The project
Applications are invited for a fully-funded PhD studentship (UK/EU students) in Computer Vision. The successful candidate will be working as part of the EPSRC IRC project ‘SPHERE’, focusing on video monitoring for eating disorders. In this project, we aim to investigate novel methods for long-term monitoring and analysis of eating behaviour, in order to allow the investigation of behaviour degradation (or improvement). We plan to develop models and techniques that can be generically applied to different users in different settings, be it in their kitchen, their sitting room while watching TV, or while interacting with others. Analysis should focus on intra-person variations (i.e. changes in behaviour across time), as well as inter-person differences (i.e. compared to averages across age and health conditions).

Bristol has a long-established record in tracking humans and objects. The student will work as part of the Bristol Visual Information Laboratory, as well as collaborate with the School of Clinical Sciences.

The PhD candidate will be expected to:

• Investigate the current state of the art in action recognition and pose estimation.
• Explore, develop and optimise methods for video monitoring, such as background subtraction, motion flow and pose estimation.
• Propose and develop a novel framework for monitoring eating behaviour.
• Develop new strategies for long-term monitoring over several days.

Supervisors: Dr Dima Damen, Prof Majid Mirmehdi, Prof Ian Craddock
Collaborators: Prof Julian Hamilton-Shields, Prof Andy Ness, Prof Ashley Cooper

Candidate requirements
A minimum 2.1 honours degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering or other relevant subject.

Solid mathematical ability and excellent programming skills and basic knowledge of Computer Vision and/or machine learning are also required.

Funding
Studentship covers full UK/EU (EU applicants who have been resident in the UK for 3 years prior to application) PhD tuition fees and a tax-free stipend at the current RCUK rate (£13,726 in 2013/14). EU nationals resident in the EU may also apply and will qualify only for PhD tuition fees.

For more information on the eligibility criteria, please see:

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Fundingopportunities/Applicanthandbook/Studentships/Eligibility/index.htm#P17_968 
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/Pages/eligibility.aspx 

How to apply
To apply for this studentship submit a PhD application using our online application system via the Apply button below.

Please ensure that in the Funding section you tick “I would like to be considered for a funding award from the Department” and specify the title of the scholarship in the “other” box below. 

Contacts
For formal enquiries, please contact Dr Dima Damen: damen@cs.bris.ac.uk. For general application enquiries, please email gsen-pgrs@bristol.ac.uk 

Deadline for applications
The closing date for applications is 26 August.