay, and
• been “ordinarily resident: in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of the grant. This means they must have been normally residing in the UK (apart from temporary or occasional absences), and
• not been residing in the UK wholly or mainly for the purpose of full-time education. (This does not apply to UK or EU nationals).

For further information, please contact Dr Denis Nicole at, Electronics & Computer Science, Email: dan@ecs.soton.ac.uk